White Sox Minor League Update: September 3, 2022

Oscar Colás hits his 12th homer in Double-A and gets added to the Top 100 prospects in MiLB

Well, hey, the Knights tried to make a reliever a starter again in Lincoln Henzman, and it worked out for the three innings he was out there. The bullpen part of it the rest of the game ended up leading to a loss, but Henzman started out really well. He did not allow a run over his three innings and struck out four. The late relievers had trouble holding the Charlotte lead, and gave up the game for an extra-inning loss, with Declan Cronin and Lane Ramsey allowed five runs the last three innings.

The offense was actually really good. There were 14 hits compared to just six strikeouts, and eight of the nine starters had hits. However, as a team, the hitters lacked run production due to just three extra-base hits. Zach Remillard led the team with three hits, with Lenyn Sosa leading the team in times on base (two singles and two walks), with four trips to first. He was the Triple-A MVP at South Side Sox last month, and though he did not show power today, it was still a great way to keep his September bubbling just as hot.

A two-pitcher mix for the Barons did well together could not overcome some lackluster offense, leading to a Birmingham loss. Cristian Mena had his longest outing of Project Birmingham, with four innings of work. He just allowed three runs over the first three innings, so it wasn’t very successful. Chris Blewett took over for him to try and keep the game close for an offensive surge that never came. Blewett did his part, allowing no runs over his four innings. His command wasn’t great (three walks), but five strikeouts helped keep zeros on the board.

Oscar Colás led Birmingham’s bad offense with two hits, including one of the two homers of the day. He also entered MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects during the game, so that was a nice way to celebrate the accomplishment.

Moises Castillo had the other homer today.

A low-scoring affair that saw the Dash come out on the downside of a walk-off, 10-inning loss. Alsander Womack was responsible for both runs scored in the third for Winston-Salem, a two-RBI single that was the only hit he had in the game. Ben Norman and Taishi Nakawake were the other two batters to have hits. It was pretty much a strikeout day for the lineup, with 16 punchouts to just five men on base — not a good recipe for success.

The arms on the mound led the team today, and that started with five good innings from Chase Solesky. He only allowed two runs and struck out six. He will hopefully be in Birmingham next year, presuming the older pitchers in Charlotte are not back. The pen was good behind Solesky with the only run allowed being the zombie runner in the 10th.

It was all going so well for Kannapolis, with a four-run lead after two innings. Shane Murphy, the 14th round selection in this past draft, had another good two-inning stint, with no runs allowed. He is not getting a strikeout pitch going right now, but there’s still reason to see his few innings this year in the pros as something meaningful. The middle of the bullpen just had a real hard time, with eight runs allowed, although two came because of errors; Noah Owen and Kole Ramage struggled in those 4 ¹⁄₃ innings, and that ended up being the game.

The bats did what they needed to do, with seven runs off of 11 hits and three walks. Tim Elko had the best game of the bunch, with three hits. He has not necessarily had a bad start to his pro career, but he certainly has struggled to make contact. That seems to be a thing of the past, as Elko is up to a .310 average right now for Kannapolis. Brooks Baldwin and Logan Glass rounded out the bats who had multiple hits.