Wrapping up our pseudo Farm Fortnight looks at the White Sox farm system -- see Charlotte, Birmingham and Winston-Salem for details there -- here's a summary of notable Kannapolis Cannon Ballers prospects from the last couple weeks.
Position Players
Jose Rodriguez: It's been a gentle regression for Rodriguez, who followed up an in impressive first few weeks with a .277/.313/.415 June, followed by a 1-for-13 start to his July. That puts him at .265/.307/.422 for the year, which is fine for a guy who turned 20 last month and doesn't have a noteworthy strikeout issue even when struggling.
Bryan Ramos: He overtook Rodriguez for the Kannapolis OPS lead among regulars, as he's now hitting .247/.351/.443. Here's what you like to see from a 19-year-old:
- May: .233/.343/.333, 15 BB, 38 K over 108 PA
- June: .250/.355/.554, 12 BB, 17 K over 107 PA
He's also started playing second base every other game after DHing for the first month and a half of the season. He didn't play that position at all in 2019.
DJ Gladney: An up-and-down season is currently taking one of its sizable dips. After opening June by going 10-for-26 over seven games, Gladney followed by going 1-for-32 over the next eight, including 18 strikeouts. Hopefully a multi-hit game on Saturday suggests the worst is over. For now.
Harvin Mendoza and Luis Mieses: The demotion from Winston-Salem has benefited both. Mendoza's up to .299/.395/.433 with 15 walks against 19 strikeouts over 114 plate appearances, while Mieses is at least benefiting from balls in play at .282/.313/.437 over 115 PA.
Caberea Weaver: Another streaky prep player has dipped down to .205/.287/.377 after another prolonged slump, but the power has remained consistent despite fluctuations in his performance elsewhere.
James Beard: He played less than any other outfielder who has spent the season with the team, but he's avoided a demotion to the ACL White Sox thus far, so the White Sox must see him as adhering to a program. He's hitting .196/.333/.278, which includes no multi-hit games in June, but some clusters of walks as of late. He's also stolen just four bases, but in just five attempts.
Chase Krogman: He's striking out about 40 percent of the time, but he's doing some cool things around the whiffs, hitting .228/.408/.468 with five homers and four doubles. If you hadn't noticed, prep players tend to experience wild swings.
Pitchers
Andrew Dalquist: A run of four consecutive useful outings to close out his June hit a snag with his first start of July (see below). His ERA shot up to 5.67 on the year, but he's actively pitching, which is more than can be said of the other guys right now.
Matthew Thompson, Yoelvin Silven and Jared Kelley: All three are on the injured list, with Thompson pitching the most recently of the three on June 12. None of the pitchers was demoted to the ACL team, so perhaps it's indeed more injury than workload management or waiting for a more appropriate level of competition -- unless the Sox have designed on trading any one of them.
Norfolk 8, Charlotte 2
- Luis González went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Yermín Mercedes caught and went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
- Blake Rutherford was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
- Reynaldo López: 3.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 2 WP
- Tyler Johnson: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Chattanooga 10, Birmingham 4
- Romy Gonzalez singled and struck out thrice.
- Micker Adolfo was 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- Carlos Pérez went 1-for-4 with a double.
- Ti'Quan Forbes singled, walked twice and struck out once.
- Konnor Pilkington: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 2 HR
Winston-Salem 5, Greenville 1
- Yoelqui Céspedes went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Yolbert Sanchez was 1-for-4 with a double.
- Lenyn Sosa went 1-for-4 with his seventh homer and struck out twice.
- Luis Curbelo went 2-fo-4 with his 11th homer and a strikeout.
Notes:
*Johan Dominguez was ejected after the first inning for an alleged foreign substance. Dash manager Ryan Newman was ejected as well.
Charleston 11, Kannapolis 6
- Jose Rodriguez went 1-for-5.
- Bryan Ramos was 2-for-5 with a double.
- Luis Mieses went 3-for-5 with a strikeout.
- DJ Gladney was 2-for-5 with a double and a K.
- Harvin Mendoza went 1-for-3 with a walk.
- Caberea Weaver was 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
- James Beard, 1-for-4 with a K.
- Andrew Dalquist: 2.2 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
ACL White Sox 10, ACL Dodgers 6
- Wilber Sanchez went 3-for-5 with a double.
- Elijah Tatis wore the golden sombrero while going 0-for-5.
- Benyamin Bailey went 1-for-3 with two walks and a strikeout.
- Wilfred Veras went 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Jefferson Mendoza, 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.
- Anderson Comas homered, doubled, singled and struck out once.
