White Sox Minor Keys: Aug. 31, 2024

After taking in his four innings against the Chattanooga Lookouts Saturday night, I've now seen Noah Schultz pitch three times in three different cities this summer. That makes me sound like the baseball equivalent of a Phishhead, but in reality, his Saturday-only schedule is conducive to quick jaunts across the Southeast, and the fact that he's probably the White Sox's best prospect is merely a bonus.

At any rate, the Schultz I saw this time around was the best version yet. He pitched his limit with four full innings, allowing just a hit and two walks while striking out seven.

The lone hit came on a first-pitch get-me-over slider. Both walks came in the first inning, and both Schultz and catcher Michael Turner thought the second one was a strikeout, but the full-count call went the Lookouts' way. He overwhelmed Chattanooga's offense otherwise, and perhaps he should have, given that it's the Southern League's least productive lineup. He's faced them twice, and he's allowed one hit over eight scoreless innings.

Still, the way he went about it brought to mind what James relayed from Brian Bannister several days ago regarding Schultz's arsenal ...

Bannister referenced some missing swing-and-miss in Schultz’s game and just gave a long talk at Saberseminar that included his anticipation for fastball usage in the game to continue to decline. So, he has some ideas.

“Throwing some four-seamers at the top of the zone to complement the natural two-seamer he throws, leveraging his breaking-ball usage a little bit, maybe having a bridge pitch in there, or we’ve been able to do some seam-effects stuff when we tried it out with him."

... because he had both elements working for him: the slider coming from angles that locked up the Lookouts before they started getting used to it, but he also recorded three swinging strikeouts on elevated fastballs with some armside hop.

Here's his last inning of work from behind the plate, minus the first pitch because people in the section were still getting situated:

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Charlotte 5, Nashville 3 (Completion of Friday's game, 7 innings)

• Yoán Moncada went 0-for-2.
• Zach DeLoach was 1-for-1 with a double and a walk.
• Tim Elko walked twice and struck out once.
• Colson Montgomery also was 0-for-1 with two walks.
• Bryan Ramos went 1-for-2 with a double and a walk.
• Oscar Colás, 1-for-3.
• Mason Adams: 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
• Michael Soroka is 2-0 in Charlotte: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K
• Steven Wilson posted the same line.

Nashville 8, Charlotte 7 (Game 2, 8 innings)

• Colson Montgomery was 1-for-5 with a double and a strikeout.
• Yoán Moncada went 1-for-2 with a walk.
• Bryan Ramos, 2-for-5 with a K.
• Tim Elko singled twice, walked once and struck out twice.
• Ky Bush: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 WP, 56 of 85 pitches for strikes.

Notes:

*Bush averaged 91.4 mph on his fastball per Statcast, which is still below his Birmingham velo.

Birmingham 5, Chattanooga 2

• Wilfred Veras went 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts.
• DJ Gladney was 1-for-3 with a double, walk and HBP.
• Jacob Gonzalez was 1-for-3 with a walk and a sac bunt.
• Terrell Tatum walked twice, struck out twice and was caught stealing.
• Noah Schultz: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K, 34 of 57 pitches for strikes.
• Peyton Pallette: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K

Winston-Salem 9, Brooklyn 8

• Rikuu Nishida went 1-for-2 with two walks, a sac fly, a stolen base and two more runs scored.
• Eddie Park went 2-for-5 with a strikeout and a stolen base.
• Caden Connor, 0-for-3 with two walks and a strikeout.
• Casey Saucke was 3-for-5 with his second homer and a strikeout.
• Wes Kath maxed out his 1-for-4, two-strikeout night with a walk-off two-run shot. He also dropped a sac bunt.
• Ryan Galanie was 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Calvin Harris, 2-for-4 with a K.
• Samuel Zavala went 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Hagen Smith: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 HBPs, 21 of 41 pitches for strikes.

Highlights:

*Here's Kath ending it:

Fredericksburg 21, Kannapolis 5

• Sam Antonacci was 1-for-4 with a double, walk and strikeout.
• George Wolkow was 1-for-4 with a double, strikeout and sac fly.
• TJ McCants was 1-for-4 with a triple and two strikeouts.
• Ronny Hernandez went 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Jeral Perez singled twice and struck out twice.
• Ryan Burrowes went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Lyle Miller-Green, 1-for-4 with a double and a strikeout.
• Nathan Archer struck out thrice and was hit by a pitch.
• Pierce George: 1 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP, 12 of 24 pitches for strikes.