White Sox Minor League Update: May 10

Not a great day on the farm with Kannapolis the only winner and Blake Rutherford with the only homer.

Only one thing can be said about this game, it was absolutely terrible for the Charlotte Knights. The pitching was terrible even with an error tacking off four earned runs while five of the six pitchers used in the game allowed a run. JB Olson was the only guy to not allow a run and the game was already 15-3 when he did it.

The offense should not be expected to compete with 15 runs allowed, but they were not a bastion of hope either. They only had six hits on the day, but at least Seby Zavala and Blake Rutherford had good days. Zavala reached base every time he was up and Rutherford hit his fourth homer of the season.

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A heartbreaker for the Barons in this loss as they came back from a six-run deficit to tie the game, only to lose in walk-off fashion in the ninth innings. Like the Charlotte pitchers, only one arm used by the Barons did not allow a run, Yoan Aybar. Though to be fair, Felix Paulino did not allow a hit in his two innings that yielded one run allowed.

A big reason why the Barons took a while to score is that they struck out too much. They were K’ed 11 times on the day while earning just one walk. Another factor is the lack of power, the Barons had nine hits, and every single (pun intended) one was a single.

Quite frankly, it is impressive they came away with six runs let alone the fact they scored all six runs in the eighth inning. What came to their advantage was some horrendous defense from Biloxi, almost White Sox bad. The Shuckers committed five errors which led to four unearned runs.

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From a terrible loss in Charlotte to a downer in Birmingham, and now, just another bad loss here in Winston-Salem. Again, only one pitcher used in the game by the White Sox organization did not allow a run, and he only faced two batters.

Now, Chase Solesky, the starter today, actually did really well and was only tagged with an unearned run. However, his command was not on point with four walks over five innings. The bullpen did not do well but the offense is what failed him in this game.

Again, no power whatsoever was shown in this game by the Dash, all five hits were singles but the plate discipline was atrocious. The team only mustered one walk compared to 12 strikeouts. Duke Ellis probably had the best game with two hits while Tyler Osik was responsible for the only run driven in.

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Finally, a win! It was not a complete win with the offense lacking, but it was enough to get the job done. The theme of the day is lack of power and plate discipline and that continued here. Only Colby Smelley has an extra-base hit, it was one of his two.

Meanwhile, the entire lineup only had two walks with 12 strikeouts, not a great ratio. Wes Kath continues to look better lately with a 3-for-5 performance and Wilfred Veras added two hits himself. Between these three hitters, they had seven of the eight hits for the team.

The pitching was the good thing today and the reason Kannapolis won. Kohl Simas started the game and was good enough to set the tone. He left after five good innings with one earned and unearned run allowed. The bullpen was pretty spectacular with Everhett Hazelwood as the long-man. He went three shutout innings to get the win. Frander Veras blanked Fredericksburg in the ninth to get his second save of the year.