Another weekly series against the Carolina Mudcats turns out unfavorable for the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, despite Jose Rodriguez and Andrew Dalquist’s strong performances.
SERIES RECAP
6 Games, 1-5 W-L
Batting: .221/.318/.284 Slash, 16 R, 45 H, 13 XBH, 23 BB, 74 K, 10 SB
Pitching: 50 IP, 5.76 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, .296 OPP BA, 35 R, 60 H, 22 BB, 52 K
The Mudcats have crushed Kannapolis all year long. They took 20 of 24 games from Kannapolis and swept them in two separate series at the end of May and middle of July. With the dominance the Mudcats have had in the series, there was no surprise that the Cannon Ballers struggled this week. The team’s lone win came in the series opener on a doubleheader on Wednesday.
DALQUIST DAZZLES
A player who stood out in their lone win was that of Andrew Dalquist. The seven-inning contest saw Dalquist throw 4.2 innings of one run baseball while striking out eight Mudcats along the way. The fastball was working for Dalquist as he was able to nail the strike zone consistently. Dalquist said his strategy was to attack with the fastball, trying to create early contact.
The only downside to his outing was the lack of off-speed success. He didn’t completely ditch it, but he will need to improve on the use of it to create some deception. The fastball success can only work for so long until hitters start timing him up. For now, the performance was a big shot in the arm to Dalquist, who had struggled in the month of July with a 7.65 ERA in five starts. Look for Dalquist to open the next series as Kannapolis heads on the road to Augusta for another road set with the Green Jackets.
RODRIGUEZ ROCKETS UP LEADERBOARDS
Jose Rodriguez had yet another strong week that continues to see him climb up the Low-A East leaderboards. Across his five contests this week, Rodriguez slashed .348/.375/.522 in 24 PAs. The Dominican shortstop logged eight hits, four of which were doubles, and scored three times. With his week, the White Sox top-15 prospect now leads the Low-A East in hits (95) and doubles (22).
Rodriguez has shown that he can handle pitching at the Low-A level, even against a strong team in the Mudcats. He recorded three multi-hit games, including a three-hit contest in the doubleheader nightcap loss on August 4. Even though he doesn’t possess the on-base prowess of a Harvin Mendoza, Rodriguez manufactures ways to get on and makes his swings matter.
On Monday, the White Sox promoted Rodriguez to High-A Winston-Salem.
STRUGGLING TO BALL OUT
Throughout the week, there were some struggles for a mainstaple and a new guy in town. Chase Krogman and Anderson Comas had weeks to forget.
Krogman has struggled since returning from a hand injury in mid-May and this week encapsulated his struggles. In three starts and eleven PAs, the Kansas native mustered a hit, two walks and six strikeouts. In Kannapolis’ extra-inning 6-4 loss on August 7, Krogman struck out in all five of his PAs. The walks across his week are encouraging, but the strikeout trend has been on the downswing. In July, he struck out in all but two of his nineteen contests. The raw power is there for Krogman, but his approach has to change at the plate.
Comas had an impressive start in the Arizona Complex League with a 1.241 OPS across eight contests. That start got him a call-up to Kannapolis on August 2. The 21-year-old dawned the No. 21 uniform, which became vacant with the call-up of Luis Mieses to High-A Winston-Salem. Funny enough, Comas and Mieses have a lot in common: similar builds, both play the outfield and both are lefty bats. The 2016 free-agent signee struggled mightily against the Mudcats, going 1-for-19 with a walk and a woeful ten strikeouts. While it is his first series and a small sample size, Comas looked over-matched against the Mudcats pitching. It reminded myself of Benyamin Bailey’s time in Kannapolis. Hopefully he can get it turned around at the plate and fill in nicely into the open outfield spot.
The Cannon Ballers bullpen has been a mess since the start of the 2021 campaign. This series was no different as they had two late inning losses at the hands of Karen Patel. Patel allowed five runs in an inning of work, allowing walk-offs on August 5 and August 7 on two Joey Weimer home runs. The Texas native has posted a 8.00 ERA across nine innings at Low-A. To say he’s had a rough go would be an understatement.
Theo Denlinger, the White Sox 2021 seventh-round selection, made his debut for Kannapolis this week. In two appearances, the right-hander had a blown save on the August 5 loss but was able to bounce back for a clean frame on August 7, striking out two in the process. The 25-year-old Bradley product will be an interesting arm to watch from the bullpen as they try to right the ship.
Amidst the week in Zebulon, the White Sox released infielder Lency Delgado. The 2018 fourth-round selection had slumped to a .194/.256/.313 slash line in 42 contests. Delgado had issues both in the field and at the plate. He would rush fielding opportunities, leading to misthrows and botched plays. On top of his struggles, Delgado was eating a lineup spot for budding prospects. With Rodriguez and Mendoza locks at shortstop and first base, manager Guillermo Quiroz had to juggle Bryan Ramos, Samil Polanco and D.J. Gladney at second, third and DH. That’s not to mention to presence of Jeremiah Burks from his mid-July call-up. A decent amount of resources went into Delgado and in the blink of an eye, he goes from doubling against the Mudcats on August 4 to being released on August 5.
LOOKING AHEAD
With a little more than a month of baseball left for the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, there’s still time for prospects to prove they belong. Their next series takes them to North Augusta, South Carolina as they take on the Augusta Green Jackets.
Photo credit: Michael Guariglia/FutureSox
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