The White Sox made three notable moves in the minors Thursday.
No. 1: Promoted Dane Dunning to Birmingham.
This looked like it was in the works when the White Sox promoted previous Birmingham starter Matt Tomshaw to replace Chris Beck in Charlotte. The White Sox just waited until the same day as Dunning's Double-A debut to announce it.
Dunning fared well enough for the Barons his first time out, picking up the win with a quality start against Biloxi.
The Barons made room by promoting Colton Turner to Charlotte. The 27-year-old lefty reliever gets another crack at Triple-A after taking a beating with Charlotte last season. He's done all he can in Double-A.
No. 2: Outrighted Casey Gillaspie to Birmingham.
In anticipation of calling up a 26th man for Saturday's doubleheader from off the 40-man roster -- probably Donn Roach -- the White Sox opened a spot by removing Gillaspie from the proceedings.
Gillaspie continues to lose his wrestling match with Triple-A pitching, hitting .214/.263/.229 with just one extra-base hit and five walks to 29 strikeouts over 76 plate appearances this season. His struggles last year knocked him off all top-100 lists, and now he's in an unfavorable organizational position since Daniel Palka officially secured his status as a prospect of interest by getting MLB playing time.
No. 3: Acquired Todd Cunningham from the Pirates for a player to be named later.
After losing Ryan Cordell to a broken collarbone and Palka to the majors, the Knights were down to three true outfielders. The 29-year-old Cunningham helps patch a spot, as he's the quintessential AAAA outfielder. He has 2,196 plate appearances at Triple-A alone, but only 130 in the big leagues. His presence won't block Eloy Jimenez or Tito Polo from receiving a promotion in due time, but both still haven't entirely hit their strides yet.
Birmingham 7, Biloxi 3
- Tito Polo went 0-for-4 with an HBP and a strikeout.
- Zack Collins is still on the way up: 1-for-3 with a walk, HBP and a strikeout.
- Eloy Jimenez went 2-for-5 with a double.
- Seby Zavala continues to thump: 1-for-2 with his sixth homer and two walks.
- Jameson Fisher went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Dane Dunning was a winner in his Double-A debut: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
Lynchburg 7, Winston-Salem 3
- Luis Alexander Basabe went 1-for-5 with a homer, strikeout and stolen base.
- Alex Call was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Blake Rutherford, 2-for-4 with a strikeout. He was also caught stealing.
- Micker Adolfo came down from his big doubleheader: 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
- Gavin Sheets was 0-for-2 with two walks.
- Ti'Quan Forbes, 1-for-4 with a double and two strikeouts.
Delmarva 4, Kannapolis 3
- Justin Yurchak went 0-for-2 with two walks.
- Evan Skoug went 0-for-2 with a walk, strikeout and sac fly.
- Carlos Perez was 2-for-4 with two doubles and a strikeout.
- Kade McClure: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 0 K, 1 HBP
