Culture and Community
The Winston-Salem Dash paid homage to Winston-Salem’s deep ties to Hispanic and Latino communities by becoming the Rayados de Winston-Salem for Sunday afternoon’s game at sunny Truist Field in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Both the Dash and the Greenville Drive took to the field wearing uniforms honoring their respective town’s heritage, rebranding themselves to embrace the styling and colors of a vibrant and exciting culture.
Burke-ly School of Pitching
Dash starting pitcher Jeremiah Burke took the mound for his second start against the Greenville Drive in this six-game series, bringing with him a season ERA of 3.77 with a 2-1 record. Burke started the 2021 season with low-A Kannapolis before moving up to Winston-Salem in the middle of May. The 2019 17th-round pick has gotten off to a good start for Winston-Salem, holding opponents to a .229 batting average through 18 innings pitched.
Burke continued his hot pitching on Sunday, sitting 92-94mph on his fastball with precision control, while also showing 76-80mph on breaking and off-speed pitches. After walking the first batter of the day, Burke forced a double play and then pitched four no-hit innings before surrendering a single to Greenville’s third baseman, Brandon Howlett, to lead off the top of the fifth inning. Howlett ended up scoring on a Dom D’Allesandro ground out – the only run to score against Burke.
Jeremiah Burke is coming off of a pair of starts where he allowed four runs each, but aside from those starts he has looked good in the early goings of the 2021 season.
Silver Lining’s Bullpen
Burke gave way to the Dash bullpen in the sixth inning. Right-hander Caleb Freeman gave up a home run to Brandon Howlett, the first batter he faced, but nobody reached base from that point forward. Left-hander Trey Jeans and right-hander Brian Glowicki also made appearances out of the bullpen for Winston-Salem and held the Greenville Drive hitless over three combined innings of work.
Dash relievers have posted a 4.87 ERA through 164.1 innings so far in the 2021 season, over a full run more than the starting staff has managed (3.79) through 144.2 innings. The bullpen and starters have nearly identical K/9 rates at 9.8 and 9.9, respectively, but the bullpen has 95 walks against just 50 for the starters. Sunday afternoon’s workload seemed to be an exception to the rule as the bullpen didn’t allow a single free pass to a Greenville batter, a trend that needs to continue in order for the bullpen to be effective.
Greatest Hits
Dash shortstop Yolbert Sanchez had a fantastic day at the plate and in the field. The 5-foot-11 24-year-old logged a hit in three of his four at-bats and showed great glove work on the defensive side, making a few tough plays including a running, off-balance throw to nab a speedy Cole Brennan by half a step at first base, and turning a slick double play as pivot man.
Sanchez came into the game with a batting average of .267, seven runs batted-in, and one home run on the 2021 season. With a flashy glove and the ability to drive the baseball up the middle and to the opposite field, Sanchez looks to be a promising middle infield prospect moving forward.
Welcome (Back) to Winston
Outfielder and Winston-Salem native E.P. Reese made his White Sox organizational debut in left field on Sunday. Unfortunately, he went 0-4 at the plate with a strikeout, but he made hard contact on a liner to short and a fly ball to right field, squaring the ball up nicely. Reese also made a smooth diving catch to take away an extra-base hit from Greenville second baseman Cam Cannon in the 9th inning.
Reese had been drafted by the Houston Astros in the 25th round of the 2019 draft, but was released from his contract upon the cancellation of the 2020 minor league season. Reese signed a minor league contract with the White Sox on May 19 and was assigned to Winston-Salem on Saturday, June 12.
Photo credit: Anders Johanson/FutureSox
Want to know right away when we publish a new article? Type your email address in the box on the right-side bar (or at the bottom on a mobile device) and click create subscription. Our list is completely spam free and you can opt out at any time. Also, consider supporting FutureSox on Patreon! You can get early access to special articles and Patreon-only posts, in addition to more benefits.
Shop our exclusive merchandise! Show your support with FutureSox apparel.