When the Winston-Salem Dash open the season on Friday, it'll be under new ownership, as Diamond Baseball Holdings brought another White Sox affiliate under its umbrella.
Diamond Baseball Holdings bought the Birmingham Barons last September, and while the Dash aren't yet listed on its website, adding Winston-Salem would bring its portfolio to 31 teams. That's roughly double what they owned at this point last year, and while there's natural suspicion over one company holding so much sway over Minor League Baseball -- I imagine this will have some sort of impact when the player development contracts are up for renewal next decade -- the stewardship of teams will probably be an upgrade for a lot of undercapitalized situations.
Coaching Staff
- Manager: Guillermo Quiroz
- Pitching coach: John Kovalik
- Hitting coach: Jim Rickon
- Bench coach: Darius Day
Quiroz returns to helm the Dash, but he's joined by an entirely new staff. Kovalik joined the White Sox from the Houston Astros system, while Rickon spent two decades in Cleveland's organization before spending the last two years as the Cincinnati Reds' hitting coordinator. Day played ball in the White Sox Amateur City Elite program, and was drafted out of Simeon High School in the 23rd round by the Rangers in 2014.
Starting Pitchers
Without knowing the entire rosters of the remaining White Sox affiliates, this has to rank as the most intriguing rotation one through five. Schultz will make his High-A debut after toying with Carolina League hitters for 27 innings last year with Kannapolis, but those 27 innings are the only ones on his professional record. Staying healthy is Job One. Perhaps he can glean something from McDougal and Pallette, who pitched on the schedule that Schultz is expected to adopt this year. They threw roughly three to four innings, 65 or so pitches, once a week, and ended up around 70 innings in their first full seasons back from Tommy John surgery.
Carela, acquired by the White Sox in the Keynan Middleton trade, has topped 100 innings with room to spare the last two seasons. He provides a set-it-and-forget-it counterpoint to the more careful management for the aforementioned pitchers, although if the control improvements hold, he could be ticketed to Birmingham ahead of the rest. Speaking of which, Schweitzer returns to the Dash after spending his last 10 games of 2023 in Winston-Salem. His walk rate nearly doubled after joining the Dash, but he was able to get to 107 innings despite the inefficiency, so let's see what he looks like with a fresh arm.
Bullpen
- Eric Adler
- Cole Duensing
- Riley Gowens
- Zach Franklin
- Everhett Hazelwood
- Ernesto Jaquez
- Chase Plymell
- José Ramírez
- Johnny Ray
- Garrett Schoenle
This is an ... advanced ... bullpen by High-A standards, as Duensing, Franklin, Hazelwood, Jaquez, Plymell, Ray and Schoenle are entering their age-25 seasons or older.
Among those who are closer to age-appropriate, Adler, 23, has warranted mention toward the bottom of FanGraphs' top White Sox prospect lists, but strike-throwing has held him back. He probably doesn't register as a high priority on Brian Bannister's to-do list, but he seems like he has the kind of arm some team could work with. Fellow 23-year-old Ramírez joins the White Sox from the Red Sox organization, where he's worked mostly as a starter. He allowed 25 unearned runs last year. Gowens was the fifth player sent from the Braves to the White Sox in the Aaron Bummer trade, and while he's 24, this will only be his first full season of pro ball, as Atlanta drafted him out of the University of Illinois in the ninth round last year. It's probably more fair to call him experience-appropriate.
Catchers
Smelley returns to Winston-Salem after a decent OBP-oriented showing over 28 games with the Dash last year (.270/.384/.326), although Michael Turner's performance overshadowed him. He might be the primary catcher this time around. The White Sox acquired Gonzalez from the Blue Jays for cash considerations last summer, and he was basically Smelley in Kannapolis the rest of the way (.259/.382/.361). The 16th-rounder Eberly is skipping Kannapolis despite a very quiet debut in the ACL last year.
Infielders
All eyes are on Jacob Gonzalez, whose A-ball debut with Kannapolis last year was so meek that the White Sox used an RBI groundout for his only highlight. Nevertheless, he's starting the year at Winston-Salem, which is appropriate for a first-round pick out of the SEC in his first full minor-league season. If he's not damaging the ball with the Dash, it's won't be because the White Sox rushed him.
Chapelli didn't really deserve repeating Winston-Salem after hitting .254/.361/.411 over 106 games last year, especially since that production was backloaded (.301/.406/.465 over the last three months). There's just not a lot of upward mobility on the infield right now in a system where Lenyn Sosa and José Rodríguez haven't been able to close the last mile of development.
Kath hasn't lived up to the second-round hype, with a career strikeout rate of 38 percent. He's returning to Winston-Salem to work on a 43-percent K rate last year. The White Sox drafted Sprinkle in the fourth round of the 2022 draft hoping they could restore his bat to pair with plus defense, but that hasn't happened. The Northwestern product Goosenberg is a credible hitter for an org player who will probably see some time in the outfield. So could Willits, who played 27 games for the Dash last year, but didn't record an extra-base hit.
Outfielders
Zavala is the center of attention in all respects, as he'll get all the center field reps he can handle. The wild card in the Dylan Cease trade, he's coming off a .267/.420/.451 performance for low-A Lake Elsinore at age-18. He sees a lot of deep counts, and this year will be about developing plate coverage so that the strikeouts don't overwhelm the walks.
Gladney got off to a gangbusters start before regression and injuries teamed up to cut him down to size. He hit .243/.308/.475 with 19 homers and 12 stolen bases, but he's a classic case of White Sox plate discipline (114 strikeouts, 27 walks over 96 games). It feels like he's been around forever, but he's still 22 until July, so this year will have a lot to say about whether any prospect status is possible. Lanzilli, 26, was an undrafted free agent out of Arkansas in 2022, and he should draw some walks if nothing else.
PERTINENT: White Sox 2024 Affiliate Preview: Charlotte Knights
Charlotte Knights Update
Two games into their six-game series with the stacked Norfolk Tides, the Charlotte Knights would appreciate having some other active affiliates to take the heat off.
Tuesday: Norfolk 10, Charlotte 6
- Colson Montgomery went 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Max Stassi started his rehab stint by going 1-for-4 with a strikeout from the DH spot.
- Oscar Colás and Zach DeLoach were also 1-for-4 with a K.
- Robbie Grossman homered twice and drove in five during a 2-for-4 night, striking out once.
- Adam Hackenberg wore the golden sombrero.
- Prelander Berroa: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HR
Wednesday: Norfolk 26, Charlotte 11
- Lenyn Sosa went 2-for-5 with a homer, walk and strikeout.
- Colson Montgomery was 3-for6 with a double and a strikeout.
- Max Stassi caught half the game, going 0-for-2 with an HBP and a strikeout.
- Robbie Grossman was 1-for-3 with two walks.
- Zach DeLoach went 1-for-4 with a double, walk and two strikeouts.
- Nick Nastrini: 3 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 HR
- Bailey Horn: 0.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 K< 2 HR
Notes:
*This game achieved Scorigami, in that there'd never been a 26-11 final score in AL/NL history.
*Statcast had Nastrini's fastball topping out at 94 and averaging 92, although the slider was effective.
*Heston Kjerstad set a Norfolk record by driving in 10 runs.
