White Sox Minor Keys: May 18, 2023

In a farm system that's starved for any kind of unquestionably positive pitching news, consider Connor McCullough.

He came into Thursday night having thrown six scoreless innings in two consecutive starts. He held the Augusta GreenJackets to one hit on May 4, and then he limited the Fayetteville Woodpeckers to three measly singles, with seven strikeouts in each appearance.

Then he managed to top that by throwing a seven-inning no-hitter against the Carolina Mudcats on Thursday.

McCullough went the distance in Game 1 of the Cannon Ballers' doubleheader, with the only blemish a five-pitch walk to Luis Lara leading off the fourth inning. He responded by striking out the side and never looked back, finishing with eight strikeouts for his portion of the night.

The 23-year-old righty signed out of Kansas State as an undrafted free agent in 2022, and this is effectively his first professional season, considering he pitched just one inning for the ACL White Sox last year. He lowered his ERA to 1.69, and all that damage was done in April. His line for May: 19 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 22 K.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 8, Charlotte 3

• Lenyn Sosa went 3-for-4 with a homer.
• Oscar Colás, 0-for-4 with a K.
• Clint Frazier is OPSing 1.377 after two more homers.
• Sean Burke showed better control: 5 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 3 HR, 40 of 66 pitches for strikes.

Birmingham 6, Rocket City 0

• José Rodríguez went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. He also stole a base, and was picked off/caught stealing.
• Yoelqui Céspedes was 0-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Luis Mieses went 1-for-5 with a strikeout.

Notes:

*If you're wondering how the Barons scored six runs without an impressive offensive performance, the Trash Pandas committed six errors.

Aberdeen 4, Winston-Salem 1

• Terrell Tatum singled, walked and struck out twice.
• Loidel Chapelli was 0-for-4 with a K.
• DJ Gladney, 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
• Wilfred Veras went 1-for-4 with his fourth homer and a strikeout.
• Wes Kath singled and struck out thrice.
• Johan Dominguez is back in action after Tommy John surgery: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K

Kannapolis 7, Carolina 0 (Game 1, 7 innings)

• Jordan Sprinkle singled twice, walked and struck out.
• Brooks Baldwin went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Jacob Burke, 1-for-4 with a K.
• Connor McCullough: 7 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K

Carolina 5, Kannapolis 3 (Game 2, 7 innings)

• Jordan Sprinkle went 1-for-4.
• Jacob Burke tripled, singled and struck out twice.
• Brooks Baldwin pinch-hit and delivered a two-run single.