White Sox Minor Keys: Aug. 20, 2022
Ordinarily, a matchup between the 45-70 Charlotte Knights and the 50-66 Syracuse Mets doesn’t seem like it’d be a natural candidate for national exposure on MLB Network, but Truist Field happens to host the highest level of play where all of Minor League Baseball’s rule changes can be rolled out — enforced pitch clocks, automated balls and strikes and ball/strike challenges — giving league officials to explain the what, how and why of rules that could be applied at the major-league level over the coming years.
The Knights and Mets did their part to prove the effectiveness of the emphasis on pace of play by completing a game in two hours and 17 minutes.
In the meantime, Micker Adolfo and Lenyn Sosa provided a couple of impressive moments on the stage.
Adolfo’s was more visibly impressive.
And here’s Sosa going deep to center the following inning.
Charlotte 4, Syracuse 3
- Lenyn Sosa went 1-for-3 with a homer and a walk.
- Carlos Pérez was 0-for-2 with two walks.
- Jake Burger, 0-for-3 with an HBP and a K.
- Yolbert Sánchez was 0-for-3 with a walk.
- Adam Haseley, 0-for-4.
Birmingham 14, Tennessee 3 (7 innings, rain)
- José Rodriguez homered again, along with a single before he was pinch-hit for with the Barons leading 9-2. He had stumbled in his swing before the HR.
- Oscar Colás broke out of his slump with a 2-for-5 night.
- Yoelqui Céspedes went 1-for-3 with a double, HBP and strikeout.
- Matthew Thompson: 2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 36 of 61 pitches for strikes.
Highlights:
*Rodríguez’s homer. He
Hickory 8, Winston-Salem 4
- Colson Montgomery and Bryan Ramos both were 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Adam Hackenberg singled twice, got plunked and struck out.
- Norge Vera: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 26 of 48 pitches for strikes.
Kannapolis 5, Columbia 2
- Wes Kath went 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
- DJ Gladney, 2-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- Wilfred Veras doubled twice and singled twice.
ACL White Sox 6, ACL Dodgers 3
- Brooks Baldwin went 3-for-4 with a double and a walk.
- Victor Quezada was 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Jonathan Cannon picked up the save in his pro debut: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
DSL White Sox 13, DSL BAL Black 9
- Ryan Burrowes went 1-for-2 with two walks, two HBPs, two stolen bases and four runs scored.
- Loidel Chapelli was 1-for-4 with a walk and an HBP.
- Ronny Hernandez hit a pinch-hit grand slam in the eighth inning.
- Carlos Jimenez went 3-for-4 with a walk and an HBP.
Notes:
*Eleven batters were hit in total.
That DSL game must have been fun to umpire.
It’s a new pace of play initiative. Instead of long, drawn out walks, pitchers in the DSL are now encouraged to plunk guys on the first pitch if they think they might not have their best control for that at bat.
Carlos Perez, now is your time to shine
I think Montgomery is running out of gas, but what a great season he’s put together
Is it time to bring Benyamin back into the prospects we follow fold? He’s only 20 and seems to be turning it around…
I’m confused. Is there an automated strike zone and then challenges are allowed to ball/strike calls? That doesn’t make sense to me.
I heard a discussion of this in passing on the radio the other day. I think he ump still calls balls and strikes, but each team gets a certain number of challenges each game. What’s interesting is that only the pitcher, catcher or hitter can challenge a ball/strike call. They claim it only takes about 10 seconds to check, so it wouldn’t be as long as a normal review.
I kinda maybe like that idea. It would be fun to see players with the ability to challenge.
I can imagine some thin-skinned player star on some other team like Donaldson insisting on challenges way too often, losing them, and then his teammates getting angry.