Gavin Sheets’ brief call-up took White Sox fans by surprise, but the excitement was just one of many developments in a very newsy — and thrilling — week for the Triple-A affiliate.
The starting pitching also made big headlines this week, culminating Sunday with Jimmy Lambert’s best, and longest effort of the season that resulted in a 3-2 rain-shortened win.
The win on Sunday was the team’s third in as many days. That’s because on Friday, veterans Mike Wright, Jace Fry and Nik Turley combined for a two-hit, nine-strikeout shutout, knocking off league-leading Nashville 1-0 and stopping the Sounds’ winning streak at 15. Then, on Saturday, Jonathan Stiever and Alex McRae, Fry and Zack Burdi spun yet another shutout, running the team’s scoreless streak to 21 innings.
Lambert, the FutureSox No. 15 prospect, went 4.2 innings Sunday and tossed 92 pitches, 58 of which were strikes. Lambert gave up just two hits and three walks while striking out seven. He relied heavily on his breaking pitches, and executed them superbly. (This was his first start in Charlotte since his spot start for the White Sox in a doubleheader on May 31.)
Among other key developments in the week, reinforcements arrived for the Knights’ beleaguered bullpen on Thursday. Jacob Lindgren was released, Felix Paulino was sent to Birmingham for a tune-up and two of the Barons’ more effective pitchers — Kyle Kubat and Ofreidy Gomez — were promoted to Charlotte. Neither Kubat nor Gomez appeared in a game in Charlotte this weekend.
Adam Engel made a rehab appearance all last week in Charlotte. Although his time in Charlotte may seem like just a footnote, his hustle and game smarts helped win a big game for the Knights and in so doing may have taught younger Charlotte players a thing or two.
In the team’s 1-0 win on Friday, Engel reached on an error, and then stole second — and third — only to score the game’s only run on a routine grounder. It is the kind of veteran play that manager Wes Helms believes his young players need to see.
“That can show these young guys how to play the game,” he said. “To have him around and watching what he did, they can learn from it.”
Similarly, the more his young pitchers see how the veterans attack hitters, especially lead-off batters — something he continually harps on — the sooner they will adopt a similar approach. Right now, the young guns are being too cautious, intimidated by pitching in such a hitter-friendly park. In fact, that’s why Paulino was sent to Birmingham, where the pitcher-friendly park should help the hurler regain his confidence.
But this week clearly offered hope that the staff is moving in the right direction. The biggest jump forward may have been Stiever, who pitched much more aggressively, with an improved breaking pitch and the willingness to pitch to soft contact. Stiever tossed six innings, his longest outing of the season, and helped spin the second of the two shutouts.
OK, let’s take a quick look at the past week and see who’s up next.
The Call-Up
When the White Sox had to place Andrew Vaughn on the Covid IL, they looked to the Charlotte roster for a hot bat for the bench. So even though a handful of Knights have MLB experience and are on the team precisely for this need, it was impossible to ignore Sheets’ start to the season.
“It might have been different if they needed an outfielder for the rest of the season,” Helms noted, “but with his production, the White Sox wanted a guy who can step right in and who was having success right now.”
Sheets returned to Charlotte three days later without a plate appearance but the cup of coffee had to be invaluable. And knowing Sheets’ work ethic, the brief stay probably only serves to push himself even harder.
The Offense
The team didn’t hit particularly well against the Sounds (.165), especially without Sheets’ bat in the middle of the order for half the week. In the six-game series, the team was a meager 6-for-39 with runners in scoring position, with just four doubles and five home runs.
Sheets had only 14 at bats last week, though he continued to rake with a home run, double and three singles. Luis Gonzalez was just 3-17, though two of the hits were home runs. Gonzalez also had four walks, five RBI and scored five runs. Jake Burger was 6-21 with three RBI and Blake Rutherford was 1-13 with a double.
The team is hitting .247 (8th best in the league) on the season, with 36 home runs (7th).
The Pitching
The week was a tale of two halves. For the first three games of the series against the Sounds, it was the same old story as the team’s starters combined for just 9.2 innings. And when Knights’ starters get pulled early, the team often loses because the bullpen just hasn’t had enough horses to effectively cover six or seven innings. But all that changed with the efforts from Wright, Stiever and Lambert, who give hope that the team’s fortunes are changing.
For what it is worth, the team ERA and WHIP are 5.60 (18th) and 1.61 (20th) on the season. The team is also first in bases on balls (177). But I’m anxious to see how much, if any, those and other key pitching stats improve, say, two weeks or so from now.
The Record
After splitting the six games with Nashville, the team improved to 11-18. But minor-league baseball is about player development, not wins and losses. “I don’t look at our wins and losses right now,” Helms explained. “For me, it is about getting these minor leaguers to the big leagues. That’s what it all comes down to. That’s what gives you satisfaction.
“We all want to win. We want to win for our home crowd and everything, but you get guys called up to the big leagues, you’re helping them get better and doing what they’re supposed to do, then we can sit back and say we are doing our jobs. To see Gavin get called up, that was exciting for me.”
The Roster
Catcher Evan Skoug made his Knights’ debut today. Skoug, 25, was promoted from Winston-Salem, in part to fill in for Seby Zavala, who recovers from concussion-like symptoms. A 7th round draft pick of the White Sox in 2017, Skoug had his first hit as a Knight, a ringing double in the 4th.
In 589 at bats, Skoug has a career minor league batting average of just .187. But I have to say, I really like his swing and enjoy watching this guy hit. Who knows, maybe Chris Johnson can unlock something. Crazy, I know!
On Deck
The team makes a return trip to Durham this week for another six-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays’ affiliate. The Knights got beat up badly last month in Durham, losing five of six to one of the better teams in the Triple-A East.
Because of Covid and MiLB’s desire to minimize travel, the Knights will play the Bulls 30 games in this 120-game season. But Helms wouldn’t want it any other way.
“We’re in a really tough division,” he said. “But that’s what you want. You want to play the best teams. If you are a hitter, these are the arms you need to face. If you are a pitcher, these are the hitters you need to face if you want to play in the big leagues because it is like this every day in the big leagues. It is only going to make us better if we allow it to.”
Like Charlotte, Durham is a hitter’s park. It will be fascinating to see if Charlotte’s pitching staff can take its new-found success on the road and remain aggressive. And it’d be helpful if the offense can snap out of its mini-funk and take a bit of pressure off the pitchers.
Stay tuned.
Photo credit: Sean Williams/FutureSox
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