Gion Gonzalez Earns His Stripes in Bristol, Now Moving to Kanny

By Jason Gage

July 27, 2004

FutureSox.com

 

The Chicago White Sox promoted compensatory pick Gio Gonzalez to Kannapolis. Gonzalez started his professional career in Bristol this year after being drafted out of Pace Monsignor High School (Florida) in June. Gonzalez, who some thought of as a difficult sign, quickly agreed to terms with the Sox, receiving an $850,000 signing bonus. He had a scholarship offer from the University of Miami on the table...MORE

Kickass...here is to my favorite prospect owning people at Kanny.

Great news! But who is going to get moved up? You could argue a case for Flores or even Whisler because he has been so dominant.

Adam Larson was moved up for now. I'd go with Haig or Rodriguez, but thats me. I know Flores has been really good, although he's worn down a bit and I don't like the idea of rushing him. Whisler is a possibility, but I think for now, they shouldn't push it, especially with other guys deserving.

 

You could even see Miller, who is solid, and in his 2nd year at Kanny. He's rated highly by BA and a few other publications, although I personally believe their is definately some hype to his ratings. He's good, but doesn't have the upside so many say he does, imo.

Miller, Rodriguez, and Haigwood all have ERAs above 4 and while all have shown flashes and streaks Flores is by far having the best year. 4+ ERAs don't deserve promotion.

Edited July 28, 200421 yr by danman31

I'm excited to see him in Kanny. I figured it was just a matter of time, but he was really pitching great in Bristol. Hopefully he can do more of the same with Kanny. Other then his size (he's pretty small), the guy has an incredible upside and not too many negatives that I can think of (especially for a high school pitcher).

Congrats to Gio on his call-up!

Kickass...here is to my favorite prospect owning people at Kanny.

^^ Yeah, That ^^

Congrats to Gio, he really deserved a call - up and let's hope he can continue to produce great numbers down at Kanny.

Wow, that was quick.

 

Congrats Gio!!!

I'm guardedly optimistic about this kid.

 

Who gets called up to the Sox first? Gio or Honel?

I really, really want to see Honel,so thats who im hoping for. I just want Gio to take it slow, really establish the curve, and hopfully he is up with the club in mabye late 2006.

What is Kris's prognosis? Is he going to be able to pitch next year? Or is his injury one of those that even if he pitches, it will take him another year to get back to "normal"???

What is Kris's prognosis?  Is he going to be able to pitch next year?  Or is his injury one of those that even if he pitches, it will take him another year to get back to "normal"???

I think its wait and see. From what I know they still haven't been able to figure out anyting wrong with him. His velocity is just incredibly low.

 

Right now I am pretty unoptimistic when it comes to Honel.

Is it too early to match Gio with "The Messiah"?

 

Curve like Jesus, fastball like Jesus, and can spot.

 

Did i mention he just went to prom 2 months ago?

 

Watch out Prior!

I just want Gio to take it slow, really establish the curve, and hopfully he is up with the club in mabye late 2006.

I'm just going to ponder possibilities with what they could do with Gio down the road.

 

If he does well in Kanny this year, he could be in Winston-Salem next season.

2005 could be split between Winston-Salem or Birmingham if he does well.

2006 he could be at Charlotte, maybe getting a September call.

 

That might even be conservative as sometimes dominating pitchers will skip levels and the Sox have been known to call up guys straight from AA (Buehrle, Cotts, Munoz doesn't count because he had pitched a whole season at AAA last year).

Good control, awesome stuff. Keep the kid healthy and we have a damn good one on our hands!

 

Congrats on the callup, Gio!

 

Just out of curiosity, IIRC he threw like 91-92, just based on the little scouting tape I watched on him. For the people who know minor league and just about high schoolers in general, is it likely he'll add a MPH or two more as he proggresses and matures?

Kind of a catch 22, sometimes high schoolers never add velocity. They were used to pitching on extended rest and because of that they threw harder and when it came to pitching every 5th day and going deeper into ballgames the velocity never increased. This is also partly because they didn't work hard enough as well.

 

At the same time, if your tall, lanky, skinny, you can usually project to add some MPH. I dont' know how much you can expect from Gio, he isn't too big of a guy, so he isn't what I'd call projectible velocity wise. I think what you see is what you get with his 91 MPH fastball. IT should be noted his fastball has plus movement.

I don't care if he tops out at 91 on his heater, as long as that curve still breaks 12-6, it's cool with me.

FWIW, I have heard a comparison of Gio to Jim Parque, when Parque first came up and was in AAA.

 

That may not excite some, but if you think about it, Parque was at least three years older coming out of UCLA and made it to AAA in his first season. For a kid three years younger to have comparable stuff is pretty good.

 

The person who made that comparison liked him very much. He also told me that the Sox knew he was too good for Bristol, but they had a plan and figured on a promotion to Kannapolis if all went well.

Parque makes sense. They have similar statures and I really can't knock Parque. The guy shot to the majors and was a gutsy pitcher. I long think he would of turned into a pretty good big leaguer had he not bene rushed and had he not been injured.

 

Either way the kid was gutsy and put up when the Sox needed it most on the most part.

 

However, I think Gio has very good stuff, but we'll see. I won't be dissapointded if he moves through like Parque did. At his age, he has a shot to really shoot up the system, especially if the SOx are agressive with him (Don't know if I'm advocating that yet or not) but if his secondary stats warrant a promotion and quick rush (ie, great control, few hits, lots of strikeouts) then I'd move him quickly.

So - from what I've read (the article you wrote) - he throws three pitches very well right now (curve, fastball, changeup). May I ask, do you think he'll just try to improve each of those pitches, or will he try and work on another pitch, such as another type of fastball (cutter, sinker, 2-seamer, splitty)?

 

My personal opinion is that if he has good command and control of those three pitches, he won't need another pitch, but I wanted to get someone elses thoughts about it.

I think he has enough pitches, but will of coures have to continue to hone those pitches. I wouldn't count out him going with a cutter. From the prospects I've talked to, it seems the Sox organization is very high on that pitch (as well as the changeup) and are trying to teach it to quite a few of their players.

I think he has enough pitches, but will of coures have to continue to hone those pitches.  I wouldn't count out him going with a cutter.  From the prospects I've talked to, it seems the Sox organization is very high on that pitch (as well as the changeup) and are trying to teach it to quite a few of their players.

I think they are trying to teach the cutter since probably a lot of guys didn't learn it in high school or college. It really gives a guy a great new weapon, if he can locate it inside consistently.

I think they are trying to teach the cutter since probably a lot of guys didn't learn it in high school or college.  It really gives a guy a great new weapon, if he can locate it inside consistently.

each team has a speciality pitch that they teach their pit, i never knew what the sox was and now i do. the cutter is a nice pitch....

 

thanks mc

when is gio going to make his first appearance for kanny?