A day late on this week’s Hot and Cold, but it should be worth the wait. Several hitters had standout weeks, including Dayan Viciedo who continues to roll. Topping Viciedo was an athletic outfielder on a lengthy hitting streak for the second year in a row. On the pitching side, our favorite Brazilian had one of his best starts of the season.
Hot Hitter: Brandon Short, OF, AA
There
were a lot of strong candidates this week, but Brandon Short has them
all beat thanks to his 18-game hitting streak entering Friday. Short is
hitting .369/.393/.595 during the streak to recover from a slow April. Last year, the 22-year-old had a lengthy hit streak with the Dash and he’s doing it again. He hit .452/.438/.645 this week. He
doesn’t draw a lot of walks, but Short makes good contact, has decent
power and speed (13/15 SB). Age appropriate with decent tools, Short is a
rarity in the White Sox system at the moment. Honorable mentions: Dayan Viciedo
(.348/.375/.870), Tyler Kuhn (.435/.483/.478), Christian Marrero
(.346/.379/.654), Drew Lee (.440/.462/.520), Ross Wilson
(.391/.481/.565) and Brady Shoemaker (.286/.348/.714).
Cold Hitter: Kenneth Williams, OF, AAWilliams’
pick has always been under scrutiny because he is the son of the Sox
GM. So far as a pro injuries have played a role in why he hasn’t been
able to produce, but that hasn’t helped matters. He hit in the .250s in
two years of A ball and is not surviving the jump to AA. This week was a
new low, Williams went 2-25 (.080) with no extra base hits and a pair
of walks. After playing just five games in April, he’s hitting below
.200 on the season. “Honorable” mentions: Kenneth Gilbert
(.091/.091/.091), Michael Blanke (.130/.200/.130) and Ian Gac (.154/.185/.192).
Hot Pitcher: Andre Rienzo, SP, High-A
The Brazilian right-hander isn’t putting up the gaudy numbers he did a year ago, but he’s still striking out more than 10 per 9 innings and has an ERA under three. The main problem is that he has walked 26 batters in 48.2 IP. Last week he managed to strike out six and give up just one run in six innings despite walking six. On Monday he put it together with a fantastic start (6 IP, 1 R, 8 K, 1 BB, 5 H). As long as the strikeouts remain, he is worth keeping an eye on. Honorable
mentions: Jeff Marquez (7 IP, 1.29 ERA, 5 K, BB, 6 H), Ryan Buch (6
IP, 1.50
ERA, 5 K, 2 BB, 7 H) and Addison Reed (4
IP, 0 R, 7 K, 1 BB, 3 H).
Cold Pitcher: Matt Zaleski, SP, AAA
Zaleski is in his eighth year of pro baseball, gradually working his way up to the high minors. He’s pitched for both Birmingham and Charlotte three different years. The 29-year-old Arlington Heights native got promoted to the Knights and his start on Sunday didn’t go well. He gave up six runs in less than four innings of work. He’d been a rock for the Barons, with a 2.87 ERA in eight starts, and pitched all of last year with the Knights so he should be able to settle in. “Honorable” mentions: Justin Edwards (4 IP,
11.25 ERA, 2 K, 1 BB, 9 H), Gaby Hernandez (4.1 IP, 12.46
ERA, 2 K, 6 BB, 6 H) and Spencer Arroyo (5.2 IP, 7.94 ERA, 6 K, 2 BB, 10
H).
