The ACL White Sox entered the night looking to own a winning record for the first time this season. Unfortunately, that would not be the case as the ACL White Sox fell to the ACL Indians in Goodyear. The team trailed early and it seemed like every time they fought back, the ACL Indians had an answer, eventually putting the game out of reach.
Left-hander, Ronaldo Guzman got the start for the ACL White Sox. The southpaw had a bit of a rollercoaster of a start on the evening. Guzman struck out the first two batters he faced. The first one was a strikeout looking, after battling back and being down early in the count. The second was of the dropped third variety, making him work harder to get out of the first frame.
Guzman began to struggle a bit after the batter reached base, who would eventually come around to score after a single and a sac fly. After a wild pitch and a walk, he induced a weak grounder to escape the jam by only allowing one run. Guzman’s second time out on the mound was much better, as he stayed ahead for the most part and generated a lot of weak contact while only facing the minimum.
Ronaldo Guzman went for five innings and it wasn’t until the last few innings of his outing when he began to get hit hard. He would go on to give up three solo home runs and the walks started piling up. Overall, his command was spotty for most of the evening and he added a few wild pitches in there as well. In the early portion of his night, he did a good job of keeping the ball down and getting out of trouble.
He only gave up four hits on the night, however, three of them left the yard. He got a decent amount of swings and misses, but he was unable to throw strikes consistently throughout his outing and that eventually came back to haunt him. He wasn’t in a ton of favorable counts and the ACL Indians eventually took advantage of it.
Final line: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K.
Offensively, Wilfred Veras stood out and continues to put together a strong start to the ACL season. Veras has a smooth, powerful swing with good bat speed. He turned on a fastball for an RBI double early in the game and drove in another run on a grounder. Veras also walked and was hit by a pitch, reaching base three times on the night.
It’s very common to see players in the ACL come in with an aggressive approach. Veras, however, showed a pretty patient approach for an 18-year-old and didn’t try to do too much at the plate. Defensively, he didn’t see a lot of action. He did have a play where he ranged to his left, making a glove-side pick and threw an off balance dart to secure the out.
Benyamin Bailey was another player who stood out tonight for the ACL White Sox. With there being no advanced rookie affiliate, Bailey was given an aggressive assignment to start the year, making the jump from the DSL to Kannapolis. He struggled in Low-A and was assigned to the ACL affiliate to get back on track. Even with the struggles, Bailey was a guy who I expected to do well in the Arizona Complex League.
So far, he’s done that. He was the DH against the ACL Indians. In his first at-bat, he smoked a triple to left center, driving in Sam Abbott. Bailey would also single later on and had plenty of opportunities to show off the wheels. On his single, he hustled down the line on a slow chopper that caused an errant throw, which also allowed him to reach second base.
Bailey also scored from first on the Veras double. He read the ball off the bat perfectly and knew he was going home right away. Bailey walked twice on the night, reaching in every plate appearance. We knew after the DSL stint that he had an advanced approach for his age and it’s nice to see him settle in and be himself with the ACL squad.
After Guzman left the game, the bullpen didn’t provide much help as the ACL Indians added six more runs late in the game. The offense tried to keep up, but fell short and could not go blow for blow with the ACL Indians.
Richard Garcia provided the highlight of the night and gave the team a big boost by sending a ball over the batter’s eye in center field for a three-run blast in the top half of the seventh. This gave the ACL White Sox a 6-4 lead and put them in the driver’s seat to secure a win. The ACL Indians would then put the game out of reach by putting up a five spot in the bottom half of the frame.
The ACL White Sox will be back in action on Tuesday, July 6 as they head home to Camelback Ranch to host the AZL Reds.
Photo credit: Sean Williams/FutureSox
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Great information! Thank you.
Thank you for reading, Charles! I appreciate it!
Great scouting report Sean thanks for your input!
Thank you!