Catcher Josh Phegley, recently voted the White Sox #11 prospect, has been placed on the 7-day disabled list with Winston-Salem. With Logan Johnson (W-S’s other catcher) already on the DL, this leaves the Dash with no real catcher. Luis Sierra, their utility man, can play the position in a pinch.
The likely result of this is that one of the catchers at Low-A Kannapolis (Miguel Gonzalez, #8 on the
Sox prospect list, and Kevin Dubler)
or someone from extended spring training will be promoted to take that slot for the time being. Infielder Jeffrey
Tezak has already been promoted from Kannapolis to Winston-Salem (with
Johnson down), as has Kyle Bellamy, after Leroy Hunt was also injured.
Phegley’s injury is somewhat odd considering he finished the Dash’s 7-6 win last night. Phegley was hitting .259 (7-27) with one double, two walks and ten strikeouts (.607 OPS).
Tezak was a 24th rounder out of Nebraska last year and seems like nothing more than an organizational type utility player. He hit .280 with a nice .379 on-base percentage, but had only four extra-base hits. He only received nine plate appearances with Kannapolis to start the year, going 2-6 with three walks.
The Dash roster currently stands at 24, leaving one spot still open.
UPDATE: The Kannapolis openings have been filled by RHP Phil Negus and outfielder Trayce Thompson.
Thompson struggled in rookie ball last year after being selected in the second round of the 2009 draft. He has big time upside, but raw tools. Expectations are minimal for his performance in Kannapolis, but it’s common for better prospects to be pushed to Low-A instead of spending time in extended spring training before rookie ball starts (Chris Carter, Francisco Hernandez).
It will be interesting to see how playing time works in Kannapolis now that Thompson is on the roster. Brady Shoemaker, Nick Ciolli and Kyle Colligan are decent prospects that should still be given regular playing time. It’s likely we’ll see Thompson play in the outfield, bumping one of the aforementioned trio to DH on occasion with Ian Gac or another Kannapolis infielder/DH seeing less time.
Negus was an 18th round pick in last year’s draft out of Wake Forest. He was used mostly as a reliever in Bristol. He struck out 34 in 34 innings against 11 walks. Negus finished with a 2.38 ERA.
FURTHER UPDATE (4/17): Catcher Chase Blackwood was assigned to Winston-Salem to fill the remaining roster spot. Catcher Jason Bour signed and assigned to Winston-Salem, second baseman Jeff Tezak moved back to Kannapolis to make room for Bour.