The White Sox demoted Jared Kelley to Winston-Salem on Thursday, which is only noteworthy to the extent that the White Sox might have finally stopped pushing Kelley beyond what he'd actually accomplished.
Kelley's above-slot $3 million bonus in the second round of the 2020 draft seemed to dictate every subsequent decision, from an overly aggressive season-opening assignment in 2021, to his cameo in Project Birmingham in 2022, to an unsuccessful return to Double-A after two good weeks -- and three more mediocre ones -- for Winston-Salem in 2023. All the while, the White Sox didn't seem to know what role Kelley should occupy, what arm slot he should throw from, or what arsenal he should emphasize.
The White Sox talked about letting Kelley return to his draft-day throwing motion this spring. Depending on the results, it could either be seen as support for the back-to-basics mentality, or a sunsetting of the attempt to make Kelley something he won't be.
The success of the Birmingham rotation made it easy to pitch Kelley only as much as necessary, but after an unimpressive sample of five games spread out over five weeks (six walks, five strikeouts, .395 OBP allowed over eight innings), the demotion to the Dash suggests that Kelley is no longer a particular priority.
Gwinnett 2, Charlotte 1
- Colson Montgomery went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Zach DeLoach, 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Oscar Colás went 1-for-3, and was replaced after getting picked off.
- Nick Nastrini was good: 6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HR, 1 WP, 65 of 97 pitches for strikes.
Notes:
*Statcast shows Nastrini throwing his fastball 60 percent of the time and getting eight of his 14 whiffs.
*The Colás pickoff wasn't the defensible kind.
Pensacola 5, Birmingham 4 (10 innings)
- Terrell Tatum went 2-for-5.
- Brooks Baldwin went 1-for-5.
- So did Tim Elko, who struck out once.
- Wilfred Veras also was 1-for-5, but he homered and struck out twice.
- Jake Eder: 5 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 60 of 86 pitches for strikes.
Highlights:
*Veras' homer:
Winston-Salem 6, Asheville 5
- Loidel Chapelli went 1-for-5 with a double, strikeout and two stolen bases.
- Samuel Zavala was 1-for-5 with three strikeouts.
- Jacob Gonzalez, 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.
- DJ Gladney went 2-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- Wes Kath singled twice, walked twice and struck out once.
- Calvin Harris went 1-for-4 with a K.
- Peyton Pallette labored: 3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 HR, 37 of 68 pitches for strikes.
- Shane Murphy did not: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K, 37 of 58 pitches for strikes.
Kannapolis 7, Delmarva 4
- Rikuu Nishida went 1-for-2 with three walks and a stolen base.
- Eddie Park was 2-for-5 with a triple and a stolen base.
- Ronny Hernandez went 0-for-3 with an HBP and a strikeout.
- Aldrin Batista: 5.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 1 WP, 50 of 83 pitches for strikes.
ACL Brewers 8, ACL White Sox 7
- Ryan Burrowes went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and a sac fly.
- Adrian Gil was 1-for-4 with a double, HBP and a strikeout.
- George Wolkow singled and struck out four times, but he threw out two runners at home.
- Manuel Guariman struck out all three times.
- Javier Mogollon put a ball in play: 0-for-3 with two walks, two strikeouts and a stolen base.
- Abraham Nunez went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Maximo Martinez: 0.1 IP, 3 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 0 K, 1 HR
- Luis Reyes: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 1 WP
Notes:
*The ACL White Sox struck out 17 times against four walks. Their pitchers struck out 13, but against 11 walks.
