Welcome to another semi-weekly rundown of the best recent performances on the White Sox farm. The Dash and Voyagers have been offensive juggernauts recently (not surprising that both are currently in 1st place), while the higher level affiliates have had quite a few strong showings on the mound.
Reminder: all the performances and numbers presented below are aggregated over the past two weeks since the last Hot List on July 3rd, unless otherwise noted.
Charlotte Knights (AAA)
To the sound of wailing and gnashing of teeth, Donn Roach, a fixture on the Host List all season, has left the organization to play in Japan. Thankfully for the Knights, freshly promoted lefty Jordan Guerrero has picked up where Roach left off, posting a 2.16 ERA over his first three AAA starts. Former starter Tyler Danish has been flourishing working in a long relief role. Danish has a perfect 0.00 ERA over his last 13.1 innings with just one walk and 8 hits allowed during that span.
Outfielder Jacob May has been pacing the Knights attack by slashing .333/.360/.458 over his last 11 contests. Catcher Seby Zavala just went on the DL, which is a shame because he was just starting to heat up (.321/.345/.393) after struggling a bit just after his promotion.
Birmingham Barons (AA)
Jimmy Lambert got lit up (6 ER, 3 IP) on the 4th of July, but he was dominant in his last two starts, only allowing a run, two walks, and eight hits while striking out 19 batters. You can read our feature on Jimmy here, just published this morning. Dylan Cease only made one start recently because he participated in the Futures Game, but it was a great one: 5 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 9 K’s. After a rough month of May, reliever Ryan Burr has been lights out in June (0.75 ERA, 12 IP) and July (0.00 ERA, 8 IP).
Catcher Alfredo Gonzalez is on an incredible tear over his last seven games, slashing .519/.536/.741 for the Barons. Gonzalez struggled through the first couple months of the season in Charlotte, but has found his groove in AA. Luis Basabe hasn’t slugged much (.268/.362/.341), but those numbers don’t include his monster home run in the Futures Game.
Winston-Salem Dash (A+)
Despite losing Luis Robert and now Micker Adolfo, the Dash offensive onslaught continues, as five members of the lineup hit over .320 or better in the past two weeks. Outfielder Blake Rutherford leads the charge, slashing .357/.438/.500, with Gavin Sheets (.340/.404/.460) and Mitch Roman (.333/.393/.479) close behind. After all the hand-wringing about Rutherford’s campaign last year, the polarizing prospect is hitting .300/.345/.459 as a 21-year-old on the full season.
It hasn’t been as rosy for the Winston-Salem arms as their bats, however, thanks to promotions of much of their first half top performers. But rotation members John Parke (3.46 ERA) and Luis Martinez (3.71) have been solid. Dash closer Tyler Johnson is a perfect 8-for-8 in save opportunities this season and has not been scored upon spanning 6.1 innings in July. Johnson has a sparkling 1.69 ERA with a 61/11 K/BB rate over 37.1 innings this season between Kannapolis and Winston-Salem.
Kannapolis Intimidators (A)
Just a little over two years ago, the Atlanta Braves took RHP Drew Harrington with the 80th overall pick in the 2016 draft. However, the Braves cut bait on Harrington after a rough start to the 2018 season and the White Sox scooped him up. Harrington has rewarded his new organization by posting a 1.21 ERA over his first 22.1 innings with the Intimidators. In the Kannapolis bullpen, Luis Ledo threw 7.2 scoreless innings over the past couple weeks.
Catcher Carlos Perez is a former J2 bonus baby from the 2014 class and now at age 21 in Kannapolis he might be putting it together. Perez slashed .433/.433/.600 over his last 9 games to raise his season slashline to .281/.293/.371.
Great Falls Voyagers (Rk)
Drafted in the 10th round in June, former Virginia Cavalier Bennett Sousa couldn’t have had a better professional debut. Sousa recently earned a promotion to Kannapolis thanks to a string of 13 scoreless innings, with only four hits allowed, no walks, and 18 strikeouts.
The Pioneer League is a hitters’ haven. Annually we see goofy offensive numbers and this year is no exception. After struggling in Great Falls last season and the beginning of this year, Amado Nunez has been on fire recently, slashing .400/.447/.600 in July. 21-year-old 3B Ramon Beltre spent three and half seasons in the Dominican Summer League and is now tearing up the Pioneer, slashing .318/.348/.489 for the year. 2018 college draft picks OF Ian Dawkins (.389/.441/.556), 3B/2B Romy Gonzalez (.370/.433/.593), and OF Logan Sowers (.357/.471/.595) are all showing they are too advanced for this level. 1B Corey Zangari has hit six home runs in his last twelve games and nearly half of Zangari’s hits (7-of-15) has left the park. Thanks to such zany splits, Zangari has a wacky .254/.325/.661 season slashline.
Arizona League White Sox (Rk)
Things are much quieter in the desert for the other rookie ball offense, with only Camilo Quinteiro (.357/.486/.357) riding any kind of hot streak.
20-year-old Dominican Republic native Brayan Herrera is showing unusual control and statistical success for a 2016 J2 signing, posting a 1.50 ERA with a 24/5 K/BB rate over 30 innings in the Fire League.
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