White Sox Minor Keys: Aug. 23, 2023

Norge Vera made his return to the Winston-Salem Dash at Bowling Green Ballpark in Kentucky on Wednesday night, but it was hard to call it long-awaited. Vera only made two appearances with the Dash back in April, and both were disasters:

• April 12: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 1 K, 12 of 32 pitches for strikes
• April 19: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 11 of 24 pitches for strikes

He then went on the injured list, and didn’t return to action until the end of July in the Arizona Complex League. Vera is 23, has struggled to stay healthy, and when he’s been able to take the mound, he hasn’t had his best stuff in over a calendar year.

And it was more of the same on Wednesday night. Vera worked 90-93 with his fastball, and 80-82 with his breaking balls, and nothing he threw was particularly effective. He threw 43 pitches and failed to get a single whiff.

That put pressure on his defense, which failed him on a couple of occasions. Mario Camilletti, playing his second game at Winston-Salem and his first game at left field, immediately played a double into a triple by thinking a ball was going to kick off the sidewall, only to keep bounding along it all the way into the corner. In the second, Caberea Weaver had a single clank off his wrist as he looked to prevent a runner from going from first to third. Not only did the guy who hit the single take second, but the runner who went from first to third made it all the way home, because Loidel Chapelli didn’t know where to go with the ball once he handled the throw in from Weaver. You can understand why the Jerry Reinsdorf thinks Chris Getz perfected player development, and now needs new worlds to conquer.

But those only cost him bases, not outs. For the evening, Vera allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits and two walks over 1 2/3 innings, striking out none. That gives him eight walks against three strikeouts over three innings in Winston-Salem this year. Whether you’re looking at the numbers or the performances, it’s easy to understand how he fell out of both the MLB.com and Baseball America top-30 White Sox prospects lists.

Charlotte 4, Memphis 3

• Seby Zavala was 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Adam Hackenberg replaced him, striking out, then delivering the walk-off single.
• Jordan Leasure: 1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 20 of 34 pitches for strikes.

Birmingham 4, Rocket City 3

• José Rodríguez went 1-for-5 with a double and two strikeouts.
• Colson Montgomery singled thrice and struck out twice.
• Bryan Ramos wore the silver sombrero during and 0-for-5 night.
• Wilfred Veras went 2-for-4 with a double, walk, strikeout and stolen base.
• Edgar Quero was 1-for-2 with a two-run homer and two walks.
• Tim Elko singled thrice and struck out once.
• Yoelqui Céspedes wore the collar and a silver sombrero.
• Terrell Tatum, 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
• Two in a row for Nick Nastrini: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 55 of 84 pitches for strikes.
• Jared Kelley: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Bowling Green 8, Winston-Salem 3

• Loidel Chapelli was 1-for-4 with a double, walk and two strikeouts.
• Brooks Baldwin was 1-for-5 with two strikeouts and a stolen base.
• Norge Vera: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 24 of 43 pitches for strikes.

Myrtle Beach 3, Kannapolis 2

• Rikuu Nishida went 1-for-3 with a walk. He was also caught stealing.
• Jacob Gonzalez, 0-for-3 with a walk.
• Calvin Harris struck out thrice during an 0-for-4 night.
• Jordan Sprinkle, 1-for-4 with a homer and a strikeout.
• Aldrin Batista: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

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