BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Birmingham Barons anointed Rikuu Nishida the Bromberg's Slugger of the Game for the Southern League Division Series Game 2 showdown against the Tennessee Smokies on Thursday, which struck me as a particular devious way for the regional jeweler to avoid giving out a discount, gift card or other reward.
But it turned out that he only needed a hit of any kind to activate the promotion, which he collected with a bunt that traveled about 25 feet.
Slugging is about the only thing Nishida hasn't done this year. The Osaka native collected just 19 extra-base hits over 587 plate appearances between Kannapolis, Winston-Salem and Birmingham during the regular season, but he compensated with plenty of action in every other area, hitting .304/.418/.362 with 86 walks (to 64 strikeouts) and 49 stolen bases (in 61 attempts) while bouncing between second base and left field.
That makes it all remarkable that he led the minors with 114 runs scored, which is the highest total by a White Sox prospect since Mike Cameron scored 120 runs for the 1996 Barons.
Like most players atop that leaderboard, Cameron did it the easier way. He scored himself with 28 homers, part of a suite of 74 extra-base hits. Nishida homered once, and while he was pleased to point it out to me -- I opened a question asking about scoring runs without homering -- he said adding power is his major project this offseason.
"That's my only problem," Nishida said.
Nishida, at least on Thursday, reduced the amount of calisthenics in the batter's box from his draft season to the occasional plate-dusting, but there is still plenty of variety. The default Nishida swing starts with his hands in front of his collarbone, bouncing in eighth notes to his right foot's quarter notes. He then loads up with a big leg kick, briefly suspending it before launching into a stride that counters the pitcher's. You're just not guaranteed to see it.
"Sometimes I'm doing no step because I want to focus on contact, and then sometimes I do open stance because I want to see more of the inside pitch or outside pitch," Nishida said. "I do so many different things because I face so many different pitchers and different situations. [...]
"Hitting is facing other guys every single day, so I have to adjust every single day. I switch bats, I switch stances, I switch everything."
During his time in the organization, he said White Sox coaches haven't tried to disrupt his approach.
"They've never told me anything. They said just hit hard more," Nishida said with a laugh.
The pursuit of more power is easier said than done. Listed at 5'6" and 150 pounds, Nishida looks the part of a top-of-order pest. He hit .312/.395/.443 and scored 67 runs over 63 games during his junior season in Oregon in 2023, after which the White Sox drafted him in the 11th round.
The expansion of his defensive roles also hints at the limits of his offensive ceiling. He's a natural second baseman, but he started rotating into the outfield last year in order to increase his versatility, which he says is a work in progress.
Nishida went 2-for-5 with a walk in Game 2 of the Southern League Division Series on Thursday, including a run that would be his 115th if postseason stats were lumped in with his regular-season work.
When asked about whether he had any special talent for crossing the plate, Nishida attributed it more to situational luck and lineup talent.
"I need to say thank you to the other guys," Nishida said.
While Jacob Gonzalez wrapped up his season on an Instagram post, it turns out he isn't done yet. He played for the first time in eight day with a bases-loaded pinch-hitting appearance in Game 1 on Tuesday, then started at shortstop on Thursday.
"His back was feeling better," manager Sergio Santos said. "We were always planning for Game 2, and if something happened late in (Game 1) and we could use him, we'll use him, and if not, then we would just wait."
Gonzalez popped out with his pinch-hitting appearance, but perhaps the short runway helped. He went 2-for-4 with a solo homer on Thursday, with another bid for an opposite-field homer died on the warning track.
DJ Gladney finished tied for fourth among White Sox minor leaguers in homers with 16, which isn't bad since a few trips to the injured list limited him to 386 plate appearances.
He's taken a couple more bruises in the two games I've seen him. He got hit in the shoulder at the end of August in Chattanooga, and then he took a fastball to the wrist on Thursday. He needed a minute to regroup on both, but the latter one eventually forced him to leave the game after striking out in his second plate appearance.
The Barons ended up losing both of their corner outfielders, because Wilfred Veras appeared to hurt his right leg stealing third. He stayed in the game to finish out the inning, but he was fortunate that Nick Podkul's sacrifice fly traveled to deep center, because his speed home was no faster than a hobble.
