When Anderson Comás came out as gay before the season, I'd hoped that he'd be able to pitch well enough to hang around for a while. Beyond the obvious benefits to the team, Comás said he wanted to be "an inspiration for those like me out there fighting for his dreams," but given that he was a 23-year-old who couldn't make any headway as an outfielder and struggled in his shift to pitching last year, he wouldn't have a whole lot of time to figure it out.
Comás completed the first step, which is throwing enough strikes to get out of complex ball. The year-to-year comparison for his ACL stats tell the story:
- 2022: 11.1 IP, 12 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 11 BB, 13 K
- 2023: 16.1 IP, 11 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 17 K
Comás earned a promotion to Kannapolis on Friday, where he once again threw strikes in his A-ball pitching debut (11 of 14). In fact, he might've thrown too many. He gave up a couple of hits and allowed a couple of inherited runners to score, but he also recorded a couple strikeouts to finish the sixth inning.
Anderson Comas makes his #WhiteSox affiliate pitching debut for the #Ballers. He goes .2 of an inning and K's 2. He does allow a few singles and inherited runs to score, but not super solid contact. Very tough to pick up with that big frame and nasty movement. pic.twitter.com/FxGmQZsmPB
— Ian Eskridge (@dailywhitesox) July 8, 2023
The Cannon Ballers ended up winning 8-5 on their second annual Pride Night.
Jacksonville 11, Charlotte 6
- Lenyn Sosa went 1-for-3 with a double, walk and strikeout.
Tennessee 5, Birmingham 4
- Terrell Tatum went 0-for-4 with a sac fly and two strikeouts.
- José Rodríguez was 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- Bryan Ramos hit his fifth homer during a 1-for-4 night, also striking out once.
- Alsander Womack went 2-for-4 with a double.
- Yoelqui Céspedes and Luis Mieses both were 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Adam Hackenberg, 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
Winston-Salem 7, Hickory 4
- Jacob Burke went 2-for-5 with a strikeout and a stolen base.
- Colson Montgomery homered, walked, struck out and got hit by a pitch.
- Wilfred Veras was 1-for-4 with a homer and a strikeout.
- DJ Gladney struck out thrice, but he reached on catcher interference and stole a base.
- Loidel Chapelli was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, but he stole a base.
- Jared Kelley: 5 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
Highlights:
*Montgomery's homer was made possible by the goofy right field corner at Truist Ballpark.
Colson Montgomery with his first HR in Winston-Salem. #108 MPH to the RF corner. Burke (1B) scores. Colson dons the #Dash drip. #WhiteSox pic.twitter.com/KcjWWelfxu
— Ian Eskridge (@dailywhitesox) July 8, 2023
Kannapolis 8, Down East 5
- Brooks Baldwin went 2-for-4 with a homer and a walk.
- Tyler Schweitzer: 5.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
- Anderson Comás' A-ball debut: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, two pitch timer violations.
ACL D-backs Black 7, ACL White Sox 4
- Ronny Hernandez went 3-for-5.
- Dario Borrero, 2-for-5 with a double and two strikeouts
DSL White Sox 12, DSL Padres Gold 4
- D'Angelo Tejada went 2-for-5 with a triple and two strikeouts.
- Abraham Nunez was 1-for-3 with two walks.
- Rafael Alvarez, 2-for-5 with a double and a strikeout.
- Juan Uribe Jr. went 0-for-3 with an HBP and two strikeouts.
