While the White Sox have focused more on prep picks the last few years, the pandemic muted the introduction of the first wave of high school prospects like Matthew Thompson, Andrew Dalquist and Jared Kelley.
This came to mind when watching the questions and answers that Jeff Cohen posted with Wes Kath and Colson Montgomery before Saturday's game. They're both teenagers, so of course they'd feel nerves and excitement in their first action outside of the managed environment of the Arizona Complex League. It's just that everybody else before them had a canceled season in between, with some work at alternate training sites, to make it a much more gradual and hidden experience.
Here's Kath:
And here's Montgomery:
DJ Gladney ended up stealing the show, and more on him later.
Norfolk 7, Charlotte 6
- Adam Haseley went 0-for-4.
- Romy Gonzalez went 0-for-3 with two walks, a strikeout and a stolen base.
- Carlos Pérez collected another extra-base hit, going 2-for-5 with a double.
Rocket City 3, Birmingham 2
- Jose Rodriguez went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- Yolbert Sánchez was 0-for-1 with a walk and two HBPs.
- Yoelqui Céspedes went 2-for-3 with a sac fly, and was picked off/caught stealing.
- Lenyn Sosa, 1-for-4.
Hickory 8, Winston-Salem 4
- Oscar Colás went 1-for-4 with a double.
- Bryan Ramos and Luis Mieses were both 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Adam Hackenberg went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Harvin Mendoza was 1-for-4.
- Matthew Thompson's High-A debut was decent: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
Highlights:
*Colas' two-run double:
*Baseball Prospectus' Ben Spanier with notes on Colás and Thompson:
Kannapolis 16, Fayetteville 8
- Colson Montgomery went 1-for-3 with three walks and a strikeout.
- DJ Gladney was 2-for-5 with a grand slam and six RBIs.
- Wilfred Veras tripled, singled, walked, struck out twice and stole a base.
- Wes Kath went 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Chase Krogman came up a double short of the cycle during a 3-for-4 night.
- Logan Glass went 1-for-5 with a triple and two strikeouts.
- Adisyn Coffey's pro debut: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
Highlights:
*Gladney, who hit .191/.293/.324 and struck out 124 times over 71 games in Kannapolis, is off to a more encouraging start.
