White Sox Minor Keys: June 14, 2022
Tim Anderson (Laura Wolff / Charlotte Knights)
Tim Anderson began his rehab stint with the Charlotte Knights, giving everybody a chance to re-learn what Anderson looks like when he’s not sporting his now-trademarked No. 7.
He looked largely like himself at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a pair of singles, one through each side of the infield. He seemed to take it easy on the basepaths, at least when it came to accelerating out of the box.
As for the other rehabbing member of the Knights, Eloy Jiménez took batting practice as he anticipates coming off the five-day freeze in his rehab stint. He’ll play outfield this week if his body allows him.
Jacksonville 9, Charlotte 3
- Tim Anderson DH’d and went 2-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Yolbert Sánchez was 2-for-3 with a walk.
- Gavin Sheets grounded into three double plays and struck out in his other trip.
Birmingham 9, Mississippi 4
- José RodrÃguez went 3-for-6 with a double.
- Lenyn Sosa was 2-for-6 with a K.
- Yoelqui Céspedes, 2-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
Winston-Salem 10, Bowling Green 4
- Oscar Colás went 0-for-5.
- Bryan Ramos, 2-for-5 with his 10th homer.
- Luis Mieses also was 2-for-5, with a strikeout.
- Adam Hackenberg went 2-for-4.
- Harvin Mendoza hit a grand slam during his 2-for-4 night.
- Matthew Thompson pitched to the score: 5.1 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, 63 of 79 pitches for strikes.
Kannapolis 1, Fayetteville 0
- Wes Kath went 2-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Colson Montgomery, 2-for-4 with a double.
- DJ Gladney singled twice, walked once, struck out once and was caught stealing.
- Wilfred Veras went 0-for-4 with a K.
- James Beard, 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Cristian Mena: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
ACL Rangers 6, ACL White Sox 3
- Luis Pineda went 0-for-4.
- Same for Alvaro Aguero, with a strikeout.
DSL D-backs Black 14, DSL White Sox 10
- Loidel Chapelli went 2-for-4 with a walk.
- Ryan Burrowes, 2-for-4 with a walk, strikeout and stolen base.
- Erick Hernandez singled, walked twice and struck out twice.
- Carlos Jimenez singled and walked.
Author
Thompson starting to put up some stat lines that imply something’s starting to click. Lot of hits yesterdeay, but the K’s and BB’s are nice to see. Anyone see him lately to see if the the progress is noticeable in his stuff and approach?
I’m hoping to see him on Sunday if the rotation holds, as Bowling Green is only an hour north of Nashville.
Please, no Bowling Green massacre….
June numbers: 3 starts, 17 IP. 29.7 K%, 6.3 BB%, 2 HBP, 0 HR. Very good!
Which is more humiliating, a golden sombrero or three GIDPs and a K?
Without a doubt, the 3 GIDP’s, they’re much more demoralizing.
Hopefully, when TA comes back they will slide Mendick over to 2B and jettison Harrison.
More complicated would be what to do when Eloy is ready to join the active roster. I’ve been skeptical of the timeline, but at some point they will have to decide what to do with Eloy, Pollock, Engel, and Burger. Those 4 players can only occupy 3 roster spots absent another injury to the corner IF and OF mix. And if the move is simply to send Burger down to AAA then the total significance of Eloy’s return would really just be swapping out right handed DH types without really adding much in terms of offensive production, with some added pressure on Moncada to produce. It could also force some more off days for Vaughn, and/or some less than ideal defensive alignments in the outfield.
We’ll drive off that bridge when we come to it.
With Harrison inside the car?
There are ways to set up the lineup in a 6 game week to where everyone but Leury/Reese get at least 3 starts and we don’t field a completely crap lineup or have too many defensively atrocious games. This assumes everyone is back and healthy and Mendick takes over at 2B for at least a little while. The best part is, there’s enough flexibility that you can even mix and match a bit more and still not dramatically impact playing time too much. I just don’t know if a) it’s the most optimal lineup construction available and b) TLR is capable of implementing it in a sane way.
We’re carrying 14 pitchers right now, so assuming we start to get our high-leverage guys back and healthy, we could theoretically send down a fringe reliever and add a position player.
We’re also carrying 14 pitchers and seem to be struggling to cover the innings as things stand now, and may be in a situation where carrying 3 catchers would be the prudent course of action. So I am not so sure that we will be able to add another position player, and it is possible that if we do it will be to carry Seby.
Well “healthy” is a pretty big caveat, but I’d be fine with a rotation of Gio, Kopech, Cease, Lynn, Cueto and a pen of Hendriks, Graveman, Kelly, Bummer, Lopez, Foster, Ruiz, and Banks/Lambert. Martin, one of Lambert/Banks, and Velasquez are extraneous *when everyone is healthy*. So, yes, making the position players fit in the short term will be an issue but there should be room for everyone by the break.
Ok, but it seems like most teams are choosing to go with 14 and that the league has struggled/hesitated to reduce the max number of pitchers from 14 to 13, so I think 14 pitchers is probably a better default assumption. Aesthetically, I would prefer if teams were limited to 12 pitchers, but it appears that ship has sailed.
This is a great point. I was already thinking about that they can’t have all of: Abreu, Burger, Moncada, Eloy, Vaughn, Pollock in the same lineup, but I hadn’t thought about the roster itself. Harrison will have to be dropped as the easy move to keep Mendick when Anderson returns. However, if everybody’s healthy when Eloy returns, there’s also a key guy that can’t even be on the roster. Of course, everybody being healthy is a fantasy, and I’m fairly certain Eloy is a theoretical being at this point, so it will probably work itself out.
In the fantasy world my brain sometimes like to wander….we’d dfa Leury to make the room.
But then we’d only have TA and Mendick in the middle infield…
I don’t think we can trade for Wander….
Mena getting results again.
Montgomery also had a HBP. Hit above his knee. He seemed to be fine.
Sometimes struggling players get sent down, and they immediately start hitting AAA pitching. Gavin Sheets is not that guy. Maybe that’s better? Rather than just being a AAAA guy, something is legitimately broken with him and can possibly be addressed.
Or he is implementing a new adjustment and it’s going to take a minute to start working