White Sox Minor League Update: May 6

The Barons have an inning for the ages, as the farm system goes winless

After an offensive outburst the first two games, the Knights hitting came back down to earth in their loss. Mike Wright got the start and threw five decent innings, including a nifty play on a delayed steal of home.

The two runs Wright allowed came in the third inning thanks to two grounders, one a fielder’s choice and the other an actual hit. He had trouble with his command (three walks, but also throwing 40 balls in 89 pitches). Hunter Schryver came in the sixth in relief of Wright, and continued to not allow runs in the early going of the 2021 season.

Though the Charlotte offense had a tough day, Seby Zavala had a decent day overall. He had a good scoop at first base off of a bad throw and had a double.

That was probably the highlight of the night for the offense, in a subpar showing. Gavin Sheets also collected a hit, a single, so he is now on a three-game hit streak to start the season.

After Danny Dopico allowed two runs in his two innings pitched, Tayron Guerrero took the mound and looked good in the final innings. He struck out two and only threw two balls the entire inning, although he did have some help on a quirky out.

Kade McClure got the start in this one, and the results ended up good: one run in five innings while striking out six. He was a guy that could have started in Charlotte, but is getting some work at a lower level first. The reason why it ended up good was because McClure allowed eight base runners (seven hits, one walk) so he got a little lucky that he left the game with a lead.

That lead was in large part thanks to Romy Gonzalez’s first Double-A homer.

In that same inning, Jameson Fisher drove in Carlos Pérez with a single to get the 2-1 lead. That did not last long however.

Come the sixth inning, old friend and former top prospect Alec Hansen allowed five runs with four walks and just one hit. So the control issues are still there, and Hansen left after the game with a 135.00 ERA.

Unfortunately, it got worse.

Luis Ledo relieved and allowed another five runs over five walks. Yes, two Barons pitchers allowed seven runs while recording two outs thanks to nine walks.

But wait, it gets even worse.

Anderson Severino came in after Ledo, and proceeded to walk another five batters, for two more runs. So, a 12-run sixth inning in large part because of 13 walks, truly unbelievable if we didn’t just see it happen.

The Barons did claw back a bit after that horrendous inning. In the seventh, they hit two homers, Craig Dedelow with one to right and Micker Adolfo to left (a two-run sho)t. Zach Remillard also drove in a run with a single.

Maybe on a different day, a six-run and 11-hit offensive effort could have won, but today was not that day.

The best pitching performance came in Winston-Salem tonight. But that only made it the most heartbreaking of the affiliate losses.

Johan Dominguez, the long reliever-turned-starter back in 2019, was on the bump for the first five innings. He only allowed one run, while striking out seven. He only went 62 pitches, so he may be on an innings limit, or perhaps he is just a reliever playing a starter for the time being. Whatever the case, he was dominant; the Dash offense just could not get anything going.

Dominguez left with the lead, thanks to a good team effort in the fourth. Yolbert Sánchez started the rally with a single, and Evan Skoug singled in the next at-bat to get Sánchez to second. Thanks to a wild pitch, Sánchez scooted over to third, and Johan Cruz drove him in with a sacrifice fly. (Don’t worry, he didn’t bat flip on the sac fly, word up Joc.)

That Dash lead quickly disappeared once the bullpen came in. In the sixth inning, the Braves tied it up with a single, and then took command of the game in the seventh. Dilmer Mejia allowed four runs before he left the game, and Vincenzo Aiello allowed the fifth and final run.

Of note after the Dash lost the lead, Alex Destino launched his first homer of the season. Meanwhile, Luke Shilling threw a scoreless ninth, his second such inning so far this season. None of it was enough for the win though, even though the Dash had eight hits.

In the final low-scoring loss of the day, the Cannon Ballers had a sort of long-relief game. Chase Solesky got the start, but did not make it out of the fourth inning. He did well in that time, especially with strikeout stuff — of his 11 outs, six were strikeouts. Dan Metzdorf, the fifth round pick in 2019, was cruising for a couple innings — until the seventh. He had some trouble with command and got hit hard, allowing three runs and then a fourth run in the eighth.

The second hit of the day for DJ Gladney was a triple, to drive in Chase Krogman from first; just two quick guys running the bases.

However, Krogman would leave the game later after getting hit in what looked like the hands but possibly forearm. Caberea Weaver ended up replacing him.

That was the only run Kannapolis could get, as it was the DJ Gladney game: He finished with three hits on the day in the loss to Down East.