White Sox director of player development Paul Janish talked to beat writers for nearly a half hour on Saturday, and he correctly guessed what the first question would be about.
"We've still got a great deal of belief in Colson [Montgomery]," Janish said. "This is an effort to remove him from the environment briefly, and re-insert him hopefully this coming week and give him a little bit of a fresh start. With going all the way down to the daily routine, and just getting him into the mindset of just competing every night. Just grinding out four really really tough at-bats every single night, making the pitcher miserable using his skill set he’s really good at, which is controlling the zone."
Janish said Montgomery has mostly been working on mechanics in the hitting lab at the team complex in Arizona, and taking some batting practice reps in the field, but there's a possibility he plays in extended spring games before he returns to Triple-A Charlotte. The Sox farm director referenced some conditioning work to keep Montgomery in game shape while he's inactive as well.
"I'm glad that we were comfortable enough to pull the trigger on this earlier rather than later, just because it's something that I think can be a little bit of an 'a-ha' moment, to get out of the affiliate day-to-day, and just breathe and get back into it," Janish said. "I wouldn't call it extreme. I know other organizations have used it and done it, as well, with certain players. Obviously, it's the type of thing we do with a guy we think a lot of, care a lot [about], expect a lot of. It's not the type of thing you necessarily do with everybody. Not extreme, just another tool in the sense of, 'Look, this is what we feel is best in terms of righting the ship.'"
With Montgomery theoretically still close to the majors, Janish said that's part of why this more significant intervention was undertaken with the goal of him still playing in the majors at some point this year. With someone like 19-year-old George Wolkow, who is struggling at Low-A Kannapolis but also working on mechanical changes that have boosted his contact rate, Janish said they're more comfortable letting him work through his struggles.
⚙️⚙️⚙️
Wikelman González's promotion to Triple-A comes with a catch: He is indeed moving to the bullpen as a multi-inning option. Janish said that if González performs, it would be unsurprising to see him make his major league debut later this year. The Red Sox had already put González on the 40-man roster and this is his second option year, which Janish noted is a factor in this decision.
"It's going to be two to three innings, depending on the pitch count," Janish said of González's outing. "Not to say he'll never start again, but at this juncture, from a major league contribution standpoint, there's some thought that he can help in the pen. So getting him used to that role is the thought there. And obviously, bumping him to Charlotte, where he can go to the highest level before getting to the big leagues, is relevant for him at this stage."
⚙️⚙️⚙️
Some stray remarks from different White Sox personnel over the spring could fuel the belief that Kyle Teel was slightly more highly regarded internally than Edgar Quero. It hasn't necessarily flipped entirely, but Quero is impressing in his opening weeks and, at the very least, is being acknowledged as the more advanced of the two, with Teel getting mentioned as someone who will benefit from more playing time to work on his framing and pitch-calling.
"I don’t think we’re questioning the skill set. We’re not going to question whether he has the ability to play at the major-league level," Janish said. "But highlighting that position specifically, it’s just reps. And it benefits Kyle, too, at this juncture to play four or five days a week behind the plate, and just continue to see things that happen with certain types of hitters, and how he can continue to put those things in his data base to draw upon moving forward."
⚙️⚙️⚙️
DJ Gladney was activated from the injured list at Double-A Birmingham on Saturday after dealing with an illness. He had not played since April 22 and scuffled to a .218/.262/.236 start, but Janish said Gladney's malady had sapped his strength.
Last year's third-round pick Nick McLain is on the injured list at Low-A Kannapolis with what Janish described as back discomfort that has hampered him in the past as well, which is notable as he wasn't able to make his pro debut until this season.
"Hopefully it will be short-lived. We think a lot of him and just the way he plays the game is who we want to be, just from a tenacity standpoint and a competitor standpoint," Janish said. "One of the things he’s going to have to figure out is how to play the game the way he wants to play it, and stay healthy over the course of a professional season."
White Sox Minor Keys
Norfolk 11, Charlotte 1
- Tim Elko went 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
- Bryan Ramos was 0-for-2 with a walk.
- Eric Adler opened, and it didn't go well: 1 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR
- Nick Nastrini followed, and a four-run fourth ruined his line: 5 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 1 HR
- Zach DeLoach threw 51 mph "sliders": 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K
Birmingham 4, Pensacola 0 (Game 1, 7 innings)
- Rikuu Nishida went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- William Bergolla, 1-for-4.
- Wilfred Veras walked thrice, struck out once and stole a base.
- Jacob Gonzalez doubled, walked, struck out and stole a base.
- Grant Taylor: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 28 of 46 pitches for strikes.
- Peyton Pallette: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 7 of 13 pitches for strikes.
Pensacola 4, Birmingham 1 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- William Bergolla was 0-for-3.
- Wilfred Veras, 1-for-3.
- DJ Gladney went 1-for-3 with a strikeout.
- Jacob Gonzalez was 1-for-3 with a double and a strikeout.
Kannapolis 11, Augusta 2
- Caleb Bonemer singled, walked twice and struck out twice.
- Ronny Hernandez was 2-for-5 with two strikeouts and a stolen base.
- Javier Mogollón, 1-for-3 with a homer, two walks and a strikeout.
- Lyle Miller-Green went 1-for-3 with a double and two walks, and he was caught stealing.
- George Wolkow was 1-for-2 with a walk, sac bunt, sac fly and a stolen base.
- Luis Reyes: 5 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 55 of 80 pitches for strikes.
- Pierce Geroge: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 6 of 12 pitches for strikes.
ACL Brewers 7, ACL White Sox 6 (7 innings)
- Adrian Gíl went 2-for-3 with a homer, triple and walk
- Jurdrick Profar, 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Mathias LaCombe finally pitched: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 HR, 30 of 52 pitches for strikes.
