White Sox Minor League News and Notes, 8/27 to 9/3

By / / News

I have a fever and the only prescription is more playoff baseball. The Winston-Salem Dash, Kannapolis Intimidators and Great Falls Voyagers will rep the White Sox organization in the playoff this year. MORE PLAYOFFS.
The Dash AKA the team of too many outfielders has been electric the entire year. The Dash won the first half with a  41-29 record, and carried that positive play into the second half (despite losing many key players to promotion) going 43-25. The Dash have hit the ball hard all season, embarrassing pitchers everywhere they go. A recurring theme of this column has been for frustrated White Sox fans to tune into the Dash. I’ll be following along closely, and you should be too.
Kannapolis making the postseason surprised me. After missing out on a first-half championship by a single game, the team played .500 ball for the second half to hold onto a Wild Card bid. The Intimidators played victim to the Lakewood BlueClaws who heated up and played .667 baseball through the second half. This Intimidators team has potential, but has the unenviable task of taking down the BlueClaws.
The 2018 Pioneer League first half champions were a shell of their former selves the second half. From 22-16, the Voyagers eroded away to 12-21 and a firm lock on last in their division (though they do have three more regular season games left to play). Great Falsl has some prospects and playoff baseball is unpredictable, so I’ll be cheering along, enjoying the ride.
The AZL White Sox missed out on the playoffs by just a half game.
With that, here’s what you need to know this week.
Prospect performance highlights

  • AZL White Sox RHP Yordi Rosario threw seven innings Aug. 27. He gave up an unearned run and three hits, while striking out nine and walking two.
  • Charlotte OF Eloy “See you in ‘19” Jimenez went 4-4 Aug. 27. 1B Matt Skole went 2-2 with a double and two walks on that date as well.
  • Birmingham C Zack Collins struck out five times Aug. 27 to earan the platinum sombrero. Speaking of Collins, he drew a career-high 101 walks this year. He is leading the Southern League, and his total is the highest that league has seen since 2005.
  • Birmingham RHP Mauricio Cabrera hit 100.6 mph for the Barons on his Aug. 28 debut according to Barons broadcaster Curt Bloom.
  • The Voyagers managed to turn a triple play on Aug 28.
  • Sound the horn, we have a Yurchak alert. Kannapolis 1B Justin Yurchak went 3-3 with a walk Aug. 29.
  • Winston-Salem’s bats showed up Aug. 30, putting on an electrifying display, winning the game 13-0. Most notable highlights? OF Luis Robert went 3-4 with two doubles and a strikeout and OF Luis Gonzalez went 3-4 with a triple, a walk and a strikeout.
  • Charlotte LHP Jordan Guerrero struck out nine over six innings Aug. 31. He gave up three runs, eight hits and walked two.
  • Winston-Salem OF Blake Rutherford went 3-5 with a homer and a strikeout Aug. 31.
  • Pedroia-like 2B Nick Madrigal went 4-4 with a double Sept. 3 for Winston-Salem.

Injuries

Transactions
Activated

  • Charlotte activated C Brett Austin from the 7-day disabled list Sept. 3
  • Great Falls activated OF Bryan Connell Sept. 1 (acquired via trade with Milwaukee)

Selected

Recalled

Assigned

Team Performances

  • Charlotte finished the season with a 4-3 week (64-75 overall, 22 games back). With White Sox GM’s confirmation that Eloy Jiménez will not join the club in 2019, here’s his final 2018 AAA slash line .355/.399/.597. His line on the season: .337.384/.577. *swoon*
  • Birmingham went 3-3 for their final week (34-46 overall 2nd half, 8 games back). The Barons’ 2018 campaign ended with a 66-73 record and a fourth place finish. The prospects are developing and the future looks bright. One name I want to focus on: Zack Collins. He finished the year with 101 walks and 15 home runs. His slash line was .234/.382/.404, and he’ll undoubtedly pop up in Arizona this spring as a non-roster invite.
  • Winston-Salem had a 4-3 week and clinched their division for the second half (43-25 overall 2nd half, tied for 1st place). THE DASH ARE GOING TO THE PLAYOFFS BABY! They take on Buies Creek (the team they tied for first with inthe 2nd half).
  • Kannapolis compiled a 3-4 week and snuck into a wild card slot (39-28 overall 2nd half, 1 game back). THE INTIMIDATORS ARE GOING TO THE PLAYOFFS BABY! They take on Lakewood (41-28, first place).
  • Great Falls had a 3-4 week (12-22 overall 2nd half, 8.5 games back). THE VOYAGERS ARE GOING TO THE PLAYOFFS BABY! 
  • AZL White Sox lost their last game of the season this past week. (16-12 overall, 1 game back). The team finished in third place at 30-26.
  • DSL White Sox finished 18-54, 30 games back.

News and Links

  • Rick Hahn held a mini press conference on Monday, and here are a few important points made that pertain tot the farm:
    • Eloy Jimenez will not be coming to the White Sox in 2018
    • Dane Dunning is progressing, surgery is not being discussed, and he may pick up some innings in either Fall Instructs or the AFL (or both)
    • Jose Ruiz is set to be promoted from Birmingham to the Sox for September, but the move isn’t yet official (pending a 40-man move to clear room)
  • Ready for fall ball? We are. Here’s a breakdown of the six prospects headed to Arizona for some baseball in the desert.
  • FutureSox editor Matt Cassidy also released an updated prospect hot list. Read up on who’s hot.
  • Baseball America’s Ben Badler, the unchallenged Latin American prospect guru, wrote about some changes MLB is making to how trainers operate and players are recruited that will effect every team in baseball.

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