The Winston-Salem Dash tend to struggle against the Bowling Green Hot Rods, which makes automatic sense given the White Sox system's persistent issues winning ballgames, and the Tampa Bay farm system's frequent domination of its leagues. The Dash dropped the first two games of their series in Kentucky this week, meaning they're 4-15 at Bowling Green Ballpark since Minor League Baseball's realignment in 2023.
You can't blame Tyler Schweitzer, whose two best starts -- and only two quality starts -- at High-A to date have come against the Hot Rods. He threw six innings of one-hit, one-run ball last August, and followed it up with another six innings of one-run ball on Wednesday.
I made the 70-minute drive up I-65 to watch the game, and Schweitzer made it look pretty simple. Then again, the lefty-leaning nature of Bowling Green's lineup played into his hands, as he did a fair amount of lifting with two pitches -- a 91-93 mph fastball, and a low-80s slider.
The White Sox selected Schweitzer in the fifth round of the 2022 draft, signing him for $325,000. He cracked the back end of a couple of top 30 lists last year, but got crowded out by the influx of talent from the sell-off. His walk rate rose to unhealthy levels upon his promotion to High-A, but he settled in after a shaky first inning on Wednesday and pounded the strike zone over the next five.
I'll be back up there on Saturday for Noah Schultz's start, assuming the schedule holds. If Schweitzer pushed Bowling Green's lineup around by virtue of his handedness, that would seem to foreshadow success for Schultz.
Charlotte 4, Syracuse 2
- Colson Montgomery went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- Oscar Colás, 2-for-4 with a homer.
- Zach DeLoach was 1-for-3 with a walk.
- Prelander Berroa: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
Mississippi 5, Birmingham 3
- Terrell Tatum went 0-for-3 with two walks and two strikeouts.
- Brooks Baldwin was 2-for-5 with a double, strikeout and stolen base.
- Wilfred Veras doubled once and struck out four times.
- Edgar Quero singled, walked twice, struck out once and stole a base.
- Bryan Ramos wore the collar and silver sombrero.
- Tim Elko singled and struck out thrice.
- Duke Ellis reached base twice and stole two more bases.
- Ky Bush: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 HBP, 1 WP
Bowling Green 2, Winston-Salem 1
- Loidel Chapelli went 1-for-4 with a double and two strikeouts, although he slid ridiculously past the bag on his double and got tagged out trying to stretch it to third.
- Samuel Zavala was 0-for-4 with a K.
- Tyler Schweitzer: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 59 of 82 pitches for strikes.
Kannapolis 17, Myrtle Beach 8
- Rikuu Nishida singled, walked thrice, struck out once and stole a base.
- Ronny Hernandez singled twice, walked thrice and struck out twice.
- Jake Peppers is thankful for the no-decision: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 7 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 1 WP, 31 of 70 pitches for strikes.
