White Sox Minor Keys: July 17, 2022
The four White Sox full-season affiliates all reached their All-Star breaks with losses on Sunday. They’ll get the next four days off before returning to action with three-game weekend series, and then it’s back to the six-game grind.
Yoelqui Céspedes might be the prospect who most wants to keep going. After posting ludicrously low walk rates over the first two months of the season in his return to Double-A, his plate-discipline numbers look like that of a standard top-10 prospect …
- April-May: 154 PA, 3 BB, 43 K
- June-July: 156 PA, 16 BB, 45 K
… and the rest of the numbers are rising as a result.
- April-May: .257/.279/.446, 7 2B, 0 3B, 7 HR
- June-July: .277/.391/.469, 11 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR
Watching him go about his business, I started having an Adam Engel-type feeling about him. He can play a legit center and the arm is terrific, but if he manages to build up his hit tool to support the rest of his offensive game, it’ll be a hard-earned victory. It’s just nice to see him turning it around midseason, because five months like his first two might’ve tanked his already divisive stock.
Lehigh Valley 6, Charlotte 3
- Yasmani Grandal split his time between catching and first base, going 0-for-2 with three walks.
- Adam Haseley was 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts. He also stole his 13th base.
- Carlos Pérez, 1-for-3 with a walk.
- Lenyn Sosa went 2-for-4 with a strikeout, and was caught stealing.
- Davis Martin: 4 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
Montgomery 15, Birmingham 5
- José RodrÃguez went 2-for-5 with a triple and a strikeout.
- Yoelqui Céspedes went 2-for-4 with a homer, double and stolen base. He struck out once.
Asheville 6, Winston-Salem 2 (7 innings, rain)
- Colson Montgomery’s on-base streak reached 50 games, as he went 1-for-2 with a homer and a walk.
- Luis Mieses was 0-for-2 with a walk.
Salem 2, Kannapolis 1 (11 innings)
- Wes Kath went 2-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
- DJ Gladney was 0-for-5 with a K.
- Wilfred Veras, 2-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- Jared Kelley: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Author
I can remember when “Adam Engel-type” was nothing to aspire to….
Engel is arguably (and it’s a pretty strong argument) our second-best two-way outfielder this year. Vaughn gives back on defense what he earns on offense, Pollock’s defense can’t make up for his offense, Jimenez can’t stay healthy, and Sheets arguably shouldn’t be on the roster.
It’s always been a question of health with Engel. He’s always performed well when given the opportunity.
Not always. Before 2020 he was so bad at the plate I didn’t think he’d ever be a major league player. Since then it’s been injuries.
Nice to see Kelley put up a good outing. 2 in a row unless I’m misremembering?
MILB on base streak record is 71 held by Kevin Youkilis and Kevin Millar
Jim’s new answer to the question: “if you could give any one tool to any Sox player, what would it be and to whom would you give it?” “The hit tool to Yoelqui Céspedes“
Amazing what 3 out of 4 against the Twins can do for the zeitgeist….
I’m always happy to see our young pitching prospects like Kelley get through 4 innings with minimal earned runs and walks, but I remain concerned about the low strikeout totals. Should I be worried about that, or is it a reasonable expectation that young pitchers can start progressing by limiting damage and then focus on generating more K’s down the line?
I understand pitchers like Kelley, Thompson, and Dalquist are young enough they could potentially see an uptick in velocity or develop greater command and control of primary and secondary pitches. On the other hand, I think Kelley and Dalquist were both perceived to have limited projection remaining on their physical attributes – is that the case?
I’m no expert and I haven’t been watching his games, but to me it suggests that there are probably still fastball shape (and spin?) issues for Kelley. Which maybe can be solved? Dylan Cease went from not striking out anybody because fastball spin issues to striking out The Most.