If wins and losses aren't the be-all, end-all for minor league teams, then individual win-loss records certainly don't hit the same way with minor league pitchers, especially ones who operate under strict usage terms. Dylan Cease went 0-8 in his first nine starts in the White Sox system, and Noah Schultz was strictly prohibited from qualifying for a win with his four-inning max last year, and nobody cares.
That said, I've been fascinated by the plight of Tanner McDougal, who picked up a win in his professional debut -- via an immaculate inning -- back on Aug. 14, 2021, and hasn't been able to log a personal victory since.
Over his last 59 appearances, McDougal is 0-19. That includes an 0-3 record while he was limited to four innings an outing with Kannapolis in 2023, but he's 0-14 as a starter with no such restrictions since, and Saturday's represented a new level of snake-bitten. He threw the longest, strongest outing of his professional career for the Dash with seven scoreless innings. He allowed just three hits and no walks while striking out eight, and he did so with efficiency you seldom see from him (64 of 83 pitches for strikes).
Unfortunately, the Dash produced zero runs when he was on the mound, and the scoreless tie was broken with a four-run ninth. Phil Fox ended up picking up the win for his two innings of relief. Fox is now 2-1 on the season, which is one more win than McDougal has in his career.
Buffalo 5, Charlotte 4
- Dru Baker was 0-for-5 with a K.
- Andrew Vaughn went 3-for-5 with two doubles.
- Tim Elko, 1-for-4 with a K.
- Kyle Teel, 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Wikelman González: 2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 28 of 46 pitches for strikes.
- Peyton Pallette: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 22 of 31 pitches for strikes.
Knoxville 2, Birmingham 0 (Game 1, 7 innings)
- Rikuu Nishida was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- William Bergolla, 0-for-3 with a K.
- Ryan Galanie, 1-for-3 with a stolen base.
- Jacob Gonzalez went 0-for-3.
- Wilfred Veras struck out all three times.
- DJ Gladney went 1-for-2 with a walk.
- Noah Schultz: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 46 of 70 pitches for strikes.
- Grant Taylor: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 12 of 15 pitches for strikes.
Notes:
*Schultz walked the leadoff hitter on four pitches in each of the first two innings, and threw just 18 of his 35 pitches for strikes. Over the last three innings? 28 of 35.
Birmingham 2, Knoxville 1 (Game 2, 8 innings)
- William Bergolla went 1-for-4 with a double.
- Ryan Galanie went 1-for-3 with a walk.
- Jacob Gonzalez was 2-for-4 with a double.
- Wilfred Veras singled and struck out twice.
- Rikuu Nishida pinch-ran and scored
Winston-Salem 4, Hub City 1
- Jeral Perez went 2-for-4 with a double.
- Braden Montgomery and Samuel Zavala both were 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Tanner McDougal: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K
Charleston 5, Kannapolis 1 (Game 1, 7 innings)
- Ryan Burrowes went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Abraham Nuñez was 0-for-3.
- Caleb Bonemer went 1-for-3 with a strikeout, and was picked off.
- Ronny Hernandez, 1-for-2 with a walk.
- George Wolkow was 0-for-3.
- Lyle Miller-Green went 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Luis Reyes: 3.2 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
Notes:
*It's pretty impressive that Reyes gave up no earned runs despite being scored upon in three different innings. He committed two errors himself, so he might've found a glitch for lowering his ERA, which is down to 6.98.
Charleston 5, Kannapolis 3 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Ryan Burrowes went 1-for-2 with a walk.
- Abraham Nuñez was 0-for-1 with two walks.
- Javier Mogollón went 2-for-3 with a homer and a double.
- Ronny Hernandez, 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Lyle Miller-Green singled and struck out twice.
- George Wolkow was 1-for-3 with a strikeout, and was caught stealing for the first two times this season.
ACL White Sox 8, ACL Mariners 6 (10 innings)
- Sam Antonacci played for the first time since May 11, going 4-for-5 with a double, walk and strikeout. He was also caught stealing.
- T.J. McCants went 2-for-6 with a triple, two strikeouts and a stolen base.
- Adrian Gíl went 2-for-4 with a homer, strikeout and HBP.
- Jurdrick Profar went 1-for-4 with a walk, two strikeouts and two stolen bases.
