Autumn Dreamin

Looks like he'll be starting for the Dash tonight.

Not a great year healthwise for the backend of the 2023 Sox pen. Gregory Santos has been out all year, but is headed for a rehab assignment in AAA next week. Joe Kelly has been out since May, and can't return until July 6th at the earliest. Middleton and Graveman both out for the season without having thrown a pitch.

Keener: 6IP, 0H, 1BB, 7K Luke Bell: 2IP, 0H, 1BB, 3K Nick Altermatt: 1IP, 0H, 0BB Kanny wins a combined no hitter, 6-0

Free to watch, for those inclined: https://www.mlb.com/tv/shows/selection/milb-on-mlb-tv-cubs-white-sox-double-a-clubs-meet-115140

Good night for those fond of what I believe is known as "savagery"

Also, Charlotte has quietly been playing very well lately? 9-1 in their last 10 games, which apparently hasn't happened since 2014. Their overall record is now just 1 win behind the formerly powerhouse Norfolk Tides, who they can pass with a series W this week. Ramos went 3-4 with a pair of doubles and 2 RBI. Colas had a triple and a pair of OF assists to cut down runners.

Barons head into the 9th up 6-1, and disaster follows. Adler has a rare off night and can't find an out. 2 runs on 2 hits and 3 walks before he's pulled with the bases loaded. Palisch gives up a go ahead slam to the first batter he faces, Barons go down 7-6. Bottom 9, Gonzo hits one solidly but it's caught. Tatum strikes out... Baldwin first pitch double. Elko full count walkoff HR. All's well that ends well (except for Schweitzer getting robbed of a W). 4 HR for the Barons today, which is great to see after the offense was lagging to close out the first half.

Gonzo breaks out of his slump with an RBI single: And then Baldwin hits his second ? of the game: Schweitzer done after a very nice 7IP, 1R (0ER), 5H, 0BB, 5K showing on 86 pitches. ERA at 1.89.

Already his 12th, twice as many as he hit all last season.

Hogan gets his first AA HR just 4 games (10 AB) in. Barons up 4-3. Followed it up with a great running catch:

Burke just went to the IL, and I think Tatum is still hurt too. It would be Duke Ellis time, but alas...

Big catch by Hogan saves at least a pair:

Kanny wins a 2-1 pitcher's duel behind 5IP scoreless from Gordon and the GWRBI from Wolkow: WS won much more comfortably thanks to a 17 hit, 13 run performance from the offense. Would have been a fun one to watch, but Asheville can't be bothered to broadcast their games... Zavala was 1-5 with a BB, Chappy was 4-6 with a SB, Kath 2-4 with a BB and RBI. Galanie had the only XBH, going 4-5 with a 3B, HR, and 4 RBI. Gowens' 13K is a career high, though he had two other double digit K games in May. He's got a 1.01 WHIP and 10.88 K/9.

Veras' second 2 run HR of the game puts the Barons up 4-0. It's his second 2 HR game of the season. Burke is done in Charlotte after 4IP, 1ER, 2H, 3BB. Curveball looked nice early. Charlotte up 8-1 behind a couple of crooked numbers.

I mean, in my opinion, it's more that your mindset doesn't always seem super compatible with healthy prospect watching? I started to respond to your "hot garbage" take yesterday, to point out how disproportionate of a reaction that is to a 23 year old having one bad start in his first stint in the majors after embarrassing AA hitters all season, or a 22 year old Iriarte having a rough patch in the midst of an otherwise fine year. I was going to cite, @WestEddy did, how Zavala has an insane OBP in June with 16 BB to 7K as a young-for-level teenager. I thought about pointing out how Cease has a 6.32 ERA in June, or how his last start (3.2IP, 7ER) was comparable to Thorpe's (3.1IP, 7ER) and worse than Iriarte's (6IP, 5ER) so even a SSS-based judgement wouldn't support a "hot garbage" grade. But as I was looking up the numbers, I felt like...what's the point? Your primary focus seems to be looking for the first sign of "concern", and then immediately extrapolating that into the worse case scenario and making sure everyone knows that you were the first to see through the smokescreen of industry evaluators/prospect rankings/fan optimism I guess? And a lot (most?) of it seems based on watching box scores rather than games or scouting reports, which simply doesn't tell you enough about an environment in which everyone is a work in progress and that progression isn't linear. Guys will have 0-10 stretches where they're doing everything right and smoking the ball, but finding gloves every time. Pitchers will be adjusting arsenals and sequencing, and get burned for a crooked number in the process. If you're ready to write off a guy every time that happens, you're in for a terrible time. The views on the vast majority of prospects should exist somewhere between "mildly concerned" and "cautiously optimistic" on a given day, so the ease and frequency at which your dial flips to judgements like "hot garbage" is automatically out of place. "Concern" is saying "Thorpe will need to be smart with sequencing to make sure his lower velo arsenal plays in the bigs" or "Wolkow needs to improve his K% before we can project what he might do at higher levels." It's not popping in here after you see Colson have an 0-4 day to ask how long until he falls off Top 100 lists.

The bad news: The Barons lost after an Elko GIDP. The good news: There is Statcast at Rickwood! https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/gamefeed?gamePk=750237&game_date=6/18/2024&date=6/18/2024&sportId=12 Quero's EVs on his 5 hits: 104.5, 102.6, 98.7, 97.6, 90.0 The hardest hit ball of the game was Jacob Burke (?!) at 114.7 mph. Elko second at 109.5

Make that 5-5 for Quero. He adds a single and another RBI. He gets the Barons within 1 run with bases loaded and 1 out bottom 9...

I think he's got the right mindset: From Merkin: https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/news/george-wolkow-white-sox-minor-league-prospect

Iriarte struggled in the first 2 innings, and gave up 5 runs on 7 hits, 2 steals, a walk, and a HBP. But he settled in for 4 scoreless IP after that, including retiring his last 8 in a row. Finished with 6IP, 5ER, 8H, 1BB (2 HBP), 4K. I'm a big fan of how he competes without his best stuff. Quero got robbed of a HR by Rickwood's ground rules, feel like 387' is out in most places. Still an excellent game from him, he's 4-4 with 2 RBIS and 2 doubles. AHT looked good throwing 2 scoreless for the Barons, and Cousin did the same for Charlotte. Cousin hasn't given up a run through 5 AAA appearances (6IP). Colson hit a game tying HR for the Knights to force extras after they lost a 1 run lead in the 9th.

Kanny beat the Barons to securing a playoff spot. They have the 3rd best team ERA in the minors at 3.03 (the Barons are 1st at 2.76).