All the fanfare over the new era of baseball in Kannapolis -- a switch from the Intimidators to the Cannon Ballers, a brand new ballpark downtown -- had to wait a year, but hopefully the franchise isn't any worse for the wear, or lack thereof.
At least the fine folks with the Cannon Ballers will be rewarded for their wait, as they have the system's most intriguing roster top to bottom. Granted, some of that intrigue is because players with scant professional experience are going to start their first full-season assignments before they're ready, and we don't have much of a way to know how that'll turn out. But as we said with the other affiliates, most other teams are in the same boat thanks to the elimination of lower levels, so prep picks and international signings may not be as overwhelmed as "starting the season in Kannapolis" often suggested.
While the old Intimidators Stadium wasn't wired for broadcasts, it sounds like you'll be able to follow these games on MLBTV at some point, if not Opening Day.
COACHING STAFF
- Manager: Guillermo Quiróz
- Bench coach: Patrick Leyland
- Pitching coach: John Ely
- Hitting coach: Charlie Romero
We just heard from Quiróz in James Fegan's story about how the White Sox signed Yermín Mercedes. Now he gets a chance to be on the ground floor for other potentially illustrious pro debuts.
STARTING PITCHERS
The nice thing about this rotation is that if you ever have a chance to watch Kannapolis in person or on MLBTV, chances are you'll get a starting pitcher worth your attention. Dalquist and Thompson were supposed to be here in 2021 when they were drafted in 2019, there was just that whole thing about minor league baseball being cancelled in between. Kelley is truly ahead of schedule, so we'll get a good idea of what kind of preparation the alternate training site provided. Horn might be a level too lose given his collegiate pedigree. When we last saw Silven, he was striking out 59 hitters against seven walks over 51 innings between two rookie-ball levels at age 20. He's now 22, so he could be a good test case for what "age for level" really means as A-ball rosters take on different sorts of players this early.
Add it all up, and the Cannon Ballers staff earned a group write-up for Baseball America's most anticipated assignments.
Kannapolis Rotation -- The Low-A Kannapolis Cannon Ballers feature three of the best prospects in the White Sox’s system in righties Jared Kelley, Andrew Dalquist and Matthew Thompson. All three are high draft picks but none has pitched above the complex leagues because of the pandemic. Now, all three will get to strut their stuff—Kelley with his big fastball and changeup, Thompson with his boundless athleticism and elevator-shaft curveball (watch for the funky pauses in his delivery, too) and Dalquist with his outstanding mix of pitches when the lights come on every night.
RELIEVERS
There's a little bit of the guesswork when it comes to starting pitching, and who knows who's going to be tasked with what in the Cannon Ballers bullpen. There are a few names that stand out, starting with Madrigal, who is Nick's twin. Moore is a mountain of a man, and is one of those early-second-day picks with huge arms. Jeans struck out 43 against five walks over 27⅔ innings between the AZL and Great Falls, and Peralta had similar success (36⅔ IP, 10 BB, 58 K). Alston is the son of the former Minnesota Twins pitching coach of the same name. As for everybody else, it'll have to unfold on its own.
CATCHERS
González and Torres were selected three rounds apart in the 2019 draft, with the former going in the eighth round and the latter in the 11th. González was a senior signing out of West Virginia for $10,000, while Torres joined the Sox out of the Puerto Rico's International Baseball Academy for $125,000. González had the better debut, as you might expect from the experience gap. Millwee looks like depth, what with his 30th-round status.
INFIELDERS
The White Sox aren't giving up on their project of making a first baseman out of a water polo player, as Abbott survived the paring of the short-season leagues. He tapped into some power at Great Falls in 2019, blasting nine homers and 13 doubles over 58 games. We'll see how much playing time he gets, because Ramos and Gladney are both compelling candidates for third-base reps, but only one can play there. I'd lean toward Ramos, if only because his game didn't show the glaring holes that Gladney's did, and thus is a better candidate to earn a promotion to Winston-Salem. Rodriguez's extremely aggressive approach paid dividends in the DSL and AZL, and it'll be tested with a full-season affiliate. Whatever his flaws, he's shown more than Delgado thus far, but the 2019 fourth-rounder is only 22. Rodriguez could shift over to second in order to open up reps, because Polanco posted OPSes of only .685 and .683 over a year in the DSL and a year in the AZL. Bossard is the son of Roger.
OUTFIELDERS
If Beard and Weaver are both in the same outfield, they're going to leave very little for the third outfielder to cover, as they were among the fastest players in their draft classes. Bailey can run as well, although evaluators expect him to slow down because he has a large frame. If he hits like he did in his DSL debut year -- .324/.477/.454 with 52 walks over 55 games -- few will care. Krogman passed up a commitment to Missouri State to sign with the White Sox, and while his 2019 numbers weren't much of a small sample, he's drawn attention for his work in instructional leagues and collegiate leagues since.
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