Before we get to the box scores, two injury situations that are worth monitoring as each team heads into a fresh series:
At Winston-Salem: Oscar Colás hasn’t played since going 0-for-5 with a walk in Ashville on Friday.
At Kannapolis: Colson Montgomery did not play during the Cannon Ballers’ series against Fayetteville last week.
Further bulletins on these situations as events warrant. In the meantime, read Jeff Cohen’s recap of Charlotte’s rehab-laden weekend.
Charlotte 5, Jacksonville 1
- Yolbert Sánchez went 2-for-5.
- Yoán Moncada, 2-for-4 with a homer, walk and strikeout.
- Micker Adolfo singled twice, one of them a walk-off hit. He also walked once and struck out twice.
- Adam Haseley pinch-hit and went 0-for-1 with a walk.
- Joe Kelly: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP
Highlights:
*Moncada’s blast:
Birmingham 12, Rocket City 4
- Lenyn Sosa went 1-for-3 with a homer, two walks and an HBP.
- Yoelqui Céspesdes went 0-for-5 with a strikeout and an HBP.
- Jose Rodriguez, 1-for-5 with a stolen base.
- Caleb Freeman: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Highlights:
*Sosa led off the game with a homer:
Asheville 3, Winston-Salem 2
- Bryan Ramos’s hitting streak ended at 15 after going 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Luis Mieses went 3-for-4 with a double.
- Harvin Mendoza, 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Sean Burke: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Kannapolis 9, Fayetteville 5
- Wes Kath went 1-for-3 with a homer, two walks and a strikeout.
- DJ Gladney wore the silver sombrero during an 0-for-5 day.
- Wilfred Veras doubled and struck out four times.
- Brooks Gosswein: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 2 HR.
Moncada driving a high 95 mph fastball is an awesome sight
I mean, that was a high fastball away and he pulled it 400+ feet. That was straight up sexy.
Sosa has made a lot of progress statistically (so far). Raised his walk rate and lowered his K rate.
Looking forward to seeing how Ramos does in Birmingham soon.
Seems like Yolbert maybe worth a shot soon as a solution to the 2nd base problem in Chicago.
There’s been a lot of talk about how the back of the rotation will shake out, but it’s also worth keeping an eye on the infield as well. I’m guessing Mendick is gone with the 26 man cut. And I’m guessing it’s Moncada for Burger next week. But if Yolbert keep hitting, what do they do with him? If Harrison and Garcia continue to struggle, Yolbert could look like the best option for 2B reps very soon.
But how?
Not to beat a dead horse but man…. 3 years guaranteed to Garcia looks worse by the day.
Any thoughts on what they could or will do?
Given the points you make, the most likely thing they will do is leave Yolbert at AAA even if he looks like the best 2b in their organization. Because when the Sox make mistakes, they never rectify them.
Yeah Garcia for 3 years was stupid. So was hiring the guy who plays him every day, and who probably contributed to their decision to sign him for a stupid length of time.
You frame the issue well. At some point is Harrison tradable? Trading Garcia would be even better (especially considering the other similar prospects coming up), but likely impossible. Per jhomeslice, I suspect TLR, who appears to have at least as much roster influence as Hahn, orchestrated the Garcia contract.
never stop beating that horse, an absolutely ridiculous 3 year deal that made no sense
Especially since there’s two guys in the minors that can take his place right now, and probably either meet or exceed his offensive production (Romy and Yolbert) for the league minimum.
This past offseason looks like nothing short of a disaster in hindsight.
The jury is still out on the offseason, I think. Graveman looks excellent—and even necessary. McGuire has been a nice addition, even if he’s playing a bit too much. And we’ve yet to see a run from Pollock or Kelly, but it’s easy to see both of them doing exactly what the Sox hoped. We’ll see. It is hard to see how Garcia could justify a 3 year guarantee, though.
If Garcia and Harrison continue to struggle, I say bring up Sanchez and send Sheets down. They could also play mystery injury bingo like they did last year to move guys around.
Yolbert would be more interesting if he had any power. But have a hard time seeing sitting one of two veterans who are due for positive regression to provide the same kind of offense. At least not any time soon
I’m with Right Size Wrong Shape. Not sure how much positive regression to expect from Josh Harrison. He’s 34 and he mostly sucked when he was in Oakland in the latter part of last year.
I think it’s also entirely possible that Yolbert provides better defense at 2B than either incumbent. Plus, what he lacks in power may be made up for by his ability to potentially get on base at a higher clip than our two-headed utility monster at 2B currently. Get him on and let the real power bats of the lineup get him over.
If we had an above-average option at 2B, then I’d most likely say we keep Yolbert down for more time to acclimate to AAA. But for the results we’ve been getting at the position (and even with some regression to come), I’d rather have him get the reps. He is 25 so it’s not unreasonable to move him through rather briskly.