NASHVILLE -- Jonathan Cannon put a stamp on an excellent July with six innings of one-run ball against the Nashville Sounds on Wednesday. He finished the month with a 2.75 ERA and just 24 baserunners against 24 strikeouts over 28 innings, spanning three starts and two bulk-work outings. When it comes to how and when the White Sox could use him, he's as ready as he's been in a long time.
"I think from really June, maybe like mid-may to June and now has been has been very good for me; just kind of able to find my form and really go out there every week and put together good starts," Cannon told Sox Machine at First Horizon Park on Sunday. "It's been a lot of work behind the scenes and a lot of stuff, obviously trying to get back to the big leagues, but it's been very, very beneficial for my career in the long run to be able to tinker with some of those pitches and learn almost again, like kind of what I do best, and what's the best way to get these guys out."
Cannon's arsenal always requires reviewing because of said tinkering, and the latest version of him has him leading with a four-seam fastball, blending his slider into a cutter, and using his sweeper -- even against lefties -- to reduce overexposure to his changeup, which he considers his best secondary.
"I looked back at why [the sweeper] possibly got hit around last year, and it was a lot of command. I wasn't commanding it very well," Cannon said. "And so we really worked hard on the command of the sweeper, especially lefties, going back door with it, watching [Erick] Fedde have a lot of success with it up in the big leagues, trying to do a lot of that.
"And then really, the pulling back on the changeup usage -- changeup's my best pitch to lefties, and the more they get a look at it, if I'm throwing it three, four, five times times in an at-bat, it makes it tougher, to strike him out with it. So just try not to give them as many looks at it, and using other stuff to get ahead."
The cutter also qualifies as "other stuff," and it's effectively taken the place of his slider by adopting some of that pitch's characteristics.
"The cutter is a little more depthy than it was last year, it has a little bit more horizontal, and that's helped me a lot to lefties, especially, but also righties using a little bit more down in the zone. Not using it a ton, but using it enough for it to be effective," Cannon said.
"They're similar grips. The cutter wasn't moving enough horizontally, and the gyro wasn't hard enough. And so I kind of ran into where I had, now, two slightly below-average pitches. I was like, OK, let's kind of mesh them into one, and make it one above-average pitch, and that's kind of what it's become a little bit. I think it's still got some room to use it even more, but it's been very effective over the last couple weeks and look to keep using in the arsenal."
The end result is that Cannon, a pitcher who has historically battled issues against left-handed hitters, is now holding them to a lower OPS (.790) than righties (.806). That both numbers round to .800 reflects the problems had before the end of June, particularly at Charlotte's Truist Field, where he has a 6.52 ERA, but that mark has come down multiple runs over this stretch.
Right now, the most unfavorable number for Cannon might be the amount of pitchers in front of him. With the addition of Luis Castillo moving Fedde to the bullpen, the 26-man roster has more starters than rotation spots. That status is always tenuous, though, so should the White Sox have to dip into their Triple-A options, Cannon has done what he could to put himself toward the front of the line.
Nashville 5, Charlotte 3
- Rikuu Nishida was 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Austin Hays was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer.
- Ryan Galanie went 1-for-3 with a triple and a walk.
- Eric Haase was 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- José Urquidy: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR, 46 of 64 pitches for strikes.
- Mason Adams: 3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 39 of 60 pitches for strikes.
Birmingham 6, Chattanooga 5
- Caleb Bonemer went 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Anthony DePino did the same, except his hit was his 13th homer.
- Colby Shelton was 2-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- Ryan Burrowes went 1-for-2 with two walks.
- James Taussig, 0-for-4 with a K.
- Samuel Zavala went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.
- Mathias LaCombe: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 11 of 15 pitches for strikes.
- Pierce George: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 11 of 15 pitches for strikes.
Brooklyn 6, Winston-Salem 5
- Javier Mogollón went 1-for-3 with a walk, sac fly and a strikeout.
- George Wolkow was 1-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- Jeral Perez, 0-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Kyle Lodise went 1-for-3 with a wal, strikeout and stolen base.
Kannapolis 8, Salem 4
- Jaden Fauske went 1-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- Matthew Boughton, 1-for-4 with a K.
- Billy Carlson was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Alexander Albertus went 1-for-3 with a walk.
- Braden Holcomb doubled, singled twice, walked once and stole a base.
- Christian Gonzalez doubled, walked and struck out twice.
