AAA: Charlotte Knights

Charlotte (18-30) fell for the third time in four games last night with a 4-3 loss to the Rochester Red Wings.  The Knights did enter the bottom of the fifth inning with a 2-1 lead, but a three-run frame would then give Rochester the lead for good.  Ex-Voyager third baseman Brent Morel (2008) went 1-3 with an RBI double in the losing effort.  Knights starter Jason Berken (3-4) would pitch into the seventh inning,  allowing four runs (2 ER) on eight hits.  Charlotte and Rochester will resume their series tonight at 5:05.  Zach Stewart (2-5, 4.61) will be on the mound for the Knights, as he goes for his third win in four starts.

AA: Birmingham Barons

Jacksonville’s Ryan Fisher blasted a two-run homer in the eighth inning , and it proved to be enough as the Suns (26-17) knocked off Birmingham (28-18) 5-3.  Former Voyager Stephen McCray (2010-11) pitched five quality innings of three-run ball and left the ball game with the score tied at three.  McCray’s former teammate in Great Falls, Michael Earley (2010-11) would help out the Barons offensively with a solo shot in the seventh inning.  The former Voyager outfielder’s fourth home run of the season would knot the game up at three, before Ryan Kussmaul would allow the eventual game winner the following inning.  Ex-Voyager Andy Wilkins (2010) racked up his 25th RBI despite the loss.  Game two of the four game set is scheduled for tonight at 5:05.  2010 Voyagers lefty Spencer Arroyo (3-2, 2.10) will take the mound for Birmingham.

High A: Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem (23-21) took game one of their scheduled doubleheader over Salem (19-24) 7-4, but they then saw the second game of the twin bill washed away by rain.  The Dash would ride the arm of 2012 Voyager Christopher Beck (3-6) for six innings of two-run ball en route to their fifth straight victory.  Winston-Salem would bust things open early with a four-run first inning, and ex-Voyager Mark Haddow (2011) would extend the advantage to 5-0 with his third homer of the season in the top of the third.  Another member of the 2011 Great Falls club, Kevan Smith collected two hits and two RBI at the plate to help pace the Dash, who now head to Carolina for a three game series against the Mudcats.  2009 Voyager Ryan Buch will be making his second start of the season tonight for Winston-Salem after being demoted from Birmingham.  Last time out, the righty tossed 4 1/3 innings of three-run ball in a no decision.  First pitch is scheduled for 5:15.  The makeup date for game two has been announced for June 3 as part of another doubleheader.

Low A: Kannapolis Intimidators 

It was a crazy night for the Intimidators (15-28) in Hickory last night, as they ultimately fell to the Crawdads (26-19) 7-6 in 12 innings.  In a bizarre sequence of events, with the game tied at two, Jordan Akins smacked what was first deemed a game-winning home run over the left field fence, but the umpires would gather and overturn the call to a foul ball.  With new life, the Intimidators would escape the ninth, prolonging the game into extra innings.  Not much noise would be heard from either team until the top half of the 12th, when Kannapolis pieced together four runs to give them a 6-2 lead.  2012 Voyager Micah Johnson would lead off the frame with a single, and he would later score thanks to former Great Falls teammate Brent Tanner‘s (2011-12) RBI single.  The lead would not hold though, as ex-Voyager Zach Isler would blow his third save of the season and toss a wild pitch that would score the winning run for Hickory–which capped a five-run inning for the Crawdads.  The Intimidators have now lost nine of ten, and will try and break out of their slump tonight in game two of their four game set against Hickory at 5:00.

Here is the call by Kannapolis broadcaster Josh Feldman of that wacky ninth inning foul ball that was initially called a home run.

 

Voyagers Alumni of the Night

Mark Haddow (2011)

3-4, HR (3), 2B, 2 RBI in 7-4 win over Salem

 

AAA: Charlotte Knights

After winning four of their past six games, Charlotte (18-29) had the night off last night. The Knights will remain on the road this weekend, as they head north to upstate New York for a four-game set against Rochester (18-28). Jason Berken (3-3, 3.26) will get the nod this evening against the Red Wings. Last time out, the righty tossed seven innings of one-run ball en route to the Knights 4-1 victory over Louisville. 2007 Voyager alumni Jim Gallagher will be looking to bust out of his recent slump. The outfielder has only six hits over his past 32 at bats (.188) with no extra base hits. Despite a hot start to 2013, Gallagher’s average has now dipped under .300 (.291).  First pitch is scheduled from Frontier Field at 5:05.

AA: Birmingham Barons

The Southern League North division leading Barons (28-17) will be coming off a rare two day reprieve, as they are set to begin a four-game series in Jacksonville (25-17) this evening.  Ex-Voyager Stephen McCray (4-3, 2.86) will get the start tonight for Birmingham, as he will be looking to bounce back from losses in his past two starts.  McCray was the losing pitcher his last time out on May 16 against Montgomery despite only allowing one run over seven innings.  The Barons will look for former Voyager Trayce Thompson to continue his hot hitting at the plate.  A member of the 2009 Great Falls squad, Thompson is hitting .296 over his past ten games with one homer and seven RBI.  Two other Voyagers alumni are expected to be on the mound this weekend for Birmingham.  Spencer Arroyo (2010) will get the nod tomorrow night, while Erik Johnson (2011) is set to pitch on Saturday.  First pitch is set to get underway from Jacksonville at 5:05.

High A: Winston-Salem Dash

Last night’s game between the Dash (22-21) and the Salem Red Sox was washed out, so that means there will be a twin-bill in store for both these teams today.  A member of last year’s Voyagers team, Christopher Beck (2-6, 2.80) will get the start in game 1 for the Dash, who have won four straight.  In game 2, we’ll see another former Great Falls pitcher get the start, as Ryan Buch (0-0, 2.08) will be going for his first win since being demoted from AA Birmingham.  After today’s doubleheader, Winston-Salem will stay on the road for a three-game series against the Carolina Mudcats.  The first game this afternoon is scheduled for 1:05, and game 2 will follow directly after.

Low-A: Kannapolis Intimidators

The Intimidators (15-27) were the only White Sox affiliate in action yesterday, falling to West Virginia (24-22) 8-6.  2012 Voyager Brandon Brennan fell for the seventh time this season, as he allowed four runs over 5 2/3 innings.  Despite the loss, a member of the 2011 Voyagers did shine at the plate.  Intimidators backstop Brent Tanner belted his second home run of the season and drove in two runs.  Kannapolis will now head to Hickory for a four-game series, as they try and get back to their winning ways after dropping eight of nine.  Another member of last year’s Voyagers staff, Kyle Hansen (0-1, 11.70), will take the mound for only the fourth time this season.  First pitch is scheduled for 5:00.

Voyagers Alumni of the Night

Brent Tanner (2011-12)

2-5, HR (2), 2B, 2 RBI in last night’s loss to West Virginia

Ok, Voyagers fans: we’re working through this thing as we go. Here’s your weekly/periodic/whenever-I-say-so update on the activities of the Birmingham Barons. AAA Charlotte is coming, I promise. I promise it will be before the next full-system recap. Maybe.

Birmingham Barons, AA (24-29)

The second rough week in a row for the Barons as a trip to Huntsville to Play the Stars treated the team very poorly and the struggles continued into the start of a home series with Chattanooga. Ultimately drawing a 2-6 record since the last post, Birmingham is now one more rough week away from reaching the cellar of a tight-packed, highly competitive Southern League.

Like the system’s lower level teams, discussed in this space on Tuesday, Birmingham saw its share of roster changes in the last 8 days. A pair of players had their injury status changed as Jon Gilmore went onto the 7-day DL and 1B Andy Wilkins was reactivated off it. Gilmore was eligible to return yesterday, though he hasn’t yet, so his problems were at least serious enough to warrant longer time out. Wilkins’ struggles before he hit the DL were documented here previously, and it will be interesting to see how he performs over the next few games.

The Barons swapped a few played with the AAA Charlotte Knights as well. Pitcher Matt Zaleski spent a single day on the Birmingham roster before he returned to Charlotte to play with the AAA squad. Zaleski has been struggling for Charlotte, but he didn’t join the rest of the Barons team, much less pitch in any games, so the White Sox may have simply changed their minds or decided Zaleski was still needed in AAA. Jose Quintana also earned the first AAA callup of his career. That seems to make sense as Quintana has spent two separate, successful stints in the majors this season – he has a 1.76 ERA in 15.1 major league innings – but had never pitched in AAA before. After middling performance in the low minors and two franchise changes while still a teenager in the Dominican summer leagues, the 23 year-old has built a bright future for himself. Don’t be surprised to see him getting more chances in the majors this year and getting included in the White Sox long term bullpen plans.

Another member of the White Sox recent rash of signings out of independent ball, 25 year-old outfielder Jon Gaston joined the team. He left the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks of the American Association, for whom he’d played in only 6 games (but mashed 10 hits). Gaston was a Houston Astros farmhand until this last offseason, but managed just .720 and .646 OPS’s over two years in AA Corpus Christi. Still, his big start in independent ball showed Gaston is fully capable of playing well enough in the mid minors to help a farm system, and he’s getting a well-deserved chance to try his luck in a different organization.

The Barons finish their series with Chatanooga tonight and tomorrow before visiting the 1^st place Mobile BayBears for a 5-game series starting Saturday.

Things are starting to get crazy in Voyager land as we prepare for the oncoming season. With the home opener on June 20 (and the seasons 1st game on June 18 in Helena) there are many programs to print, tickets to distribute, questions to answer, and things of every kind to clean. As a result, there isn’t enough time in any given day to write the entire Monday Minors Recap, so I’ve decided to break it up into 2 pieces. Today, I’m passing along the word on 2 White Sox A-ball teams and tomorrow I’ll dig into the teams higher in the system.

Kannapolis Intimidators, A-ball (22-28)

Kannapolis righted the ship this week after their dreadful 1-7 run in week 7 and put up a nice 5-2 record to sneak a few games closer to .500. The definitely took advantage of a week opponents by beating up on the division worst West Virginia Power during a 4-game visit to the Pittsburg-affiliated franchise. The Intimidators then won game one against the Rome Braves to start a 3-game home series against the worst team in the South Atlantic League.

The Intimidators had a huge batch of roster moves over the holiday weekend starting with an extended spring swap on Friday. 2011 Voyager lefty Brandon Parrent struggled mightily in his first run in full-season ball and was finally replaced on the roster and sent back to Glendale, AZ. Parrent had 34.1 innings in 8 starts but had walked 22, allowed 40 hits, and held a 7.34 ERA. The 21 year-old is still quite young and has plenty of time to recover, return to season play, and continue on his way after a good 2011 in Great Falls.

Parrent was replaced on the roster by a player I’d pegged as a very exciting potential 2012 Voyager: righty fireballer Jeff Soptic. Drafted in the 3rd round after pitching two years for Johnson County Community College, the 6-6 hurler is reported to have a serious arm. Boasting velocity in the high 90’s and solid mechanics, his upside had scouts drooling. His control is what could turn that nuclear arm into a full blown meltdown: he walked 72 hitters in 100 innings against weak JUCO competition. Very little professional knowledge is available on Soptic – he pitched only 2 innings for Bristol last year – but apparently he’s done enough good work in spring to get his chance at the A-ball level. TO be honest, I’m disappointed the Voyagers may miss out of seeing this kid as he guaranteed excitement with his “rear back and just throw” approach.

The Intimidators experienced a bit of a roster clear-out on Sunday as space was made for incoming signings. Voyager favorite Jo De Pinto was sent back to Arizona as he again failed to prove himself in limited playing time. Pitcher Jason Van Skike travelled to Glendale with De Pinto. Outfielder Dusty Harvard, a 2010 Voyager who struggled mightily in Bristol and Kannapolis last season, had continued to struggle in Kannapolis this year – he had just a .190 batting average – and was given his release at the same time De Pinto and Skike were sent to Glendale. The Casper Wyoming Native may be done in affiliated baseball if he cannot catch fire with an independent team. Last, one player was added to the team on Sunday as Steven Upchurch was sent to Kannapolis from Winston-Salem. Upchurch has just been sent up to the Carolina League but didn’t fare well in his first appearance and was sent back to the Intimidators for more seasoning.

All these moves left the Intimidators with two empty roster spots and the team filled those the next day with a pair of independent league signings. Outfielders Cyle Hankerd, from the Amarillo Sox of the American Association, and William Rice, from the Camden Riversharks of the Atlantic League, will have their chance in 2012 affiliated baseball. Rice, a 23 year-old played 68 games in the Phillies minor leagues last year where he hit .313 with a .837 OPS. News on why Rice was not with the Phillies again this year after those solid numbers isn’t available, but the Intimidators hope to reap the rewards of that curious fact. Hankerd is quite a bit older than Rice at 27 years old and has minor league experience dating back to 2006. Once a hot prospect as a 3rd round pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Hankerd has played as high as AAA but has bounced around independent leagues for the last couple of years. Hankerd hit .355 with 10 homers and 30 doubles for Amarillo last year, so he can definitely hit against weaker completion. He was generally a very strong hitter in his days at the A level as well, so the Intimidators should be able to expect some major offensive help from the new addition.

Kannapolis continues its 3 game series with the Rome Braves tonight before the Lakewood BlueClaws come to town to play 4 games over the weekend. Neither of those opponents is within 10 games of .500, so the Intimidators have a golden chance to continue their momentum from last week and pick up a bunch of home wins against struggling teams.

Winston-Salem Dash, High A-ball (29-20)

The Dash had another good week as the recovered from 2 quick losses to rattle off 4 wins in a row and finish with a 5-3 record. The Dash did lose 2 of 3 to the 2nd place Salem Red Sox, but Salem struggled as the Dash beat up on the Carolina Mudcats over the weekend so the Dash come into the day with a 2 game lead in the division.

Much like Kannapolis, Winston-Salem experienced a rash of transactions, but many of the Dash’s were for very different reasons. The injury bug bit in Winston-Salem this week as shortstop Marcus Semien hit the 7-day DL with a right shoulder injury. The injury is a definite blow to both the team and the player as Semien has been excelling as the everyday shortstop with an excellent .823 OPS. Hopefully the 21 year-old California native will return soon and continue to succeed in the Sox system.

One day after Semien, pitcher Taylor Thompson also hit the 7-day DL. The nature of Thompson’s injury was undisclosed, but it may help explain his struggles this season. After being a dominant setup man for the Dash last season – he had a 2.52 ERA in 53.2 IP – Thompson has allowed 10 runs in 11.2 IP so far in 2012. His high strikeout numbers were still there as he had 13 K’s, but the sudden jump is still a statistical red flag. The Dash will be watching for his return closely as Thompson returning to form would bolster an already strong bullpen.

The Dash received one player from a somewhat unexpected source as 3B Kyle Shelton was assigned to the Dash from AAA Charlotte. Shelton is back in A-ball after spending all his time since early last year in AA and AAA, and it has to be considered a humbling move for the 26 year-old. Shelton was playing very little in AAA and was only 8 for 56 over 2 seasons there, so the move may ultimately be positive in Shelton can get on track with more playing time. There will be some pressure on the veteran to produce if he wants to return to the gateway to the majors in AAA.

The Dash continue their long home series with the Frederick Keys through Thursday before the Carolina Mudcats come to town for a weekend set.