The Dash had a doubleheader scheduled this week that was supposed to make up for a postponement a few days earlier, but that doubleheader was itself half-postponed, half-cancelled due to more bad weather, turning into an entirely new doubleheader a couple of days later. So some weird scheduling requiring some thumbtacks and string for the Dash here as they went 2-4 on the week, as they tend to do, with only about 3.5 weeks left in the season.
Pitching
The team has actually been enjoying some good pitching performances from both starters and relievers, number one starter Chase Solesky now with two solid High-A outings under his belt. He allowed seven runs (five earned) in four innings in his first Dash start on August 6, but in two starts since, has combined for 10 IP, 7 H, 3 R (1 ER), 1 BB, and 10 K. He has also picked a runner off.
Actually, it was a very weird week for starting pitching as the Dash continue to try to piece together a new rotation after the bulk of the one they’d had for most of the season was promoted to Birmingham. One of those remaining spots belongs to Kaleb Roper, whose record dropped to 0-6 with a doubleheader loss on August 21 in which he couldn’t finish four innings, with 10 hits, two walks, and a Lázaro Leal fielding error sticking him to eight runs (seven earned). This was Roper’s worst start of the season and bumped his ERA up from 8.31 to 9.07.
Yoelvin Silven is a recent addition from Kannapolis who tends towards a long relief role but has gotten a couple of two-inning opener stints, going two innings of one-run ball on August 21 and two scoreless on August 24. His Winston-Salem numbers are so far much better than his Kannapolis ones, but it’s also only been eight innings. He has allowed two home runs in that span.
Dan Metzdorf had been getting some starts before the mass promotion, then pitched out of the bullpen a couple of times, but was back on the mound to start the game on August 25. All he did was throw the best start of his career, going five innings and allowing four hits, two runs (one earned), one walk, and striking out five. The Dash were three-hit in that game so he got the loss, but it’s encouraging to see guys like Metzdorf and Solesky going deeper into games without getting bombed.
Jerry Burke is still stretching his way back to being a Real Starting Pitcher instead of an opener; he’s gone one inning, one inning, and two innings in his three starts back from injury, and none of them have gone swimmingly, to the point where he’s gotten the loss in two of them. Burke was having a promising season before he was hurt, so this is definitely a bummer for multiple parties.
Then it’s The Cast Of Thousands, the rest of the staff, all in the bullpen. This was, in fact, one of the Winston-Salem Dash’s best bullpen weeks. Keeping in mind that of these six games, only three starters went beyond two innings, here is the weekly bullpen line: 29.1 IP, 30 H, 15 R, 13 ER, 9 BB, 41 K (!!); that’s a 3.90 ERA. During game two of a doubleheader on August 21, Silven, Edgar Navarro, Vince Arobio, and Brian Glowicki combined to strike out 10 and walk zero in seven innings; the only run allowed all game was the solo shot off Silven in the first inning, and the relievers only allowed three hits. Trey Jeans, the towering McKinley Moore, and Kevin Folman all had good weeks, each appearing just a couple of times.
Lost to the spires of Birmingham now are Arobio, Glowicki, and Declan Cronin. Arobio has had a weird season where he’s been bouncing around a lot with very limited time wherever he is; he ended 2019 in Birmingham and I would say he really should have been there all year this season too, but clearly something was going on behind the scenes.
Glowicki has been an odd mix of absolutely dominant but also very hittable: in 29.2 innings overall with the team, he struck out 55 people (16.7 K/9) while walking eight; he allowed 15 ER in those innings for a 4.55 ERA, and his WHIP stands at a fairly robust 1.247. Almost three years older than league average in the High-A East, Birmingham will be a big test (in his debut, he threw two scoreless innings, walked one, and struck out two). Cronin, drafted in the 36th round in 2019, had some high walk rates and low strikeout rates but overall was one of the more solid members of the Dash pen, allowing 22 earned runs in 39 innings of relief, a 5.08 ERA (1.333 WHIP).
Supplementing the departed are Taylor Broadway and Karan Patel, fresh from the Cannon Ballers. Broadway, of course, was this year’s sixth-round pick; he’s barely had time to pitch, but between five Kannapolis outings and one Winston one, he’s up to 6.2 IP, 2 H, R, BB, 9 K (that one run coming on a solo home run). Patel was drafted in the seventh round in 2019; he’s been limited to just 18 innings this year between two levels and did not put up good numbers at either. However, in his Dash debut on August 25, he threw two innings, allowing just a single and obtaining all six outs via strikeout. Baseball scouts agree: if he can continue doing that, he will go far.
Batting
Position player reinforcements have also arrived from Kannapolis in the forms of Jeremiah Burks (note: different from Jeremiah “Jerry” Burke the pitcher, who is also on the Dash) and Harvin Mendoza, who played for the Dash in May before spending the bulk of the season down with the Ballers (and batting .314/.387/.421 with 32 walks and 41 strikeouts in 71 games). Mendoza is 4-for-8 with two doubles in two games back, so it seems a little unfair that he’s technically only batting .204. Burks is primarily a second baseman and should see playing time in the wake of Jagger Rusconi, recently promoted to the Barons, and who had been handling the position for the month or so prior.
New top-of-the-lineup mainstay José Rodriguez entered Wednesday batting .383/.404/.532 in 12 games with the Dash, two home runs; his numbers in the last week right on par: he’s 10-for-25 with a home run and a double. No walks, but just one strikeout, and in five stolen base attempts, he was successful four times. That is a six-game line of .400/.400/.560 and includes two three-hit games and two two-hit games.
The gangbusters return of Luis Mieses to the Dash lineup has been a little less gangbusters as of late, although he’s still sporting a .284/.312/.514 line in his first 19 games back from Kannapolis. He spent early August just squirting doubles all over the place, five in his first five games back, but in his last 10 games entering Wednesday’s, he was 9-for-39 with a mere three doubles (two home runs) for a .231/.250/.462 slash line.
Alex Destino and Luis Curbelo have been linked together this season for a variety of reasons: they bat next to each other in the lineup, they’re constantly challenging each other for the team home run lead (currently tied at 19), and they are both having otherwise subpar years offensively. After both going 0-for-4 on Wednesday, Destino’s season line is .232/.318/.455 in 87 games and Curbelo’s season line was at .233/.289/.478 in 88. Destino has walked 39 times and struck out 112; Curbelo has walked 26 times and struck out 129. While Destino has been struggling specifically in the last week, 3-for-23 with a home run, Curbelo has been seeing slightly better results, his seven-game hit streak broken on Wednesday. He was 6-for-23 over the week’s play, two home runs and a double included in there.
Caberea Weaver is still getting used to the league; in nine games, he’s 6-for-35 with a double, a home run, zero walks, and 15 strikeouts. Lázaro Leal’s offensive renaissance has also cooled down, and he went 3-for-18 this week with a double and a dinger.
Catcher Evan Skoug has been sitting frequently, but did manage to hit a home run in two games played; his counterpart Gunnar Troutwine has been spotting him and was 4-for-13 with two doubles over the week.
Manning first base has largely been Samir Dueñez, who walked and HBP’d his way into a .353 OBP over the week, although he’ll be splitting time with Mendoza. Dueñez has quietly been an offensive boon to the team and brings about eight years of professional ball experience as well. He struggled in an abbreviated four-game stint with the Dash to open the season, but injuries severely curtailed his plans; since returning to the team at the end of July, Dueñez is batting .288/.391/.508 with four home runs, nine walks, and 19 strikeouts over 18 games.
Brandon Bossard really could be a worse bench bat; he has 30 at-bats in 14 games with the team and has put up an odd .194/.356/.278 line, walking eight times while gathering seven hits (three doubles). He’s been switching off between second base and third.
So a week with a good deal of churn here in Winston-Salem, a pretty good snapshot of what late August looks like in the minors in general. The team is 36-61 and will need significant help escaping last place in their division, but weirder things have certainly happened at such points in such seasons.
Photo credit: Sean Williams/FutureSox
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You guys are so negative towards Evan Skoug.
What a crap write-up –
I have nothing against Gunnar Troutwine or any of the other Catchers in the White Sox system.
Evan splits time with Gunnar evenly – about every other game.
One of Evan’s home runs was a walk-off to win a game.
He’s struggled at the plate since joining the White Sox, but when the guy does something notable, give him his due.
Yes, I am biased and I am his father.