White Sox Minor Keys: June 21, 2019

What I think of when I think of Yermin Mercedes.

The second half of the minor-league season is underway, and as is customary, the White Sox used the break to arrange a slew of promotions between the affiliates. None of them are particularly high-profile, but a few players will get to see if their strong first halves can be duplicated against tougher competition.

Charlotte gets: C Yermin Mercedes, LHP Kyle Kubat

Mercedes isn’t much of a catcher, but his 5-foot-11-inch frame and catcher speed doesn’t leave him many other places to play. That said, he’s hit .327/.389/.497 at Birmingham, so respect must be paid. I don’t think he’ll usurp Seby Zavala as the No. 1 option, but if Zavala gets hurt again, or if he doesn’t show improvement in plate discipline, Mercedes won’t be a waste of playing time as an alternative. Mercedes offers more entertainment, in the sense that he plays with a lot of charisma.

Kubat (2.05 ERA over 12 starts between Winston-Salem and Birmingham) automatically becomes the second-most interesting starter behind Dylan Cease despite a lack of strikeout stuff.

Birmingham gets: RHP Codi Heuer, LHP John Parke

Heuer’s got live stuff, and managed to pitch 20 games at Winston-Salem without giving up a homer, which is an accomplishment. The 43 strikeouts to eight walks over 38⅓ innings isn’t bad, either. Parke, a 21st-round draft pick two years ago, struck out just 32 batters over 69 innings.

Winston-Salem gets: RHP Jonathan Stiever, LHP Bennett Sousa, LHP Andrew Perez

Stiever is a more intriguing starter than Parke, although the 4.74 ERA doesn’t show it. He’s run hot and cold this year, or more correctly regarding the shape of this season, cold and hot. Perez and Sousa have both been successful out of the Kannapolis bullpen, with Perez posting gaudier strikeout rates in line with his college closer status.

The Intimidators announced no new players, although they should get a couple of rehabbers on their way if the bodies of Jake Burger and Tyler Johnson will cooperate.

Charlotte 6, Syracuse 1

  • Jon Jay went 3-for-5 with a strikeout.
  • Daniel Palka doubled, singled, walked and struck out.
  • Danny Mendick pushed his OPS back to .800 after going 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.
  • Rough Triple-A debut for Yermin Mercedes, going 0-for-4 with a strikeout and nine stranded.

Chattanooga 10, Birmingham 9

  • Luis Robert went 1-for-4 with a homer, a walk, two strikeouts and a stolen base.
  • Nick Madrigal went 2-for-5.
  • Luis Gonzalez, 1-for-5 with a double.
  • Gavin Sheets was 1-for-4.
  • Blake Rutherford, 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
  • Luis Basabe doubled in his only at-bat.
  • Laz Rivera went 0-for-2 with a walk and a sac fly.
  • Blake Battenfield: 4 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HB
  • Codi Heuer: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
  • Zack Burdi: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Winston-Salem 3, Lynchburg 0

  • Carlos Perez went 1-for-4.
  • Kade McClure: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K

Kannapolis 3, Augusta 0

  • Lenyn Sosa went 2-for-4 with a double.
  • Bryce Bush, 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
  • Corey Zangari was 1-for-4 with a stolen base.
  • Romy Gonzalez went 0-for-2 with a walk, strikeout and stolen base.
  • Luis Curbelo struck out all three times.
  • Davis Martin: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 WP

Billings 2, Great Falls 0 (5½ innings, rain)

  • Camilo Quintero had all the Voyagers’ hits while going 2-for-3. He was caught stealing.
  • Luis Mieses and Sam Abbott were both 0-for-2 with a strikeout.
  • Anderson Comas, 0-for-2.
  • Lency Delgado struck out both times up.
  • Kleyder Sanchez was 0-for-1 with a walk.

AZL White Sox 11, AZL Brewers Blue 10 (14 innings)

  • Misael Gonzalez went 3-for-7 with a walk and two strikeouts.
  • Sidney Pimentel went 1-for-7 with a walk and two strikeouts.
  • Jose Rodriguez, 3-for-7 with a triple two strikeouts.
  • D.J. Gladney was 3-for-7 with a homer two doubles, two strikeouts and a sac fly.
  • Anthony Coronado was 2-for-6 with a triple, double and HBP.
  • Jacob Lindgren: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
  • Tyler Johnson: 1 IP, 3 H 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
  • Outfielder Jonathan Allen picked up the win: 2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

DSL Orioles1 5, DSL White Sox 3

  • Anthony Espinoza went 0-for-4.
  • Benyamin Bailey, 0-for-3 with a walk.
  • Alberto Bernal was 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
  • Luis Pineda, 0-for-4 with a K.
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22 Comments
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ParisSox

Going to have to keep a close watch on Heuer.

evenyoudorn

I hardly even know Heuer.

denbum

It’s looking like J Jay’s ready. With Eloy in LF, I’m hoping for a Cordell-Jay-Tilson rotation in CF & RF. All 3 are better defensive OF than Garcia. If Garcia is hurt, he should go to IL. If not, he could spot play in IF. Give Yolmer or Timmy a day off occasionally or play 3B if Moncada should be on IL. Garcia and Rondon then are competing for 25th-man spot.
Now if only it turns out that Z Collins can fill in effectively at C, Wellington Castillo can hit the bricks and take Y Alonso with him.

evenyoudorn

Maybe DH Leury some until his wheels are right. When he’s closer to 100%, he and Eloy can rotate LF/DH? Eloy is bad now but they need to give him reps until it’s painfully clear.

Brett R. Bobysud

All 3 are better defensive OF than Garcia

Not according to fangraphs dWar they’re not. Garcia has the highest mark on the team.

denbum

Don’t want to get into a back-and-forth debate. But Brett & Jim, I don’t know about dWar or jumps. But the perception I get from the eye test is that IMO when Garcia does take a bad route or does make a very inaccurate throw or does almost collide with other OF or has a ball drop on an occasion where the CF is to take charge (ALL of which I’ve seen happen) – it frequently seems to happen at the most unfortunate time or our pitchers don’t seem to be able to ‘pitch over it’. Sometimes numbers don’t always paint the true picture?

mikeyb

If your assessment of Tilson > Garcia is based on Eye Test, you absolutely need to get to an optometrist ASAP. And maybe turn over your driver’s license.

Right Size Wrong Shape

Beat me to it. Watching Tilson is a sphincter tightening experience.

Neat_on_the_rocks

You are not watching the games if the eye test tells you Tilson is better defensively than Garcia.

Greg Nix

Eye test calibrating… calibrating… ERROR ERROR ERROR

lil jimmy

Martin Davis, nine earned runs in his last five starts. 30 innings, 33 strike out, a good month for him.

evenyoudorn

Transposed or no, he could probably use a nickname like ‘Sinatra’ or ‘Copa’.

I promise to stop commenting now. Enjoy your Friday.

lil jimmy

Maybe Sammy Dean Jr.

MrTopaz

Rat pack.

asinwreck

Didn’t Martin Davis want to buy the Sox and move them to Denver in 1980?

TheBigHrabosky

With Mercedes being promoted to AAA are the Sox planning to keep Collins in the majors longer than just Castillo’s DL stint? Or do they plan to use him at 1B when he’s sent down?

Brett R. Bobysud

I think they would like to.

I wonder if they might DFA Alonso once Castillo comes off the IL. Then he takes back over as the second catcher while Collins becomes the lefty DH/1B and emergency catcher.

This way, you avoid potential pitfalls by having both of your catchers in the lineup at the same time that they ran into last week.

Neat_on_the_rocks

They aren’t going to give up on Collins at catcher and make him the “emergency catcher” this year. whether we the fans think they should or not is irrelevant, they’re not going to at least in 2019.

They could roster 3 catchers but I think Castillo would be the one to get shaft in terms of playing time. Castillo would be the “emergency catcher”/”starts at catcher against LHP when Mccann needs the day off” guy.

Collins would get at least 1 start a week at catcher, probably 2 starts a week at catcher, 1 or 2 at 1B and 1 or 2 at DH.

asinwreck

Luis Robert is TTO with speed today.

If memory serves, Souza and Perez were supposed to move quickly when drafted, so I’m glad to see them in Winston-Salem. Probably the farmhand happiest about this update is Kubat, who’s had quite the eventful 2019.

jorgefabregas

Enoy Jimenez is now listed on MLB.com as Cesar with Enoy listed as a nickname.