The Week in Winston: Dash update, May 11-17

By / / General

The Winston-Salem Dash suffered one brutal loss and one slightly less brutal loss in their series against the Greenville Drive, but still added it to the list of series won. That list includes all five of the series the Dash have played. However, over the last seven days, they are a shocking 3-3, dropping two to the Drive and one (so far…) to the Jackson Holliday-led Aberdeen IronBirds.

Generally, Dash starting pitching has been good over the month and a half or so of this season. Between Kohl Simas, Jonathan Cannon, and the since-promoted Tommy Sommers, they had a trio of consistent pitchers who were rare to blow up. Brooks Gosswein has done a little more double-duty between starting and long relief, but has also largely been reliable. Drew Dalquist and Jared Kelley have been up and down, both with some stellar starts but some severe clunkers as well.

Hitting is not a problem overall either, although there were a few coordinated slumps this week by Loidel Chapelli Jr., Wilfred Veras, and a couple others. The Dash have a combined season line of .273/.373/.434, leading the 12-team South Atlantic League by 15 points in average, nine points in OBP, and trailing by 12 for slugging (third place in the league).

Relief pitching, though, has been the big weak spot. It’s still early for relievers especially, who can have one bad outing blow up their numbers for months, but it does seem as if most Dash relievers have already had at least one of those bad outings. Of the 10 pitchers with the most “pure” bullpen innings (so not including Gosswein), only three have ERAs under 4.50 (Chase Plymell, 1.35; Adisyn Coffey, 2.00; Tristan Stivors, 3.38). The team’s starting ERA is middle of the pack, 4.92 in 122.2 innings, but their relievers are dead last with a combined 5.83 ERA in 157.1 innings.

On May 16, relief prospect Will Kincanon was activated from the injured list and assigned to the Dash for rehab after having Tommy John surgery in March 2022. He only threw four innings in 2021 due to the injury that would eventually lead to the surgery, so it’s eyes emoji to see if he’ll be able to pick back up at the level that had him creeping up prospect lists in 2018 and 2019. Very early results are … very early.

Top pitching performances

Jonathan Cannon, one start: 7 IP, 4 H, R, BB, 2 K

Season, five starts: 35.1 IP, 29 H, 11 R, 9 BB, 26 K, 2.80 ERA, 1.08 WHIP

Brooks Gosswein, one start: 6 IP, 3 H, R, 4 BB, 5 K

Season, six starts, two long relief outings: 29.1 IP, 20 H, 12 R (9 ER), 14 BB, 29 K, 2.76 ERA, 1.16 WHIP

Jeremiah Burke, two relief appearances: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

Season, eight games (two levels): 16.1 innings, 19 hits, 8 runs, 7 walks, 15 strikeouts, 4.41 ERA, 1.59 WHIP

Haylen Green, two relief appearances: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K

Season, 12 games (two levels): 13.1 innings, 14 hits, 10 runs, 7 walks, 17 strikeouts, 6.75 ERA, 1.58 WHIP

Honorable mention: Kohl Simas’s first start was a decent outing of five innings and eight strikeouts, two runs earned out of three total. His second did not go so well.

Top hitting performances

Terrell Tatum (CF): 5-for-18, 2 doubles, 1 home run (grand slam), 6 runs, 8 RBI, 9 walks (!!!), 5 strikeouts, 4-0 steals-caught stealing

Season: 30 games, .305/.467/.505, 10 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs, 33 runs, 26 RBI, 31 walks, 33 strikeouts, 18-3 steals-caught stealing

DJ Gladney (RF/DH/1B/LF): 8-for-17, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run, 5 runs, 3 RBI, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts

Season: 32 games, .305/.343/.625, 10 doubles, 2 triples, 9 home runs, 24 runs, 36 RBI, 6 walks, 34 strikeouts, 1-1 steals-caught stealing

Honorable mentions: Shawn Goosenberg only had three hits and two walks in 20 at-bats, but he did make efficient use of his on-base time by stealing five bases without being caught. Ivan González only got six at-bats, but went 3-for-6 and scored three runs.

Weekly rundown

May 11

Even a 20-7 team has to lose (at least seven times), and some losses are going to suck significantly more than others. The Dash should have cruised to victory against the Drive (Red Sox affiliate), but instead, an eight-run seventh inning crashed them and, fittingly, handed them loss No. 8 on the year.

Terrell Tatum, Loidel Chapelli Jr., and DJ Gladney in order at the top of the lineup means there’s probably going to be some offense, and they proved this to be true in the top of the first when Tatum doubled (his ninth), Chapelli walked, and Gladney singled in Tatum to put the Dash up 1-0 three batters in. A wild pitch scored Chapelli (2-0), and OBP/stolen-base machine Shawn Goosenberg singled Gladney to third and stole his 11th base. After Michael Turner struck out, Chris Lanzilli hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0 Dash.

A familiar cast was back at it again in the third: Gladney tripled leading off, the 6’3” outfielder’s second of the year and ninth of his career. 

Goosenberg sac flied him in (4-0) and also went ahead and reached base due to an error in left. He then stole his 12th base. Walk machine Michael Turner walked, Lanzilli advanced them both a base with a ground out, and Taishi Nakawake’s grounder allowed Goosenberg to score, 5-0 Dash.

They allowed their first run in the bottom of the fourth. Starting pitcher Kohl Simas has thrown either exactly four or exactly five innings in each of his five appearances and, by god, he did it again here. He set a season high for strikeouts with eight over five innings, although he’s still chasing his career high, 13 whiffs over five innings on Opening Day with Kannapolis last year. In the fourth, crowded basepaths — two hits and a walk — set up a Drive sac fly to cut the Dash lead to 5-1.

The Dash secured a significant lead in the top of the sixth, throwing two more runs on top to go up 7-1: Jason Matthews was hit by a pitch and scored on Tatum’s 10th double, and after Chapelli struck out, Gladney singled Tatum home. 

Simas started the bottom of the sixth inning with a big lead, having allowed just one run to that point, but was removed after consecutive singles and no outs. His bequeathed runner was entrusted to Everhett Hazelwood, a 24-year-old righty whose first five appearances were fantastic (10.2 innings, eight hits, one run, three walks, 13 strikeouts) but whose next three were not so good (3.1 innings, six hits, five runs, two walks, three strikeouts). Sadly, the not-so-good trend continued, and a single, fielding error, and sacrifice fly allowed both Simas runners to score for three total runs (two earned).

Still leading 7-3, Hazelwood pitched part of the bottom of the seventh; he retired none, walking two, allowing three hits, and throwing one wild pitch. He exited with two runners on, nobody out, and a 7-6 Dash lead, a less-than-ideal situation for Ernesto Jaquez to find himself in. Jaquez, who can certainly strike them out if he has his control, did not have his control. A wild pitch moved runners to second and third, a single tied it, and a double and another single gave the Drive the lead and then extended it, 10-7. Jaquez walked two and threw another wild pitch before balking in a run; the indignity ended when the next batter made the third out on the first pitch, but the 11-7 score persisted.

The Dash went 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Gladney had four hits and was a home run away from the cycle. Haylen Green threw a scoreless eighth.

May 12

It was all behind them by the next day, by the grace of Jonathan Cannon and also DJ Gladney hitting a home run one day after it would have been really cool for him to do so, but on the right day to help win a ballgame.

Cannon was nothing short of excellent on the mound. He’s now gone seven full innings two starts in a row, dominant in both. Today’s wasn’t a shutout performance like the last one, but with one run on four hits, who’s really complaining? He only struck out two, but he only walked one. Of his 78 pitches, 57 were strikes.

The one run he allowed wasn’t until the sixth inning and came on a pair of doubles, Dash already leading 5-0. Gladney’s ninth bomb of the year and a Wes Kath single to drive in Wilfred Veras had put them on the board 2-0 in the third. 

Chris Lanzilli doubled in the fourth and Matthews singled him in, 3-0, and a Goosenberg walk/steal combo turned into another run when Keegan Fish walked Matthews again singled. Fish took second on a wild pitch and scored on Terrell Tatum’s groundout for the 5-0 score

Jake Palisch relieved Cannon in the eighth and nearly stranded two runners with no damage, but with two outs, a wild pitch and single let in both. Adisyn Coffey shut the Drive down in the ninth, though, so 5-3 Dash was the final score.

May 13

Another winnable game turned into a loss, their second of the series. Chris Lanzilli gave the Dash an early lead, his first long ball of the year scoring Wes Kath (double) and Shawn Goosenberg (single) and making it 3-0 in the second inning. 

Drew Dalquist gave it all back and then some in the bottom of the second, though. After three fly outs and a walk in the first, the hitless magic of his last two starts fizzled out. A strikeout started the inning, but it was followed by a triple, home run, single, walk, and another single before a second batter mercifully struck out, Drive down 3-2 with the bases loaded and two outs. Manager Guillermo Quiróz gave Dalquist the chance to get out of the inning, but his next and last batter doubled to clear the bases instead. Jerry Burke retired the final batter on the first pitch, but the Drive led 5-3.

The final Dash run crossed the plate in the eight; Terrell Tatum walked (again, 25 times in 27 games), stole second (again, 16 steals in 19 attempts), and scored when Wilfred Veras doubled, again (his 15 lead the league). They could muster no more, though, and 5-4 was the final.

Burke finished the third and fourth innings, perfect except for one hit, and Kade Mechals and Chase Plymell both threw two scoreless innings to end the game, Mechals making his first appearance with the time.

May 14

The Dash have yet to lose two in a row and did not start here. Brooks Gosswein secured a 4-2 series victory with six one-run innings, striking out five but also walking four. He allowed just three hits total, two of those combining in the third for the one Drive run against him.

Shawn Goosenberg has been on some kind of ungodly tear where if he’s not hitting much, he’s walking, and if he’s not walking that much either, he is going to compensate by just stealing a base every time he reaches. He singled to lead off the second inning here, stole second (number 15, tied for league fourth), and took third on a throwing error while Wes Kath was striking out. Michael Turner doubled him in, 1-0 Dash. 

Ivan González singled, Taishi Nakawake double, and Terrell Tatum singled, and the score was 4-0. After Loidel Chapelli Jr. walked, he and Tatum executed a double steal, which was double successful thanks to a double error by the catcher and left fielder. Both runners scored, 6-0 Dash.

Learning their lesson from the last time they had a six-run lead, they wisely scored three more in the sixth. Kath’s leadoff double looked for a couple of outs like it was going to be stranded there, but González singled him in (7-1 Dash), Nakawake and Tatum both reached, and Chapelli’s single brought home two more, 9-1 Dash.

Everhett Hazelwood had a redemption seventh, striking out two in a perfect inning, but needed to redeem himself again after the eighth, in which he gave spa  solo home run, 9-2 Dash. 

Closer Tristan Stivors pitched the ninth and it almost went off the wheels with a leadoff double followed by a hit by pitch, but catcher Turner picked off the runner at first and Stivors settled down to retire the side.

May 16

The win in this game goes to God and head groundskeeper Josh Leo, who kept the rains away and the field playable for five innings and one out, which was exactly how many innings the Dash needed to squeak into the lead over the Orioles affiliate Aberdeen IronBirds.

Last year’s number one overall draft pick Jackson Holliday, recently promoted to High-A after destroying Low-A, did a thorough job of destroying Jared Kelley. From the two-spot, Holliday hit a two-run dong in the first, putting the Dash in a 2-0 hole very early.

Kelley got through the second inning okay, but Holliday was up third in the third, and the two batters before him singled. This, of course, set Holliday up for a two-run double; he then scored on a single that made it 5-0 IronBirds.

The theme of this year for the Dash, however, has been getting back up again after one gets knocked down (someone should write a song about this). Michael Turner and Ivan González singled to lead off the bottom of the third, Taishi Nakawake walked, and Terrell Tatum picked an excellent time for his third home run of the year, his grand slam pulling the Dash within one, trailing 5-4.

Unfortunately for the Dash, Kelley, and Haylen Green, Holliday was back up in the fourth. Kelley was swapped for Green with one out and one on to face Holliday, who, on an 0-2 count, tripled in both runners, 7-4 IronBirds. The shortstop finished this game 3-for-3 with six RBI and was a single away from the cycle, through four innings. He turned 19 in December.

Unfortunately for the IronBirds, they were unable to muster anything else against Green in the top of the fifth, and the Dash comeback and the onset of the storm was near-simultaneous.

Down by three, playing a game that had just turned official, and facing thunderstorms through midnight, Nakawake singled and Tatum walked to lead off the bottom of the fifth, needing to score three runs quick. Loidel Chapelli Jr. scored three runs quick:  

They still needed one more run to avoid a suspended game doubleheader situation tomorrow, so still with nobody out, Gladney doubled for the 10th time and took the extra base on an error. This heads-up play put him on third for Wilfred Veras, who broke the tie with a sacrifice fly on the first pitch he saw, 8-7 Dash. Wes Kath reached on an error on the first pitch he saw, and the game was called with one out. Dash win.

May 17

Hey, man, look. It can’t be all sunshine all the time, as we have learned again and again in multiple ways this season. Kohl Simas finally stepped on a rake, not finishing even two innings for the first time, tanking his ERA from 2.74 to 5.11 in 24.2 overall innings. The Dash did not get the memo from yesterday to avoid pitching to Jackson Holliday at all costs, so they were already down 1-0 after he tripled with one on in the first. He scored on a sacrifice fly, 2-0 IronBirds.

The Dash did retaliate, as they so often do, in the bottom of the inning. Terrell Tatum drew a leadoff walk and Loidel Chapelli Jr. singled, then a DJ Gladney force out and a passed ball put Chapelli on third and Gladney on second with one out. Wilfred Veras drove in both with a base hit, tying it up, and Wes Kath followed up with an RBI single to put the Dash up 2-0. 

Shawn Goosenberg walked, because of course he did, but Michael Turner lined into an inning-ending double play with the score 3-2 Dash.

Holliday was up fifth in the second inning, game already re-tied against Simas, and he singled to make it 4-3 IronBirds. Simas was left in for three more runs, departing down 7-3 having thrown 56 pitches (32 for strikes). Noah Owen retired the last batter of that inning, but gave up his first run in the third the first time he faced Holliday, who singled with a runner on due to Owen’s own error (8-3 IronBirds). The second time he faced him was with one more run already across the plate in the fifth, one runner on; Holliday doubled him in, 10-3 IronBirds. Jerry Burke couldn’t stop the bleeding in relief and the fifth inning ended with the Dash down 11-3.

Burke pitched a clean sixth, if your definition of clean includes a single erased by a double play, and was replaced by Will Kincanon in the seventh. 

This was Kincanon’s first appearance since Tommy John surgery before the 2022 season, and while he retired the first batter on one pitch, he walked the second, and the third was Jackson Holliday. It could have been any pitcher on the entire staff: Holliday tripled, his second of the game and fourth in just 18 games at the level, 12-3 IronBirds. Kincanon’s wild pitch made it 13-3, where it would remain. 

Ernesto Jaquez relieved Kincanon and pitched till the end, the only pitcher to retire Holliday (full count fly ball to left field in the ninth). Holliday missed the cycle by a single yesterday when the game was called in the fifth, and he missed it by a dinger tonight.

The Dash, by this point, were far from retaliation. They had six hits total (two by Chapelli), although they did walk seven times (three by Tatum). Defensively, they ceded five stolen bases, and Wilfred Veras picked up another outfield assist, throwing a runner out at third from right field.

At 23-10, the Dash still hold a commanding five-game lead in their division and are the only team with a positive run differential (+33).

2 thoughts on “The Week in Winston: Dash update, May 11-17”

  1. upnorthsox

    Thanks Julie, I appreciate the season recaps for the guys as it puts the (sometimes gaudy) week’s numbers into perspective.

    I still like what Cannon is doing but his punchout #s are quite worrying as to how far he can progress.

    It looks like the Dash are being carried by the trio of Tatum, Chapelli, and Gladney. It’s nice to see just winning for a change, its been a while.

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