The alternate site game between the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs in Schaumburg on April 24, 2021 featured several upper-level White Sox prospects. The game was a unique experience with flipped innings and an abrupt end after six and a half frames while the home team was behind on the scoreboard.
In the most bizarre circumstance, Sox pitcher Nik Turley threw to catcher Seby Zavala, but the battery was backed by a Cubs defense as the White Sox hit. Beyond the uncommon format, there was baseball played, so let’s run down the performance of some of the more prominent players. The player’s FutureSox top 30 prospect ranking is in parentheses.
Gavin Sheets (11)
The stat sheet may not be favorable to Sheets, but he turned in a couple of solid at-bats featuring hard-hit balls. The loudest of those was a long foul ball down the right field line off the left-handed Turley. Had it stayed fair, it may have resulted in a four-bagger. The at-bat ultimately ended in a strikeout. In his final at-bat of the day, Sheets hit a rocket that was snared by the first basemen. Sheets, batting fourth in the lineup, opened his day with a routine groundout to second base.
Luis Gonzalez (12)
The 2017 third-round pick out of the University of New Mexico got into three major league games in 2020. Most project him to become a fourth outfielder with a ceiling of becoming a starting center fielder. Based on his performance Saturday, the latter seems like a possibility.
Gonzalez was the best player on the field, leading off the game with a home run to right-center. In his subsequent at-bat, the prospect may have hit the ball even harder as he smashed one high off the wall in straight away center. He settled for an extra-base hit after missing a homer by inches.
Blake Rutherford (13)
Our No. 13 ranked prospect sent the fans home cheering with a jaw-dropping diving catch in left to end the game. He was greeted with high-fives as the teams exited the field.
Rutherford just missed a second spectacular catch on an eerily similar diving attempt earlier in the game. He has a reputation for generating exit velocity at the plate, but didn’t provide any hard evidence in this exhibition game.
Micker Adolfo (14)
Adolfo has struggled on offense since a long layoff due to injury. He appeared to have shaken off some of the rust as he looked competitive at the plate despite nothing tangible to show for it. Prior to an elbow injury, Adolfo earned a reputation as a strong defender due to amazing arm strength. Game circumstances didn’t allow him an opportunity to make an important throw as he handled a few routine fly balls.
Jake Burger (16)
Hitting in the three spot, Burger showed why he was a first-round draft pick with a long drive to left that was caught with the defender’s back against the fence. He struck out in the first and also grounded out to third. He didn’t appear to show any lingering effects from his two Achilles tendon surgeries as he hustled down the line and made it close at first on the groundout. Burger wasn’t challenged on his one chance on defense, completing a simple play on a grounder at third base.
Reynaldo Lopez
The right-hander acquired in the Adam Eaton trade graduated from our prospect list long ago. He remains an important player to the White Sox in the immediate sense as a potential back-end of the rotation starter or bullpen piece. Unfortunately, Lopez’s performance didn’t demonstrate he’ll help the big league club soon.
Lopez threw five controlled innings. In one case was bailed out of a bases-loaded situation due to a flipped inning. Cubs infielder Sergio Alcántara turned in the second-best performance of the afternoon behind Gonzalez with two hard-hit singles off of Lopez.
The 27-year-old out of the Dominican issued several walks, including three in the flipped inning. Batters were making hard contact off him and many of which were recorded as outs.
Pitching
White Sox pitching struggled overall as no one seemed to have much in the way of command. Connor Sadzeck walked three straight and gave up a single before getting out of the inning. Even without the help of a stadium gun, it was apparent Tayron Guerrero brought his touted velocity. He also suffered from wildness, allowing a run on a wild pitch before the game abruptly ended with Rutherford’s defensive heroics.
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