White Sox Minor Keys: Aug. 30, 2018

Nicopanico / Wikipedia

It looks like the daily Arizona Fall League updates are going to be worth watching here, too.

The White Sox put six players on the Glendale Desert Dogs roster, and it’s a very compelling initial crop:

Burdi was the most predictable, followed by Robert, as both of them missed time during the season. Burdi’s presence is a reminder that this is an aggressive assignment for Robert, who is hitting .255/.325/.330 over 28 games at Winston-Salem after a big game on Thursday.

It’s also an aggressive assignment for Rivera, although Rivera’s spent the year hitting .317/.360/.488 over 120 games split evenly between A-ball levels. The 23-year-old will get a chance to pick on kids his own size. (I figured Danny Mendick was the more likely infielder, since he’ll require Rule 5 consideration this winter.)

Basabe is a classic AFL case, pushing a prospect who is on the cusp of greater renown. He’s hitting .253/.337/.398 at Birmingham, a decent performance for an age-21 season at Double-A. This might be a way of keeping the reps coming, as the Barons will face the kind of outfield logjam that Winston-Salem managed during the first half.

Thompson and Banks are unusual choices for pitchers, in that both pitchers have been healthy all the way through. Thompson had a breakout year in his first full year as a reliever, posting a 1.59 ERA over 74 innings split between Birmingham and Winston-Salem. He’s Rule 5 eligible, so this could be a way to evaluate him in a tougher setting, or a showcase for moving him.

Banks, on the other hand, turns 27 in October, and he’s already thrown 146 innings as an organizational arm bouncing between High-A and Double-A. It’s possible he’s keeping a seat warm for other pitchers more classically suited for AFL work. Alec Hansen is probably out based on his major problems closing out the season, but Dane Dunning could fit the bill if his elbow is up to the task.

Charlotte 5, Durham 3

Biloxi 3, Birmingham 2

Winston-Salem 13, Salem 0

  • Nick Madrigal went 2-for-5 with a double.
  • Luis Robert doubled twice, singled once, struck out once, got plunked and stole a base.
  • Luis Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with a triple, walk and strikeout.
  • Gavin Sheets was 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
  • Ti’Quan Forbes, 1-for-3 with an HBP.
  • Laz Rivera went 2-for-4 with a homer, walk and strikeout.

Asheville 5, Kannapolis 4 (10 innings)

More:

*The Intimidators fell behind West Virginia in the hunt for the second postseason spot.

Helena 10, Great Falls 5

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Brett R. Bobysud

If Basabe has a good run in the AFL, it wouldn’t surprise me if he starts next season in Charlotte, since they need to clear room at Birmingham anyway, and, as has been pointed out previously, he’ll be burning options next year.

Also, Zavala’s hitting .291 in August, with 7 doubles in his last 7 games, so his average is ticking up. His OPS is still below 700 though, and one of the things that’s holding his offensive #s down with Charlotte is he’s not walking as much (3.4%) as he was at high-A (10.5%) and AA (11.6%).

roke1960

Eloy with a homer and Hamilton with a clean inning. Gee, you think they could have helped the Sox yesterday?

lil jimmy

“or a showcase for moving him.” I’m going with B.

I was in Birmingham Monday and Tuesday. Collins showed me nothing. 0. Five strike outs on Monday. Not even a foul ball. He also bounced a late throw to second on a steal.
Bernardo Flores and Codi Medeiros both looked good. I could see what they talk about with Codi. He has bat missing stuff, but in the fourth it disappeared. Catcher meeting, pitching coach meeting. First pitch a lolly pop, that was sent over the fence, plus walks. The next inning he was fine again.

PauliePaulie

Zack Collins’ OPS on June 4th- .946
Zack Collins’ OPS today- .783
Zack Collins’ K% on June 4th- 26%
Zack Collins’ K% today- 30%

GMetrix

Really loving the progression Luis Gonzalez took this season. I’m very curious to see what his future outlook looks like moving forward and I’ll be fairly surprised if he doesn’t creep into the top 10 system prospects

Trooper Galactus

Depends on who graduates. I can see him leapfrogging Burger and Hansen, and possibly Collins, which would leave him at 11 on the MLB.com list. From there, once Kopech loses his eligibility, I’d imagine he’s in the top-10.

Soxfan2

Gavin Sheets is gonna start in AA next year, correct? Obviously power has been absent, but he’s still putting up a 122 wRC+ with a 10.4 BB% and only a 16 K%. He has a very smooth left handed swing, but the White Sox need to change his swing path to get it more fly ball oriented. His 46.1 ground ball % is way too high. 

PauliePaulie

Showing worse peripherals and less pop than Rangel Ravelo, while being a year older at the level, is certainly not confidence inspiring.

sgp2204

Why? Ravelo has a pretty nice bat… His defense must be brutal if nobody has given him a chance in the bigs by now, but he has OPS’ed over .800 in almost 2,000 plate appearances between AA and AAA. And despite Ravelo being a year younger, it was his fourth year as a professional baseball player, so development is a little different. 

PauliePaulie

It wasn’t his defense. It’s a 1B who has 50hr’s in 3100+ pa’s.

sgp2204

Yet he still has an .800+ OPS in the upper minors. Or is OPS only important for some hitters? 

Eagle Bones

Eh, he’s on the right side of the platoon (Ravelo wasn’t) and he’s got plus raw from most accounts I’ve read. I don’t think Ravelo had that either.

PauliePaulie

I’ll be interested to see what that Power grade is after this year. The “has muscles, but no bat speed” scouting report seems to have been the more accurate one.

Smclean09

Lindor, Betts, J Ramirez, Albies, Altuve all had no power in the minors. I’ll put faith in a 6 foot 5 guy to have some kind of power increase in today’s majors