That's a fine idea, but there is a roster crunch when Gillaspie, Keppinger and Eaton are all back.

 

Maybe if the Sox didn't have a backup DH on the roster . . .

Konerko should just give his roster spot up. Now that he's got his Cubs scoreboard tile. What else is there to play for.

 

Lakso was reporting Johnson hit 92 in the first, never topped 90 after, worked mostly 87-89.

 

Joey Gallo with 2 HR today against the Dash. He has huge power. 40 HR last year, on pace for 45+ this year. Career .377 ISO before today's game. Has made a lot of progress with the K% too.

Dan Hayes ‏@DanHayesCSN 2h

 

In two starts at Triple-A Erik Johnson has allowed 8 hits, 2 earned runs and walked one in 13 innings. #WhiteSox

Joey Gallo with 2 HR today against the Dash. He has huge power. 40 HR last year, on pace for 45+ this year. Career .377 ISO before today's game. Has made a lot of progress with the K% too.

 

 

Wasn't he the attorney in My Cousin Vinny?

 

Jerry Callow?

 

 

Wasn't he the attorney in My Cousin Vinny?

 

Jerry Callow?

 

 

 

Perhaps the laws of physics cease to exist on your stove.

Jordan Guerrero continues doing good things:

 

2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K

 

11 K/1 BB in 8.2 IP on the year.

I'd be interested to see where his velocity is at. I loved the pick when he was drafted.

Yeah if he's back to the low 90's or better with an advanced change that is very interesting.

I saw where Nathaniel Stoltz inferred that he thought Hawkins was not very good. The offensive players in the system are slumping it seems.

I saw where Nathaniel Stoltz inferred that he thought Hawkins was not very good. The offensive players in the system are slumping it seems.

 

And it's not looking pretty, since the pitching is getting demolished every game. Overall, 3 of the 4 minor league teams are around at below .400 winning percentage.

I saw where Nathaniel Stoltz inferred that he thought Hawkins was not very good. The offensive players in the system are slumping it seems.

 

 

I hope you mean implied...because we can't be sure he's smart enough to infer or deduce.

I think fathom was referring to a tweet Stoltz had yesterday (correct me if I'm wrong fathom). Stoltz responded to a tweet and said Hawkins looked overmatched in his 0-5, 2K performance. There has been other games where Stolz has noted how much quieter his hands are, how he has improved his balance and how the two strike approach is better than where it was last year.

 

Speaking towards the system as a whole, it's been a bit cloudy lately. Just from writing the recaps there hasn't been many notable performances or strong runs outside of the few top performers. We have had the bright spots (Micah, Ravelo, Danish), some ugly performances (Davidson, Beck) and some hot and cold guys in Hawkins, Thompson and Anderson. Even so, the only performance so far that is really alarming is Chris Beck and we have had reports where his line didn't really paint the whole picture.

 

Luckily, we still have the draft next week to give us a top 50 prospect, Davidson can only get better, and there's a handful of lower level pitchers that should be fun to watch. We also have guys like Rondon and Engel where the only need to hit a little bit to be productive hitters. Michalczewski's quietly showing an advanced game at the plate. The system did just get drained to an extent with Johnson and Semien graduating because that was the lion's share of our upper level talents.

 

Yep, he had a tweet to CJ Wittmann Jr. where he agreed with his assessment from a few weeks ago about Hawkins. I believe that was the assessment which stated his ceiling was that of a bench player.

Yep, he had a tweet to CJ Wittmann Jr. where he agreed with his assessment from a few weeks ago about Hawkins. I believe that was the assessment which stated his ceiling was that of a bench player.

 

 

That's still dumb.

 

You could say the same thing about Jared Mitchell right now.

 

He doesn't have the kind of swing that's going to translate into any type of repeatable success playing once every week or so...so bench player, I guess, he could run into a homer, but he's not going to be a defensive replacement or veteran bat who can make contact in a clutch situation like an Omar Vizquel or Jose Vizcaino.

Edited May 8, 201411 yr by caulfield12

Jordan Guerrero continues doing good things:

 

2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K

 

11 K/1 BB in 8.2 IP on the year.

 

Pretty high on this kid. (lefties with good change-ups are always nice), although I must admit I didn't think he would be this solid just yet. (had him pegged next year as a sleeper.. props to Jon on calling that out this year) Good character, great changeup and Hispanic. He's winning in my book.

And it's not looking pretty, since the pitching is getting demolished every game. Overall, 3 of the 4 minor league teams are around at below .400 winning percentage.

Top 3 teams in system are collectively 24 games under .500.

Top 3 teams in system are collectively 24 games under .500.

 

Well, the Sox have had 7 players on the DL (just went back to 6 with Gillaspie coming back), so that's 7 AAA players that were on the Sox, which means 7 AA players at Charlotte, and 7 A players at Birmingham.

Top 3 teams in system are collectively 24 games under .500.

 

 

 

Winning percentage in the minors is irrelevant, with the possible exception of the two A teams.

 

Has almost nothing to do with who's producing the best prospects...always keep in mind, a lot of the kids are working on refining specific aspects of their games.

 

Now, if you have an organization like say the Pirates, Astros, Royals...where the MLB team hasn't won anything in decades, establishing a winning culture at the minor league level takes on more significance.

 

With the White Sox over the last two decades, roughly 85% of our players have come from other organizations.

CJ Wittman's tweets about Hawkins earlier this season were laughable. It is hard to take him seriously, when he's so obviously just trying to sound cool instead of reporting what he sees.

 

That said, Hawkins of course had made lots of changes and was looking quite good - until just a few days ago. Now he's in his first slump of the year. It wasn't a question of IF that would happen, it was WHEN. And now the key is, how does he respond and adjust. If he bounces back in a few days or a few weeks, that's a very good sign.

 

 

Upper level arms like Jaye letting me down. Need some pitchers to step up, others to get healthy.

 

And EJ's velo at Charlotte nowhere near normal, despite the good results. Info within the article:

 

http://www.southsidesox.com/2014/5/8/56940...rosstown-series

Edited May 8, 201411 yr by Stan Bahnsen