You know it was a rough week for the Charlotte Knights when the highlight was an appearance by rehabbing major league umpire Angel Hernandez.
The Knights fell to 3-18 in the second half after getting pummelled at home by the Memphis Redbirds this past week and the only matter up for debate — if anyone really cares — is who gets called up if and when the White Sox sell off major-league assets.
Fortunately, there’s some record-setting, competitive baseball being played in Winston-Salem these days. So that’s where I went last week, and I’m glad I did.
On Thursday, I got a chance to see outfielder Jacob Burke set a White Sox minor-league record by getting on base in his 51st straight game, breaking the mark set one year earlier by Colson Montgomery. He’d extend the streak to 52 before going 0-for-4 on Saturday but then bounced back with a three-hit game on Sunday.
51 & counting!
— jeff cohen (@TripleAJeff) July 20, 2023
A hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the first & Jacob Burke has broken Colson Montgomery’s record (set last year) of being on base in 50 straight games.
@FutureSox @whitesox @WSDashBaseball pic.twitter.com/8cTxAo4nXZ
To add a bit more context, Saturday is the only game this year that he hasn’t been on base. I don’t know what his ceiling is, but he plays with a chip on his shoulder, and I love the grit and drive.
An 11th round pick in 2022 out of the University of Miami, Burke spent 35 games in Kannapolis before a promotion a few weeks ago to Winston-Salem. He is hitting .325 this year, with an inflated OBP of .427.
Some Random Thoughts On The Dash
Wes Kath, the Sox’ 2nd-round draft pick in 2021, is still adjusting to High-A pitching (.207) after a decent rookie year in Kannapolis last season. But the 20-year-old third baseman looks bigger and stronger this year as opposed to the leaner kid I saw before the start of last season.
Last year’s 9th round pick, catcher Michael Turner, also caught my eye with a big home run and strong throw to second to nail a would-be base stealer.
“He has a very good arm and is becoming one of the leaders on the team,” manager Guillermo Quiroz told me on Thursday. “In Spring Training, we worked with his footwork a little bit. His movements were a little too long but now they are a lot shorter and a lot more consistent.”
Wilfred Veras was nursing an injury on Thursday, but he’s having a solid season as well. Power is his calling card, as evidenced by 25 doubles and 9 home runs over 83 games.
Tim Elko, the Winston-Salem first baseman and clean-up hitter, is a happy man these days, with Burke, Montgomery and Veras hitting in front of him — and frequently on base. Elko drove in 57 runs in just 66 games in Kannapolis this year, with 77 hits including 14 doubles, a triple and 17 homers. He has 17 more RBIs in 19 games since moving up to Winston-Salem a few weeks ago.
Noah Schultz Did What?
Last year’s No. 1 pick, Noah Schultz, has been unhittable in Low-A until this past weekend, when he was roughed up for five hits, including three homers, in 1.1 innings.
But I’m told by two people who watched the game that his velo and command are just fine. Keep in mind that opponents are still just hitting .177 against him in 15.2 innings this year, with a 0.77 WHIP even after that dud of an outing.
In the two starts I watched of him in person, it looked to me that his catcher was just setting up in the middle of the plate and letting Schultz blow the ball past over-matched hitters. That’s fine in Low-A, but it is time to start painting those corners with that 95-mph heater.
Who’s Left In Charlotte
Carlos Perez and Oscar Colas are already with the big league club. Iván González, a catcher, was just promoted from Birmingham to Charlotte, suggesting that the Sox are finally ready to keep Perez around for a longer look.
The remaining position players in Charlotte on the 40-man roster are Lenyn Sosa, Adam Haseley and Clint Frazier. You’d have to assume that Sosa is next man up. He’s having a solid season and has been squaring up the ball a lot lately.
On the pitching side, the 40-man roster includes Sammy Peralta, Nicholas Padilla and Jimmy Lambert.
Peralta was put in the rotation out of necessity and has fared ok though a lefty change-up pitcher like him is far better suited for the bullpen. Likewise, the Sox recently signed journeyman Mike Mayers, another reliever turned starter, presumably in preparation for multi-inning duty in Chicago.
Lambert has struggled following an IL stint a few weeks ago with a bum ankle. But he looked excellent this past Friday, so he may be getting back in form.
I don’t think that Major League Baseball should be in any hurry to call up Angel Hernandez.
Where’s the list for umps to be sent down?
He should be DFA’d (Designated For the Abbatoir).
Been curious on Jacob Burke’s ceiling since the Sox have so few players performing in the system, but overall the lack of depth at AAA and AA being a place where players go to die for the white sox, I just dont see much help coming any time soon internally. Thanks for the recap
I think he has above average physical tools across the board, with maybe some concern about his contact moving forward. At a minimum, decent center fielder with plus speed and a manageable throwing arm, but his ability to adjust to breaking stuff at AA when he gets there will tell us a lot about his trajectory. Just my opinion.
There’s some concerns about his quality of contact. He’s not striking out that much, but he’s BABIPing ridiculous numbers in small samples without much ISO, which probably indicates a slap-and-dash style of hitting that’ll run into diminishing returns against better defenses. A 4th OF, Engel-ish, is probably as good as he’ll be. How good the glove is in CF may be pretty important for his future.
Is there any EV data for him? He has a 32% LD Rate in W-S after having a 50% FB rate in Kanny, so his BABIP isn’t reliant on speed. It seems like he needs to see better pitching to see how he responds.
Not publicly available for A/A+. HR/FB% is the best estimator we have, and that’s not impressive. He does need to see better pitching, but I think he’s mostly just getting lucky on the BABIP front. The BB/K is encouraging, and there’s a possibility he has a real HBP ‘skill’ to help OBP. But the surface level performance shouldn’t be taken at face value; he’s not obliterating the baseball like Robert was at W-S to start 2019, or he’d be producing much more pop.
I noticed Sosa’s OPS was dropping month to month throughout the season. Any particular reason for that?
Maybe Schultz was just flustered after giving up something. Example of why it is important to experience success and failure.
Ah, so did Angel finally get his eyes fixed and a personality transplant?
“Wes Kath is still adjusting to High-A pitching,” is really underselling his struggles, I think. Any conversation about Kath begins and ends with his 41.6% K rate. And I thought it was bad when he was striking out a third of the time in Kanny.
Is there a site that shows how much money each organization invests in their minor league operation? I would love to see where the White Sox rank on that list
Catcher Michael Turner — tell me more, please.
Yep, Wes Kath has struggled quite a bit making contact in his MILB career and there are still big questions about the bat. But I was just pleasantly surprised to see him up close in person to see that he’s adding muscle. Not only does he need to improve his bat-to-ball skills, he needs to get bigger and stronger so he can drive the ball. He’s only 20 years old though so there’s still time.
As for Burke, I don’t have access to exit velo numbers or other key analytics, unfortunately. But I just like what he brings to the table between the ears — his intangibles. Wes Helms (remember that name?) kept telling me that all the guys in Triple-A had enough talent to get to the big leagues but it was their ability to deal with adversity, adjust and play with confidence that was the biggest differentiator. And I finally saw what he meant when I saw Zach Remillard’s transformation in Charlotte.
With regard to Sosa, I haven’t looked at his stats much this season. I just see a guy who has steadily improved, to the naked eye, and is hitting a lot more line drives and far fewer ground balls in the past month in particular.
But, yeah, we really don’t know what we have in guys like Kath and Burke till we see what they can do in Birmingham. That seems to be the place where we separate the players from the pretenders. I’m especially anxious to see how all the exciting, new, young arms fare there…guys like Cannon, Schultz, Pallette, Schweitzer, Adams and Murphy, as well as the 2023 draftees.
And Angel Hernandez??? He’s a walking advertisement for ABS.
I’m trying to forget that name.
ABS? I think you mean IBS, moderate to severe.
His ISO is down 40 points from what it was in Kanny last season (and it wasn’t good then either). He’s on pace to have far fewer XBH, so I don’t think adding muscle has done him any good. Yes, he’s young for the level, but I just don’t think he belongs there and needs to go back down to Kanny.
Tough to get excited about what 22/23 year olds do in A ball.