From an analysis perspective, judging a player for their first bit of professional action after the draft is cautioned against. That's especially true for someone as uniquely snakebitten as former sixth-round pick Colby Shelton was last summer at Low-A Kannapolis, as he went hitless in nine of his first 10 games and slid to a .141/.243/.172 line in 115 plate appearances.
His BABIP was an unfathomable .173, and Shelton also said he was recovering from a hamate injury, but after going through a stretch like that, he had no interest in standing pat.
"I definitely failed a lot there and I feel like I learned a lot in that short season," said Shelton. "Kind of just look back and like, singles are great, but what's going to get me to the big leagues -- you got to hit for power and get on base more. So just going to the offseason, kind of just trying to get back to my identity, what I had early on my career: Drive the ball."
Though he lifted a combined 45 homers against SEC competition in his first two collegiate seasons, Shelton spent his draft year trying to address contact concerns that had been raised with his profile. He thinks the time he spent focused on two-strike approach and trying to curb the chase tendencies in his approach were useful long-term, and he saw his strikeout rate more than halved (26.4 to 11.8 percent) from his sophomore to junior seasons.
But Shelton also felt his ability to drive the ball for extra-bases was diminished from his more upright setup where he started his hands higher. He produced a gaudy .377/.458/.606 line in his junior season at Florida but saw his home run total dwindle to seven, and Shelton had just one extra-base hit in his 27-game pro debut, where he produced below-average raw exit velocities.
Again, the hamate issue seems relevant here, but that was still enough of a nudge to change some things. It's a little different to see a hitter break out for power after settling into a deeper crouch, but Shelton also lowered his hands and reset his swing path to a style of swinging that had produced for him before.
"I just got a better path to get the ball in the air and work behind it, I got more space to do certain things that maybe I didn't have had the space to do in the past." Shelton said of his new setup. "That's how I hit early on in my career, and I think that's just my swing right there: Get in my legs, use my legs, get behind the ball and let it eat."
Since Shelton is hitting .384/.490/.721 with 16 extra-base hits in 23 games, and already six home runs through the opening month of the season, he could be explaining his decision to wear his spikes on his hands and his results would justify it. The White Sox have spent the spring emphasizing bat speed and driving the baseball for impact, and while Shelton has more of an average contact rate (72.4 percent) beneath his admirable 18.2 percent strikeout rate, his emphasis on hard contact is generally speaking their new language.
"Colby had a really good offseason," said farm director Paul Janish. "Really just focus on what he’s good at, and that’s the ability to hit the ball hard and get as many A-swings off as he can. Giving him peace of mind that if you swing and miss a little bit, it’s OK."
It's also hard to miss that Shelton doesn't need a big loading action to generate force. He's noticeably bulked up from his offseason training at Summer Method Performance Center in Florida, and feels its only added stability and quickness with his swing. Playing mostly third base alongside Caleb Bonemer and Anthony DePino, Shelton rounds out a Winston-Salem Dash infield that's all hitting, and often looks like they could double as runstopping linebackers.
"You have Kyle [Lodise] who is like the brains of the operation, he's very smart with a lot of things that comes with baseball," DePino said. "He helps us out a lot with regards to gameplanning and all that stuff. We all kind of sit down together whether it's pregame or postgame at dinner and we'll be talking about, 'What's our approach against this guy?'"
Both 23, Shelton and DePino are a bit older for the level and a successful season for them probably doesn't involve spending the second half of it in Winston-Salem. But the Sox aren't in a rush to split apart this grouping, since it's the affiliate with the best chance to experience a playoff race, and the atmosphere among the hitters present is the kind they're trying to cultivate.
"The biggest thing that's been great for me is [the White Sox] are big on challenge; how can we make you uncomfortable in the cage so that when it comes game time, it's easier?" Shelton said. "Seeing different shapes in the cages and failing a lot so when it comes game time, whatever you're seeing in the cage translates over to the game and it's a little bit easier."
Gwinnett 4, Charlotte 3
- Rikuu Nishida was 1-for-3 with a walk, a run scored and a strikeout.
- Jacob Gonzalez was 0-for-2, but walked thrice.
- Ryan Galanie went 1-for-5 with a pair of strikeouts.
- Tyler Schweitzer: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 31 of 44 pitches for strikes
- Ben Peoples lowered his ERA to 0.52: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, 3 K
Birmingham 9, Chattanooga 3
- Samuel Zavala was 1-for-4 with a walk, two stolen bases and two runs scored.
- Braden Montgomery, 1-for-4 with his fifth home run of the season, a walk, two runs scored and two strikeouts.
- Jeral Perez went 0-for-3 with two walks and a strikeout, but made the most of it, swiping two bags and scoring a run.
- Christian Oppor backslid: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, K, 0 HR, 38 of 81 pitches for strikes.
Winston-Salem 10, Greensboro 1
- Caleb Bonemer singled, walked twice, scored thrice, and also had two strikeouts.
- Shelton went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk and a strikeout.
- Anthony DePino was 2-for-4 with a walk, strikeout, run scored and an RBI.
- Kyle Lodise, 1-for-5 with two runs scored, and went 1-for-2 on the basepaths.
- George Wolkow had a pair of singles, a pair of strikeouts and drove in four.
- Boston Smith went 2-for-4 with a walk, and lifted his sixth home run in 11 games with the Dash
- Gabe Davis might have had his best pro outing to date: 4 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 9 K, 66 pitches, 44 strikes.
Augusta 4, Kannapolis 3
- Jaden Fauske went 0-for-2 with a strikeout, but walked three times and scored.
- Javier Mogollon went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Matthew Boughton, 3-for-5 with his first professional home run.
Boughton seemed pleased with his work:
