The ACL White Sox have one of the oldest rosters in the Arizona Complex League on both the position-player (20.9 years; average age 19.6) and pitching sides (21.7; 21.1), so the arrival of 18-year-old outfielder Christian Gonzalez from the Dominican Summer League is a welcome development.
Gonzalez, a $550,000 signing out of Venezuela a couple of signing classes ago, repeated the start of his second season in the Dominican Summer League, but hit his way off the island by posting a .431/.554/.615 line over 84 plate appearances, and as highlighted in Farm Fortnight, he was somehow getting stronger as the season went on. He showed an advanced batting eye in his debut year with more walks than strikeouts, and this year he added a little bit of pop, as he nearly doubled his extra-base hit output in not even half the plate appearances.
He made his stateside debut on Tuesday, going 1-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts.
Birmingham 7, Biloxi 5
- Rikuu Nishida went 2-for-5 with a strikeout and a stolen base.
- William Bergolla was 2-for-5.
- Ryan Galanie went 1-for-5 with a homer and a strikeout.
- Jacob Gonzalez, 1-for-4 with a homer and a strikeout.
- Wilfred Veras also homered during a 2-for-4 night.
- Jake Palisch: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 52 of 84 pitches for strikes.
Greenville 2, Winston-Salem 1
- Sam Antonacci went 2-for-4 with a double, although he was caught stealing.
- Jeral Perez, 0-for-4 with a K.
- Braden Montgomery went 1-for-3 with a walk.
- Samuel Zavala, 1-for-4.
Kannapolis 9, Myrtle Beach 2
- Ryan Burrowes went 2-for-4 with a triple and a sac fly.
- Caleb Bonemer was 1-for-4 with a double and a walk.
- Lyle Miller-Green, 2-for-3 with two walks.
- Ronny Hernandez, 1-for-5.
- George Wolkow wore the collar and silver sombrero.
- Abraham Nuñez had a perfect night at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a triple. He was imperfect on the basepaths, getting picked off/caught stealing.
- Seth Keener: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 61 of 84 pitches for strikes.
ACL Guardians 11, ACL White Sox 2 (7 innings)
- Adrian Gíl singled, walked and struck out.
- Christian Gonzalez singled and struck out twice in his stateside debut.
- Mathias LaCombe in relief after Connor McCullough's rehab start: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 HBP.
DSL White Sox 7 , DSL Giants Orange 2 (7 innings)
- Frank Mieses went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Eduardo Herrera was 0-for-4.
- Alejandro Cruz was 1-for-2 with a double, walk and HBP.
- Yordani Soto went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.
