The White Sox paused one of the early story lines that we'd been following with morbid curiosity over the weekend, as they placed 2024 11th-round pick Blake Shepardson on the Development List at Kannapolis on Friday.
Shepardson had only retired one of the 10 batters he'd faced in his most recent appearance on Wednesday, although in his defense, one batter reached on an error when Ronny Hernandez dropped a force at home plate.
Either way, it locks in one of the more reality-bending five-game samples you'll see from a professional pitcher: 2 IP, 4 H, 11 R, 8 ER, 11 BB, 3 K, 5 HBP. Putting it another way, he yielded an .800 on-base percentage because he threw just 35 percent of his pitches for strikes.
He traded places on the Development List with Gabriel Rodriguez, who spent a week off the roster before being reactivated. It would stand to reason that Shepardson will need more side sessions to get right, but there's no fixed timeline one way or another.
Nashville 14, Charlotte 11
- Brandon Drury went 3-for-5 with his first homer and a strikeout.
- Tim Elko was 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- Kyle Teel went 1-for-5 with a homer and a strikeout.
- Colson Montgomery, 2-for-5 with a homer and two strikeouts.
- Chris Rodriguez turned in the Daily Debacle: 0 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 3 HR, 19 of 32 pitches for strikes.
Notes:
*The Knights and Sounds combined for 13 homers, with the Sounds owning the slightest of edges.
*The Knights have lost 11 of 12, but they were down 12-2 through three innings, so you can't fault the effort here.
Biloxi 5, Birmingham 3 (11 innings)
- Rikuu Nishida went 0-for-1 with a sac bunt, HBP, two walks and a stolen base.
- William Bergolla went 1-for-5.
- Wilfred Veras was 0-for-5 with three strikeouts.
- DJ Gladney was 1-for-4 with a walk, strikeout and stolen base.
- Jacob Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with a walk, strikeout and stolen base.
- Wikelman González: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 8 K, 47 of 80 pitches for strikes.
Notes:
*The Barons lost the series 4-2.
Greenville 8, Winston-Salem 7
- Sam Antonacci went 1-for-4 with a triple, walk and strikeout.
- Jeral Perez was 0-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- Samuel Zavala went 1-for-4.
- Seth Keener: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR, 54 of 83 pitches for strikes.
Notes:
*The Dash lost the series 4-2.
Columbia 4, Kannapolis 3
- Caleb Bonemer doubled, walked thrice, struck out once, stole a base and was caught stealing.
- Ronny Hernandez struck out thrice during an 0-for-5 afternoon.
- Braden Montgomery went 1-for-3 with a walk.
- George Wolkow went 0-for-3 with a walk, strikeout and two stolen bases.
- Nick McLain, 1-for-3 with a double, walk and strikeout.
- Javier Mogollón, 2-for-4 with a double and a strikeout, and was picked off/caught stealing.
Notes:
*The Ballers lost the series 4-2, but on the bright side, they've been producing these handy highlight packages on their YouTube channel.
