The White Sox have dropped their first two games to start off the new week, but prospects have continued to provide plenty of positives.
Here are recaps and storylines from the past couple days!
Monday’s Game
FINAL: Rangers 11, White Sox 3
The White Sox fell behind 9-0 in the first inning, which was ultimately too much to overcome. If you erase that opening frame, Will Venable’s first-year squad did outscore Texas 3-2 so that almost feels like a win.
Looking beyond the combined nine earned runs surrendered by Shane Smith and Chris Rodriguez, the rest of the staff put together a strong performance. Nick Nastrini looked solid over two innings of work, Penn Murfee struck out a pair with some nasty stuff, and Mason Adams needed just eight pitches to retire all three batters he faced in the eighth.
On the offensive end, the bats were silenced until the final two innings. Andre Lipicius and Oscar Colas each doubled home a run while Kyle Teel showed off his impressive speed for a catcher, scoring from first.
Here are the top performers from Monday’s game on both sides of the ball:
- Andre Lipicius (3B): 1-for-2, 2B, RBI, K
- Kyle Teel (C): 0-0, 2 BB, R
- Oscar Colas (1B): 1-for-2, 2B, RBI, R, K
- Braden Montgomery (CF): 1-for-2, K
- Jacob Gonzalez (2B): 1-for-1, RBI, R
- Nick Nastrini (RP): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
- 25 pitches – 18 strikes
- Penn Murfee (RP): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
- 19 pitches – 13 strikes
- Jordan Leasure (RP): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
- 11 pitches – 7 strikes
- Mason Adams (RP): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
- 8 pitches – 8 strikes
Tuesday’s Game
FINAL: Rockies 14, White Sox 3
Davis Martin cruised through his two innings of work as he eyes a potential Opening Day nod. The righty threw 13 of his 18 pitches for strikes and captured a pair of punchouts. From there, the pitching staff was shaky with the wheels falling off in the 8th as Justin Anderson surrendered eight runs (seven earned) to eight batters while failing to record an out.
The Sox failed to get anything going with their bats yet again, a common theme we’ll likely see spill over into the regular season. Aside from some wild pitch offense in the 5th, Dominic Fletcher hit a two-run homer in the 9th to cut the deficit to 11. A positive takeaway from Colson Montgomery was some very hard contact and great bat speed, something the White Sox would like to continue as they consider him for the major-league squad.
Here are the top performers from Tuesday’s game on both sides of the ball:
- Matt Thaiss (C): 1-for-2, 2B
- Lenyn Sosa (2B): 0-for-0, 2 BB, R
- Brooke Baldwin (2B): 1-for-2, 2B
- Dominic Fletcher (CF): 1-for-2, HR, 2 RBI, R, K
- Davis Martin (SP): 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
- 18 pitches – 13 strikes
- Garrett Schoenle (RP): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
- 15 pitches – 10 strikes
CHSN broadcasts first White Sox game
The Chicago Sports Network broadcasted its first White Sox game on Monday. Though the crew is still working out some kinks, it was fairly successful for those who were able to watch.
The broadcast duo of John Schriffen and Steve Stone made their triumphant return to the booth and were joined by sideline reporter Brooke Fletcher, who had an excellent debut as part of the team.
Monday’s broadcast also provided our first glimpse of CHSN’s graphic package, which were pretty clean overall.
Kyle Teel homers off Dodgers’ Roki Sasaki
White Sox players faced Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki in a sim game on Tuesday morning. It was Kyle Teel, however, who stole the headlines.
Teel, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 32 overall prospect, crushed the second pitch he saw for a home run to right field. Just Baseball’s Aram Leighton and the White Sox social media team captured video of the blast.
Additional videos and updates from Sasaki’s sim game are available here.
Prelander Berroa suffers Grade 1 elbow strain
Prelander Berro left Friday’s relief appearance in the fourth inning after showing discomfort on the mound. The White Sox diagnosed the injury as a Grade 1 elbow strain but haven’t yet determined the next course of action.
MLB.com’s Scott Merkin says “it looks as if the right-hander avoided the worst-case scenario of Tommy John surgery in the short term,” which is certainly welcomed news. The team will take it slow the rest of spring and see if the pitcher can avoid the procedure.
“In the sense that we’ll have this period where we’ll give him an opportunity to recover, yes, but obviously very serious and just hopeful that he’ll be all right,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “We’ll continue to evaluate and hope we come out of it on the good side of the possibilities.”
“But I certainly hate to see it, especially knowing how good of a guy he is and how hard he works. It’s upsetting and this is these guys’ livelihood and this is where they’re most comfortable being. Obviously being able to be healthy and play the game means a lot. To see him go through that is tough.”
Nike City Connect 2.0 coming soon?
Could the White Sox soon be dropping new uniforms?
The team may have hinted at the notion in a sweepstakes email sent out on Tuesday. Along with promotions for Opening Day and summer events was “Nike City Connect 2.0,” with the chance for fans to win a City Connect swag package.
No other information is available at this time, so this is pure speculation at this point. Others teams are already slate to receive a refresh of their City Connects this season, though the White Sox have not been named as one of them. Something to perhaps keep an eye on until more information is released.
Other News & Notes
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