Jake Eder and Peyton Pallette came into this season needing to throw more strikes, and both delivered their first walkless starts of the year on the same night.
Eder threw five decent innings without a walk on Thursday, leaving with a no-decision in Birmingham's come-from-behind 5-3 victory against Rocket City. Eder hadn't pitched a walkless outing of any variety since his Tommy John surgery, a span covering 19 games.
Pallette managed a few such outings for Kannapolis in 2024, but none lasted longer than four innings. On Thursday night against Greensboro, Pallette posted his best-ever start, scattering a double and three singles over five scoreless innings while striking out seven. That's the first time he's gone five innings as a pro, and while he set a career high with 72 pitches, it's because he also set a career high in strikes thrown with 52.
This is the first time I've watched a Pallette start in the White Sox system and really understood the first-round hype prior to his Tommy John surgery with Arkansas. You can see it in this sequence to Termarr Johnson, where he gradually raises the eye level before dropping a hammer:
And this curveball that confused the hell out of everybody.
Now Pallette just has to produce more starts like it, because it only lowered his ERA to 6.46.
Memphis 5, Charlotte 1
- Dominic Fletcher went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Colson Montgomery homered, singled, walked and struck out.
- Oscar Colás was 1-for-4 with a K.
- Zach DeLoach, 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
Highlights:
*Montgomery's homer was a 113.8 mph rocket:
Birmingham 5, Rocket City 3
- Terrell Tatum went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.
- Brooks Baldwin was 2-for-4 with a walk, strikeout and stolen base.
- Edgar Quero, 1-for-4 with a walk and a K.
- Wilfred Veras went 2-for-5 with a double and two strikeouts.
- Bryan Ramos was 2-for-5 with a double, strikeout and stolen base.
- Tim Elko singled, walked and struck out twice.
- Jacob Burke went 1-for-3 with a walk.
- Jake Eder: 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 58 of 85 pitches for strikes.
Winston-Salem 7, Greensboro 3
- Loidel Chapelli went 2-for-4 with a strikeout, HBP and a stolen base.
- Wes Kath, 1-for-4 with a walk, two strikeouts and a stolen base.
- DJ Gladney was 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- Peyton Pallette's best outing of his pro career: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, 1 WP, 52 of 74 pitches for strikes.
- Shane Murphy: 3 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HR
Kannapolis 9, Lynchburg 6
- Rikuu Nishida went 2-for-5 with a double.
- Eddie Park was 1-for-2 with three walks and a stolen base.
- Ronny Hernandez went 0-for-3 with a walk.
- Aldrin Batista: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 47 of 77 pitches for strikes.
