After Adam Eaton left the game in the middle of the White Sox’s loss to the Cardinals Wednesday afternoon, Gavin Sheets was removed from the field during the sixth inning of the Charlotte Knights’ game against Norfolk.
While one might think Sheets’ talents might be needed in Chicago, it’s more that he flipped over a dugout railing while making a catch foul of first base, and appeared to land flat on his back on the hard floor. Here’s was the broadcast angle in real time:
And here was the side angle replay:
While the injury looked potentially catastrophic early as Charlotte acting manager Chris Johnson and the training staff rushed to his aid, Sheets emerged from Norfolk’s dugout under his own power, jogged to test his frame, then remained in the game.
At least for a little bit. Will Carter only retired one of the next five batters, necessitating a pitching change. While Kodi Medeiros took his warm-up tosses, Sheets stood to the third-base side of the mound, chatting with somebody out of view. As Medeiros wrapped up his warm-up, Johnson came out to replace Sheets with Tim Beckham.
Perhaps whatever he hurt started to stiffen up over next five-plus minutes, or maybe Johnson saw Norfolk extend its lead to 7-2 and didn’t see a point in pushing Sheets further. I suppose we’ll see over the next couple of days.
The good news is Adam Engel has generated some highlights in both of the first two games of his rehab stint, so even if Sheets needs to miss some time, he wouldn’t be the first man up regardless.
Norfolk 9, Charlotte 2
- Adam Engel played center and went 2-for-4 with a double and a stolen base.
- Luis González replaced Engel afterward and struck out his only time up.
- Blake Rutherford was 0-for-5 with three strikeouts.
- Jake Burger went 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Gavin Sheets went 1-for-2 with a walk before he was lifted.
- Brian Goodwin went 2-for-4 with a strikeout and a stolen base.
- Jimmy Lambert made it two in a row: 3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 1 HR’
Rocket City 1, Birmingham 0
- Ti’quan Forbes had half of the Barons’ hits by going 1-for-4 with a double. He also struck out twice.
- Romy Gonzalez wore the collar and silver sombrero.
- Micker Adolfo also went 0-for-4, striking out twice.
- Carlos Pérez went 0-for-3.
- Kade McClure bounced back: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, 1 HR
Winston-Salem 4, Hickory 3
- Yolbert Sanchez went 0-for-3 with a sac bunt.
- Lenyn Sosa was 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Luis Curbelo, 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Luis Mieses went 1-for-3 with a double and a strikeout.
- Duke Elils, 1-for-3 with a strikeout.
- Harvin Mendoza was 1-for-3.
- Davis Martin: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 10 K, 1 HR
Carolina 11, Kannapolis 6
- Caberea Weaver went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- José Rodriguez was 1-for-3 with a double.
- Bryan Ramos went 1-for-4 with his first homer, a walk and two strikeouts.
- DJ Gladney struck out thrice during an 0-for-5 night.
- Lency Delgado homered, singled twice and struck out once.
- Benyamin Bailey went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- James Beard went 2-for-4 with a triple and a strikeout.
Highlights:
I know TLR has said he wants to make sure Engel has his timing back. Two games is probably not enough for that, however…. Engel trying to get his timing back may be better than the awful guys they have now who are playing instead of him. As long as he is healthy, which is the most important thing, I would bring him up sooner than later. If he starts slow, who cares… what difference is there if he makes outs instead of their other dismal options? At least he will hit at some point, which he might be able to do sooner than expected. As soon as he is ready and starts to hit, better the hits start to come for the Sox than Charlotte. The Sox need all they can get.
Yeah, but think about this: if Engel replaces Eaton in RF for whatever reason, TLR won’t have a left handed bat to hit in the 2 hole against righties. You can’t have a lineup without a lefty in the 2 hole against righties. That’s just not how baseball is played.
If they had an adequate lefty hitter as another option then yes. But handedness is overrated, it does not always translate to good results. Billy Hamilton has a .161 avg and .432 OPS vs righties. Does it matter that he is hitting left handed against them? Not at all, he is an awful hitter. It’s why Eloy was so valuable, he hit lefties and righties equally well. Engel hit his homer 2 nights ago against a righty. The Sox options with Eloy, Robert, and Eaton out are thin, and Engel is probably better against righties than anybody else they have in RF/CF as of now, whether they are left handed or not.
Wooosh
It’s less about performance and more about managing a post-injury workload to work back up to full fitness without reaggravating the injury. First start was in DH, then in Center but not the whole game and so on.
Was the regular Charlotte manager ejected or is s/he on leave?
He wasn’t ejected in this game, but he was ejected during the Durham series in pretty spectacular fashion, so perhaps he was serving a suspension.
That reminds me, I wouldn’t mind a Turley write up.
His numbers are good so far, despite the high offensive environment and most of the rest of the Charlotte pen looking bad.
On paper, the entire Charlotte bullpen is just fascinating to me.
– Burr. A legit prospect only a couple years ago with some MLB success, still working his way back from TJ.
-Johnson & Burdi, both legit prospects
-Medeiros: my favorite of the Charlotte eight, also was once a legit prospect & first round pick IIRC.
-Guerrero: anyone claimed off waivers was good enough to make a 40 man
-Vargas: ibid
-Turley: also ibid. & he was also good enough to be traded for cash to the A’s, and they are usually pretty good at scouting bullpen arms (as are the Sox)
Jace Fry: rehabbing pro
Edit: Vargas is in BHam apparently, with Hansen and McClure. I don’t think at any other point in my life have I ever been genuinely following the careers of so many minor league relievers lol
I realize baseball doesn’t typically move games up but given the forecast for tonight it makes a lot of sense to play a day game today.
Now that fans are back it would be pretty crappy to do that.
Rescheduling to later in the season doesn’t necessarily align with fans schedules either. I think either way it sucks for the fans.
If I was planning on going to a game tonight, and then I got home from work and found out that they played it at 1:00 I’d be pretty irate.
In Keith Law’s mock draft 1.0 he had the White Sox taking HS RHP Chase Petty. He also said the Sox have been linked to HS SS Colson Montgomery.
If Sheets emerges as a quality lefty option before October of this year, that gif is going to become some sort of cult classic.
I hope that happens, both for the Sox and for the player.