White Sox Minor Keys: July 19, 2023
Jared Kelley already made his Double-A debut as part of Project Birmingham last year, but he actually merited a promotion to the Barons for the first time on Wednesday.
Kelley’s performance in Winston-Salem didn’t stand out, but that’s because he dug himself a hole with some ugly work in the Dash rotation. When the Sox moved him to the bullpen in a long-relief/piggyback role, his fortunes improved immensely. He opened his relief career with 14⅓ innings of one-run ball, and even with some regression over his final three outings, he still did a better job of forcing hitters to get him in trouble:
- As starter: .322/.444/.509, 13 BB, 14 K over 72 PA
- As reliever: .177/.266/.281 12 BB, 33 K over 109 PA
From here, the question is “Which mean is Kelley regressing to?” If it’s the standards of your typical good reliever, then better days should be on the horizon. If his Birmingham debut — four runs on two hits and three walks over two-thirds of an inning — foreshadows the immediate future, then he might be sliding towards his career norms.
Memphis 9, Charlotte 6
- Yoán Moncada went 3-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Lenyn Sosa was 0-for-5 with a K.
- Mike Mayers’ organizational debut: 3 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 2 HR
Birmingham 11, Chattanooga 8
- Terrell Tatum went 1-for-3 with two walks and a stolen base.
- José Rodríguez, 1-for-5 with a double and a strikeout.
- Bryan Ramos was 2-for-4 with an HBP.
- Alsander Womack, 0-for-2 with three walks. He was also caught stealing.
- Luis Mieses went 3-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Yoelqui Céspedes, 0-for-4.
- Adam Hackenberg was 1-for-3 with a walk, HBP, two strikeouts and a stolen base.
- Jared Kelley: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
Winston-Salem 8, Jersey Shore 7
- Jacob Burke went 2-for-4 with a double, HBP and a strikeout.
- Colson Montgomery was 1-for-4 with a walk.
- Wilfred Veras, 2-for-5 with a strikeout and a CS.
- Loidel Chapelli singled, walked and struck out twice.
- Josimar Cousin: 2.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HBP
Carolina 13, Kannapolis 2
- Brooks Baldwin went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
Hackenberg has somewhat quietly put himself in the position of maybe this guy gets a cup of coffee in the bigs down the road or maybe if you squeeze everything out of him he could be a backup for a couple years…. seems like he is actually steadily developing.
Not sure why Kelley warranted a promotion before Montgomery but hopefully that gets resolved in the next few days.
Is Hackenberg catching well still? I know he was more known for the defense side, and an adequate bat puts him in 3rd catcher range.
I think in general he is viewed as a decent enough defender. If he is just AAA fodder and the emergency guy if the big league club has an injury that is still a win for an 18th round pick.
I could see Burke and Montgomery moving up to B’Ham soon too. Maybe a reshuffle after the trade deadline?
I’m not very encouraged by the reemergence of the AA hitters. If they couldn’t handle the more/better breaking stuff and spin of the tacky ball, how are they going to handle the more/better breaking stuff and spin of the major league pitchers? It seems a bit of a forewarning.
I think that was a problem across the entire AA level where several teams were complaining about not being able to trust any numbers that were coming out of there. I think its more discouraging that more pitchers did not stand out for the Sox.
Sure, it likely exposed a lot of imposters across the league and what GM wants that!
I agree about the pitching being more discouraging, dammit.