White Sox Minor Keys: July 7, 2022
Oscar Colรกs (Jim Margalus / Sox Machine)
The White Sox will only have one representative in the Futures Game, but at least he should draw a significant amount of attention, as Oscar Colรกs has a spot in the American League’s outfield.
Colรกs is the oldest of a relatively inexperienced group of outfielders, with three of the five in A-ball, and the other two in Double-A. Colson Montgomery might’ve been a candidate for an infield spot, but there isn’t a guy on that part of the roster who’s active in the low minors.
Tennessee 7, Birmingham 2
- Yasmani Grandal singled, walked twice and struck out twice in his first rehab game.
- Josรฉ Rodriguez went 1-for-4 with a triple.
- Yoelqui Cรฉspedes, 1-for-3 with a double, walk and strikeout.
- Jason Bilous: 2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 1 K
Wilmington 8, Winston-Salem 1
- Oscar Colรกs wore the collar and silver sombrero.
- Bryan Ramos only struck out twice during his 0-for-4 night.
- Adam Hackenberg was 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Matthew Thompson: 4 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 2 HR, 1 WP
Kannapolis 5, Carolina 3
- Wes Kath went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Wilfred Veras, 2-for-4 with another homer and a strikeout.
- DJ Gladney went 2-for-4 with a triple.
- Logan Glass has been active after his stint with the Knights, going 1-for-2 with a homer, two HBPs, a strikeout and a stolen base.
ACL Mariners 6, ACL White Sox 3
- Cam Butler went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Luis Pineda, 0-for-4 with a K.
- Dario Borrero singled thrice and struck out once.
- Victor Quezada struck out thrice during his 0-for-4 night.
DSL D-backs Black 5, DSL White Sox 1 (7 innings)
- Ryan Burrowes went 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout. He was picked off.
- Erick Hernandez singled, struck out twice and was caught stealing.
- Loidel Chapelli went 0-for-3.
- Carlos Jimenez, 2-for-3.
Sounds like Montgomery is a Keith Law guy now. 2 glowing write ups on him in one week.
I don’t see how the sox can afford not to draft college pitching in the first 3 rounds this year. They have some bats that are really developing nicely at most levels but the arms….
David Martin and Sean Burke might be ok back end types down the road, Vera is really the only premium arm and he is years away…. the lack of upper minors pitching depth is worrisome. We aren’t seeing much of any steps forward from the Kelly, Thompson, Dalquist trio…
Rocker, Tidwell, Hughes… those guys have to be in the mix round 1 imo
Rocker is okay, the other two are kinda meh to me, but I guess that is what is available in the back third of the 1st round.
Highly disagree here. I can practically guarantee that any college pitcher available at the back end of the 1st round or later is going to project as a backend starter, or has at best midrotation stuff and serious concerns about command/health/being a reliever. When youโre going to be picking late, high school bats in the first couple rounds are your best bet for impact players; Montgomery is a prime example of that. Itโs rare that college players with impact talent are going to be available at all there. If you want to build a sustained contender, you have to go for value over need basically every time.
Totally agree. I’ve liked the strategy the last few drafts and hope it continues.
This isnโt to disagree with your overall point at all – I agree that prep is usually the better choice late in the 1st round – but I donโt think it is that clear cut. Best available is still a combination of floor and ceiling, and college arms can be found there that are legitimately best available. Some recent late first round picks of the โcollege armโ variety illustrate:
2015: Walker Buehler (24)
2016: Dane Dunning (29) Dakota Hudson (34)
2017: Alex Faedo (18) Tanner Houck (34)
2018: Shane McClanahan (31)
2019: Zack Thompson (19)
All of these guys are good examples of what Iโm talking about, imo. Buehlerโ small righty frame (implies reliever to many) and injury concerns. Dunningโ projected as a perfectly safe backend starter, is a backend starter by all measures. Dakota Hudsonโ more volatile than Dunningโs profile but also a backend starter. Faedoโ basically same as above. Houckโ strong reliever risk, was used as one before going back to the rotation, high upside but needs to prove he can actually throw 150 effective innings. McClanahanโ looked like a reliable command-oriented backend guy when drafted, had a velo/stuff breakout w disappearing command and looked relieverly, and unexpectedly then put them both together to become really good. Thompsonโ backend projection, has thrown 20 big league innings.
Thereโs certainly very talented pitchers to be had there. But that group tends to be much more Dane Dunningish than anything else. I think itโs no coincidence that the two major success stories in your group are the two best player dev teams in baseball. The Sox have good pitching dev, but it seems to be much more suited to the old-school route of taking kids w a bunch of raw stuff/talent and teaching them to harness it, than it is geared towards the new school of taking already pretty polished pitchers and improving their stuff a la TB and Cleveland.
A lot of guys, especially preps, taken at the back end of the first round never make it to the majors.
A back end starter taken at #26 (?) is probably an outcome above 50th percentile.
Thompson was only drafted in 2019. Few players drafted in 2019 are even in the majors.
Does a HBP count for the on base streak? Yes?