White Sox Minor Keys: May 1, 2018
The White Sox announced three recipients for their two minor-league awards on Tuesday.
*Luis Alexander Basabe: Co-player of the month after hitting .313/.400/.615 with 14 extra-base hits.
*Seby Zavala: Co-player of the month after hitting .315/.411/.616 with six homers at Birmingham, a notorious pitchers’ park.
*Michael Kopech: Pitcher of the month after posting a 2.14 ERA and striking out 29 batters to just seven walks over 21 innings at Charlotte.
Mind you, these awards aren’t necessarily the most scientific in nature.
The process has become poisoned once realized we were essentially taking a poll on who we wanted to get put on a conference call
— James Fegan (@JRFegan) May 1, 2018
Also, Rick Hahn is on hand for the White Sox-Cardinals series, so he was able to update statuses for Luis Robert (hitting in 7-10 days) and Alec Hansen (throwing a bullpen next week).
Gwinnett 8, Charlotte 6
- Charlie Tilson went 1-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Jose Rondon, 2-for-5 with a double and a strikeout.
- Casey Gillaspie was 0-for-4 with a strikeout, but committed two errors.
- Eddy Alvarez was 0-for-4 with a K.
- Michael Kopech: 6 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 1 HBP
More:
*Hahn said Kopech still needs to work on his changeups. Well, guess what:
#CLTKnights P Michael Kopech on his pitch selection tonight and moving forward. @SoxMachine pic.twitter.com/CgefiuNlzD
— Jonathan Lee (@followmefor3) May 2, 2018
Winston-Salem 9, Lynchburg 0
- Joel Booker went 0-for-3 with two walks and a strikeout.
- Blake Rutherford, 2-for-5 with two steals.
- Micker Adolfo doubled twice, struck out once and left the game after getting plunked.
- Ti’Quan Forbes entered as a pinch-runner and was 0-for-1.
- Gavin Sheets went 1-for-3 with two walks.
- Yeyson Yrizarri was 2-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- Alex Call, 1-for-4 with a homer and a strikeout.
- Dylan Cease posted his best start of the year: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 12 K, 1 WP. He retired 19 in a row at one point.
Kannapolis 8, Hickory 5
- Luis Gonzalez went 3-for-5 with a triple and a strikeout.
- Justin Yurcha, 2-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Evan Skoug avoided striking out, going 1-for-3 with a double, walk and stolen base.
- Michael Hickman went 2-for-4 with a double and a strikeout.
looking at the schedule, it looks hard to squeeze Kopech in. Would a team move everyone down a day to squeeze him in? May 8th vs Pittsburgh, then @ Pittsburgh the next turn
Yesterday Hahn said Kopech wasn’t ready. Right or wrong, looking for a series to work him in a month from now might be more realistic.
You’re looking at the schedule and Hahn is looking at future payrolls, so it’s doubtful you’ll both get to the same answer.
Hahn and Co. to prospects: “No sense trying to force the issue on call ups.”
I’m going with June 16th. He gets the Tigers in Chicago, then the A’s, Twins, and Reds. That’s not a bad way to break him in if Hahn wants to give him the easy matchups like he has in the past. And of course it alleviates any Super 2 concerns.
Seems I was very, very wrong about Casey Gilaspie.
Well, at least you didn’t marry him!
I predicted an OPS of .800 for Engel this year so never fear, there’s someone out there with a worse take than, “Gillaspie is gonna put it together this year.”
James Shields and Dylan Cease posted quality starts on the same day.
Isn’t Micker Adolfo “left the game after getting plunked” a similar refrain from last year? Is he properly armored?
They were leading 9-0 at the time, so perhaps it was the lead more than anything.
Mayo at MLB had a new Mock. Bohm to the Sox. Madrigal off the board at #3.
I was all in for Bohm for a couple of weeks, but the one report I read that says he has “plenty of athleticism to stick at third” (I think it was from one of the major publications, but I’m not sure) has been drowned out by every other scouting report running the gamut from, “defense won’t be more than fringey,” to, “a move to first base is expected,” so I’m less hot for Bohm than I was.
Josh, I know you’ve been keeping an eye on these things; does Bohm look at least passable, defensively? How about India? I know the Sox shouldn’t draft for need in the first round, and our minor league middle infield outlook is even bleaker than third base, but it would be nice to get a guy who could actually play the position without a BMI Sword of Damocles hanging over his head.
On Monday’s podcast, Jim Callis is our guest which we recorded last night and we tackle a lot of your questions in what I think is good back and forth.
But to give you my thoughts quickly:
Is Bohm’s defense passable: Yes, if the ball is hit within a yard of his left and right. The drum beat of Bohm being a first baseman long-term is getting louder, though.
India?: Yes, also can be considered at second base and in a pinch at shortstop.
My personal take: India > Bohm – but teams love the potential power profile of Bohm and some teams are skeptical about India’s jump from Sophomore year to Junior year.
2017: .269/.351/.423 14 2B 6 HR 23 BB / 41 K
2018: .401/.546/.810 10 2B 3 3B 14 HR 39 BB / 32 K
Awesome, thank you! I’m still convinced Eierman’s going to move off of short and end up as a great third baseman, with at least cromulent offensive production, but I’m not exactly Nostradamus.
Jon Bois on Adam Dunn’s career:
So good. Also loving the quote about Bonds’ late career breakthrough in homers: “He was already raking for years, but toward the end of his career he started exercising and eating a well-balance breakfast.”
I didn’t remember any specifics of Dunn’s time here, just the vague half-details of partially suppressed trauma. That stretch of futility against lefties is effing unbelievable.