On July 19, 24-year-old shortstop Yolbert Sanchez was called up to the Birmingham Barons after playing in 60 games for the Chicago White Sox High-A affiliate, the Winston-Salem Dash.
In his 60 games with the Dash, Sanchez recorded an impressive .286 batting average. He also hit five home runs and recorded 29 RBIs across this stretch.
Sanchez made four appearances at the plate in his debut on July 20. He would strike out swinging in his first at-bat in the top of the first inning, but through the rest of the game, Sanchez would show much more poise in the batter’s box.
After drawing a walk in the fifth to get on base for the first time, Sanchez recorded his first Double-A hit in the eighth, singling on a soft fly ball to center field.
His line finished 1-for-3 at the plate with a single and a walk in his debut. He was one of only five Barons to record a hit in the team’s 3-0 victory over Chattanooga on Tuesday.
Sanchez performed fairly well in his first game, but nobody could have predicted what he would do in his next appearance versus the Lookouts on Wednesday.
In the first inning, Sanchez would single on a ground ball to third base. In the sixth inning, he singled on a ground ball to left field, and in the eighth, he would single again on a ground ball to right field. To put a cherry on top of his impressive batting performance, Sanchez would single once more on a line drive to center field for his fourth and final hit of the game.
In his second game with the Barons, Sanchez finished 4-for-5 at the plate, as Birmingham would go on to dominate Chattanooga by a score of 17-9.
Through two games, Sanchez was batting 5-for-8 (.625). His OPS sat at sample-sized induced 1.292. He passed his first two tests and continued over his next two as well.
Sanchez followed up his highlight 4-for-5 performance with an impressive 3-for-5 showing on Thursday. He would hit three singles and record his first Double-A RBI, as Birmingham would go on to win for the third consecutive night, this time by a score of 10-5.
On Friday, Sanchez notched his second double in as many nights and finished 1-for-3 with a walk, a strikeout and a run scored. His averaged dropped from .615 to a measly .563 (9-for-16).
The Barons have lost many of their top contributors this season, including White Sox No. 6 prospect Micker Adolfo, Ti’Quan Forbes, and Laz Rivera, who have all been assigned to the Triple-A Charlotte Knights. Sanchez has filled in nicely so far and given this team a much needed spark on offense.
Photo credit: Anders Johanson/FutureSox
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