With Cristian Mena tailing off drastically over his last handful of starts, Jonathan Cannon is probably having the best season of any White Sox pitching prospect, and even he's slowed down some. After averaging nearly six innings over his first six outings, he's had to battle over his last three outings, allowing 13 hits and seven walks over 15⅓.
Still, he's managed to limit the damage because the contact he allows isn't particularly loud. He also came into professional baseball with a bread-and-butter combo of a sinker and cutter, even if it doesn't get a ton of whiffs.
James Fegan talked to Cannon, who says his goal from here is establishing putaway pitches so he's not so reliant on soft contact finding favorable places. He has six pitches to choose from, which has benefits and drawbkacks.
Backspinning a four-seamer to the top of the zone is less so and requires practice. So does keeping the movement profiles of all six of his pitches distinct from one another, especially when manipulating sinker and cutter come so easily. Cannon said keeping his two fastballs — as well as his slider and curveball — distinct from each other was a big offseason project. The biggest current challenge that Cannon describes, in a league where he’s facing so many old SEC rivals from his college days at Georgia, is figuring out what to do with this many pitches.
“It’s figuring out what generates the most swing-and-miss for me and where in the zone do I need to throw it to get that swing-and-miss,” Cannon said. “When you have six pitches, it can be kind of difficult. You can out-think yourself really easily. It’s really easy to sit up there on the mound and say, ‘I haven’t thrown the curveball in two innings, he’s going to be surprised when I throw it,’ and you out-think yourself. It’s more just pitching off the last pitch you threw. Or if this guy doesn’t hit changeups very well, let’s attack him with a changeup. It’s not overthinking things and being really committed to whatever pitch I’m throwing and going right after them.”
Charlotte 10, Nashville 8
- Adam Haseley went off: 4-for-4 with a three-run walk-off homer against old friend Thyago Vieira.
- Carlos Pérez was 0-for-5 with a K.
- Oscar Colás went 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- Sean Burke hit a wall in the fifth: 5 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 HR, 51 of 81 pitches for strikes.
Highlights:
*Haseley had a day(sley).
Mississippi 7, Birmingham 3
- Alsander Womack went 1-for-3 with two walks and a strikeout.
- Bryan Ramos was 1-for-5 with three strikeouts.
- Yoelqui Céspedes, 0-for-4 with a K.
- Luis Mieses went 2-for-4 with a double.
- Adam Hackenberg, 0-for-3 with a walk.
Greensboro 5, Winston-Salem 4
- Terrell Tatum went 0-for-1 with three walks at the plate, and 0-for-1 on the basepaths.
- DJ Gladney went 2-for-4.
- Wilfred Veras, 1-for-4 with a triple and a strikeout.
- Wes Kath was 1-for-4 with a K.
- Loidel Chapelli entered as a pinch-hitter and went 0-for-1.
- Brooks Gosswein: 4 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR
- Jared Kelley: 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K, 26 of 49 pitches for strikes.
Kannapolis 4, Fayettevile 1 (completion of Saturday's game)
- Jordan Sprinkle went 1-for-3 with a double, walk, strikeout and stolen base.
- Same for Jacob Burke, without the steal.
- Brooks Baldwin was 0-for-3 with a walk and a K.
- Tanner McDougal before the delay: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 3 K, 32 of 61 pitches for strikes.
Kannapolis 6, Fayetteville 2 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Jordan Sprinkle went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Jacob Burke, 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Peyton Pallette: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 1 HBP, 41 of 64 pitches for strikes.
