The White Sox made room on the 40-man roster for César Hernández by releasing Tyler Johnson, which would've been hard to fathom a couple years ago. In his first full season after the White Sox selected him out of South Carolina in the fifth round, Johnson struck out 89 batters against just 16 walks over 58 innings across Kannapolis and Winston-Salem. His numbers remained promising upon promotion to Birmingham in 2019, although the sample was limited by a lat strain.
He went to the Arizona Fall League with reworked mechanics in an attempt to avoid a recurrence of the lat issue, but it's been a mess every since. He didn't factor into the White Sox's plans in 2020, and he posted a 9.56 ERA with 19 walks against 22 strikeouts over 16 innings, most of them in Charlotte.
His season was probably over even before the White Sox released him because he underwent knee surgery. He apparently learned about it shortly after the procedure.
If that seems a little cold, well, it is. But it's also the only way to move an injured player off the 40-man roster, because players on the injured list can't be moved through outright waivers. The White Sox did the same with Nicky Delmonico after his shoulder surgery and Ryan Burr after his Tommy John, only to re-sign both players before the start of the following season. Rick Hahn says he's interested in doing the same with Johnson, so he could go 3-for-3.
Jacksonville 6, Charlotte 4 (Game 1, 7 innings)
- Jake Lamb went 2-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Micker Adolfo was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
- Jake Burger, 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Blake Rutherford was 1-for-3.
Charlotte 3, Jacksonville 2 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Blake Rutherford went 1-for-3.
- Yermín Mercedes was 2-for-3 with a homer.
- John Parke's Triple-A debut: 5 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Rocket City 3, Birmingham 2
- Romy Gonzalez and Yolbert Sanchez both were 1-for-4.
- Carlos Pérez, 0-for-4.
- Kade McClure went six innings for the first time this year: 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 1 HR
Greensboro 9, Winston-Salem 8
- Lenyn Sosa and Yoelqui Céspedes both were 2-for-5 with a homer and two strikeouts.
- Luis Curbelo was 0-for-5 with a K.
Highlights:
*Céspedes going deep:
Salem 11, Kannapolis 4
- Jose Rodriguez went 2-for-5.
- Bryan Ramos singled twice, walked once and struck out once.
- Harvin Mendoza and Luis Mieses both were 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- DJ Gladney went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Caberea Weaver was 1-for-4 with a strikeout and a stolen base.
- James Beard went 1-for-4 with a steal.
DSL White Sox 6, DSL Orioles1 4
- Randel Mondesi went 1-for-2 with two walks and a stolen base.
- Victor Quezada wore the collar and silver sombrero.
- Carlos Jiménez walked twice and struck out twice.
- Carlos Hinestroza: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
