As is usually the case around this time of the year, there have been numerous moves and lots of reshuffling of the White Sox minor league teams. We have all the moves covered here, with some brief thoughts on the more notable transactions.
Players assigned to Bristol:
Matt Long, RHP (from Birmingham)
Robert Cummings (from Great Falls)
Players assigned to Great Falls:
None
Players assigned to Kannapolis:
Tyler Saladino, SS (from Bristol)
Ryan Kassmaul (from FA)
Ryan Buch, RHP (from Bristol)
Juan SIlverio, 3B/SS (from Great Falls)
Players assigned to Winston-Salem:
Jacob Rasner, RHP (from Birmingham)
Michael Richard, 3B (from Kannapolis)
Garrett Johnson, RHP (from Kannapolis)
Players assigned to Birmingham:
Kyle McCulloch, RHP (from Charlotte)
Charles Leesman, LHP (from Winston-Salem)
Kyle Bellamy, RHP (from Winston-Salem)
Eduardo Escobar, SS (from Winston-Salem)
Players assigned to Charlotte:
Chris Sale, LHP (from Winston-Salem)
Miguel Socolovich, RHP (from Birmingham)
Jeremy Reed, OF (from FA)
The notable transactions are those of Tyler Saladino, Ryan Buch, Juan Silverio, Charles Leesman, Kyle Bellamy, Eduardo Escobar and Chris Sale.
Tyler Saladino was the 7th round selection by the Sox in the ’10 draft. He has made a decent start to his pro career with Bristol hitting .292/.364.,417, though the power is underwhelming. You can read more on Tyler in our draft report, here.
Ryan Buch started the season with Kannapolis out of the bullpen. He got some good results, including a 3.44 ERA, but was very erratic with 4.91 BB/9. He was sent to extended spring training and was stretched out to start when Bristol’s season began. With Bristol Buch has been highly effective with 8.18 K/9 and just 1.23 BB/9. The vast improvement in Buch control makes me think that the Sox have adjusted his mechanics, or it could just be a small sample size illusion.
Juan Silverio was flat out awful to begin the season with Kannapolis. He hit .128/.169/.218 before being sent to extended spring training. He was then assigned to Great Falls and hit a very respectable .299/.340/.506, though it did come with 6 BB/20 SO in 20 games. I have no idea what to make of Silverio at this point.
Charles Leesman was thought of as one of the more advanced left handers in the system coming into the season, but he has had an awful year. In 17 starts (84.2 IP) he has a 5.40 ERA with a wretched 44 BB/39 SO rate. Given that his numbers in no way warrant a promotion, I can only assume that this move is either as an injury replacement for Birmingham, or is in anticipation of a move to the bullpen for Leesman.
Kyle Bellamy was expected to fly through the system this year and many were surprised that he started the year with Kannapolis (myself included). He only made 4 appearances with the I’s, though, and quickly found himself in Winston-Salem. In 31 appearances with the Dash he has a 1.58 ERA with 59 SO/14 BB in 47.1 IP. He should be more than capable of handling Double-A.
Eduardo Escobar has had a decent year with the Dash (for someone with limited offensive ability). In 87 games he hit .285/.327/.402 and it came with his usual stellar defense at SS. Double-A may be a step too far for Escobar’s offense, but we’ll see.
Chris Sale’s promotion was announced yesterday and I will refer you to Dan for his write-up on the move.
I will continue to update this post over the next couple of days if there are any additional transactions.