The White Sox got the kind of rehab starts they were hoping to see Wednesday night in Winston-Salem.
Shane Smith and Tanner McDougal both took the mound for the Dash, and both came away looking sharp after long layoffs. Smith, back from a rotator cuff strain and making his first appearance since April 30, worked two scoreless innings. The bigger box-score win for him: no walks and no hit batters, a welcome change after his first seven outings featured 24 free passes over 22 innings.
McDougal was just as efficient in his first action since April 29, returning from a flexor strain and firing a scoreless 15-pitch eighth. He struck out two of the three hitters he faced, and if the White Sox are indeed considering him as a bullpen option for the stretch run, that’s a strong first step.
Elsewhere, Charlotte shut out Memphis 2-0 in eight innings behind Jonathan Cannon, who spun six scoreless frames on two hits with no walks and four strikeouts, throwing 58 of 80 pitches for strikes. Rikuu Nishida went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout, while Ryan Galanie finished 1-for-4 with a stolen base.
Birmingham outlasted Montgomery 6-5, with Anthony DePino delivering the loudest swing of the night: a 2-for-4 line and his 10th Double-A homer. Colby Shelton added a double and a walk in a 1-for-3 effort, while Caleb Bonemer went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
On the mound, Lucas Gordon gave Birmingham five innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits with three walks, five strikeouts, a home run, a wild pitch and a hit batter. Pierce George followed and was tagged for one earned run in two-thirds of an inning.
Winston-Salem’s offense piled up 12 runs in a 12-4 win over Greenville. Jeral Perez went 0-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout, and George Wolkow was 0-for-3 with two walks and two strikeouts. Smith and McDougal handled the pitching side of the story, as noted above.
At Kannapolis, Wilson beat the Cannon Ballers 9-6. Jaden Fauske went 1-for-5 with a strikeout and two stolen bases, Nick McLain went 2-for-4 with a homer and a strikeout, and Christian Gonzalez made his Kannapolis debut with a single, two walks and a sacrifice fly, finishing with the rare 1.000/.750/.1000 line.
Matthew Boughton and Alexander Albertus were both 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. Truman Pauley started and went five innings, allowing four earned runs on four hits with three walks, five strikeouts and a home run.
The ACL Dodgers beat the ACL White Sox 4-1 in seven innings.
In Other News...
White Sox May Try A Surprising Plan With A Top Pitching Prospect
Tanner McDougal is getting close to pitching again, which gives the White Sox another important arm to monitor as they think about how best to handle one of their higher-upside young pitchers. The organization has been patient with the right-hander while he works back from a flexor strain, and his return comes at a time when Chicago is still sorting through long-term plans for its pitching pipeline.
What makes McDougal especially interesting is the possibility that his next step might not be the straight line most prospects take. The White Sox have precedent for easing talented arms in through relief before stretching them out later, and there is at least some logic to that path for a pitcher whose workload still needs to be managed. Whether that becomes a short-term bridge or something more meaningful for his development is the question hanging over his comeback. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Could Be Pulled Into A Brutal Crosstown Pitching Chase
The starting-pitching market around the deadline always gets tricky, and this one may get especially awkward on the South Side. The Cubs are looking to shore up a rotation that has been battered by injuries and uneven performances, and ESPNs David Schoenfield has pointed to one of the more intriguing arms on the board as a possible fit. Even with a 4.81 ERA, the right-hander is still being viewed as one of the better available starters, which says plenty about how thin the rental market can be this time of year.
For the White Sox, the timing matters because they are in the same conversation for the same kind of help. Any pursuit of rotation depth can quickly turn into a race, and the possibility of both Chicago clubs chasing the same arm only adds another layer to a deadline that already figures to be busy. The question now is whether the Sox are willing to push hard enough to keep pace if the market starts moving faster than expected. [Read more 🡒]