This series will contain weekly recaps of the performances of each minor league affiliate. Here is the next installment after the fourth week of the minor league season.
Charlotte Knights (8-15)
Weekly Record: 1-4
The struggles for the Knights continued this week, as they dropped four of five games against the Norfolk Tides (one game was rained out and will be made up on September 1st). The Knights currently are tied for the bottom spot in the Triple-A East Southeast Division.
Friday’s offensive outburst was surely a sign of optimism for the Charlotte bats, as they ended the shortened series with a .314/.367/.440 slash line, an .806 OPS with 31 runs, 60 hits in 191 at bats, 10 doubles, one triple, four home runs, 27 RBI, 16 walks to 40 strikeouts, four stolen bases, and were caught stealing once. Complete season totals for the Knights offense can be found here.
The Knights pitching staff under-performed against Norfolk. Charlotte pitching was lit up this week to the tune of a 6.80 team ERA, 1.61 WHIP, .245 batting average against, 31 earned runs to 33 runs allowed, 39 hits to 41.0 innings pitched, 27 walks to 40 strikeouts, six hit batters, and five home runs allowed. To see Charlotte’s complete pitching totals for the season, click here.
Hot Player of the Week
Mike Wright: Despite some big outbursts from the Knights bats on Friday (which helped prop up offensive numbers for the week), Mike Wright’s pitching performance gets the edge for the hot player of the week. In the veteran right-hander’s lone start, he threw seven innings of two run ball (two earned), allowed five hits, one home run, didn’t walk or hit any batters, and struck out five Tides for a .192 batting average against.
Honorable Mentions: Gavin Sheets and Brian Goodwin
P.S. Honorable Mentions: Adam Engel and Jace Fry (both on rehab assignments)
Birmingham Barons (16-8)
Weekly Record: 4-2
The Barons continue to roll, as they secured four wins versus the Rocket City Trash Pandas. The Barons, yet again, found timely hits and solid pitching throughout the series, propelling them to the top overall record in the Double-A South at week’s end.
The Birmingham bats had a banner day in the finale, but on the whole, the Barons bats were still cold. They finished up their series with a .223/.318/.337 slash line, 654 OPS, 35 runs, 45 hits in 202 at bats, eight doubles, no triples, five home runs, 30 RBI, 25 walks to 71 strikeouts, nine stolen bases, and were caught stealing thrice. Complete season totals for the Barons offense can be found here.
Birmingham pitching was fantastic despite serving up the long ball, as the squad wrapped the series with a team ERA of 2.94, 1.10 WHIP, .234 batting average against, 17 earned runs to 20 runs allowed, 46 hits to 52 innings pitched, 11 walks to 63 strikeouts, two hit batters, and allowed 10 home runs. Birmingham’s full season pitching totals can be found here.
Hot Player of the Week
Kade McClure: Despite getting the tough luck loss on Wednesday, Kade McClure was dynamite against the Trash Pandas. In his lone start, the towering right-hander went five innings allowing only one run (one earned), four hits, one home run, walked one batter, and struck out nine Rocket City batters for a .222 batting average against.
Honorable Mentions: Zack Granite and Jason Bilous
Winston-Salem Dash (12-12)
Weekly Record: 3-3
The Dash took on the Hickory Crawdads to finish the month of May and split the series. After a blowout loss on Tuesday, both Winston-Salem and Hickory played a pretty close series, with no team scoring more than five runs in any game beyond that point. The Dash are currently tied for fourth place in the High-A East South Division.
The Dash bats were ice cold again, finishing with a .168/.213/.237 slash line, .450 OPS, 13 runs scored, 29 hits in 173 at bats, seven doubles, one triple, one home run, 11 RBI, 10 walks to 59 strikeouts, four stolen bases, and were caught not stealing. Full season totals for the Winston-Salem offense can be found here.
Winston-Salem pitching (despite the opening game blowout) was solid once again versus Hickory. The staff ended the week with a team ERA of 3.81, 1.19 WHIP, .227 Batting Average Against, 22 earned runs to 26 runs allowed, 45 hits to 52.0 innings pitched, 17 walks to 46 strikeouts, three hit batters, and allowed two home runs. Full season totals for the Dash pitching staff are located here.
Hot Player of the Week
Johan Dominguez: Johan Dominguez was stellar in his lone start against the Crawdads. Dominguez pitched six innings, allowing just one hit, no runs, no walks, struck out six batters and held Hickory bats to a .050 batting average against.
Honorable Mentions: Davis Martin and Jeremiah Burke
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (2-22)
Weekly Record: 0-6
This was another week to forget for the Cannon Ballers, as they dropped all six games against the Carolina Mudcats. The Ballers were blown out on Tuesday (allowed 23 runs), and lost by five or more runs in four of the next five games. Kannapolis currently occupies the caboose of the entire Low-A East.
Kannapolis’ bats held their own against Carolina pitching, as the Ballers finished the series with a .243/.318/.402 triple slash, .720 OPS, 25 runs, 46 hits in 189 at-bats, four doubles, one triple, eight home runs, 20 RBI, 19 walks to 60 strikeouts, four stolen bases, and were caught stealing once. Complete batting stats for the Cannon Ballers can be found here.
Cannon Ballers pitching, as a group, was abysmal (the defense behind them certainly didn’t help them out), concluding the week with a team ERA of 10.23, 2.41 WHIP, .362 batting average against, 50 earned runs to 66 runs allowed, 75 hits to 44 innings pitched, 31 walks to 62 strikeouts, seven hit batters, and allowed nine home runs. To see Kannapolis’ team pitching stats for the year, click here.
Hot Player of the Week
Bryan Ramos: After some early struggles in what was an aggressive assignment to full season ball, Bryan Ramos was on fire this week against the Mudcats. Ramos lit up Carolina pitching to a .381/.440/.714 slash line, a 1.154 OPS, two home runs, one double, three runs scored, six RBI, three walks to eight strikeouts, stole two bases (wasn’t caught stealing) and had 8 hits in 21 at bats.
Honorable Mentions: Lency Delgado and Dilmer Mejia
Photo credit: Michael Guariglia/FutureSox
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Nice series. I would like just a little more prospect specific info with less team related info. Only interested in the prospects as individuals and don’t care how the team does as a whole. Just my preference. Future Sox content is great. I just hope that the higher Micker Adolfo climbs the ranks it doesn’t mean we have to hear more and more about how chiseled his body is, @homoerotic minor leaguers.
Totally understand James. Our affiliate correspondents do great work and put out more in-depth reviews and prospect focused pieces after games. This series is just meant to be a cliff notes version of the week on the farm, highlighting the standout performers as the weeks go on.