Results tagged ‘ Matt Wickswat ’
Four More Roster Moves
Nick Ciolli hits the DL for the second time this season (Steve Orcutt/W-S Dash).
The White Sox announced four more moves affecting the Dash prior to the club’s series finale at Lynchburg. Winston-Salem receives outfielder Mark Haddow and southpaw Max Peterson from Low-A Kannapolis. To make room for the Intimidators duo, outfielder Nick Ciolli was placed on the disabled list and left-hander Matt Wickswat was promoted to Double-A Kannapolis.
Haddow led Kannapolis and was ninth in the South Atlantic League with a .306 batting average, and he had seven homers and 57 RBI in 108 games. A former 24th-round pick, Haddow was a midseason All-Star in the SAL.
Peterson returns to the High-A level after spending time with Stockton, Oakland’s California League affiliate, in 2011. The White Sox inked Peterson to a deal this year, and he has responded with a 1.33 earned run average in 13 appearances out of the bullpen.
Ciolli suffers another tough break, heading to the disabled list less than a week before coming off the DL following a two-and-a-half month stint due to a right wrist injury. This time, Ciolli hurt his left hamstring. In 46 games this season, the former Indiana State star is hitting .280 with four homers and 26 RBI.
Wickswat is heading back to Double-A Birmingham for his third trip around the Southern League this season. In seven appearances with the Dash, the lefty is 1-1 with a 7.82 earned run average.
Winston looks for its ninth series victory in a row tonight at 7:05 against the Hillcats. Listen live beginning at 6:50 here.
- Brian
Dash Bullpen Tweaked
Jon Bachanov is heading to Double-A for the second time in 2012 (Jody Stewart/W-S Dash).
The Dash have not experienced too much turnover lately, but the White Sox did announce a pair of moves affecting Winston-Salem prior to today’s action.
One day after earning his seventh win in the Carolina League, Jon Bachanov is heading back to Birmingham for his second stint in the Double-A Southern League. In a corresponding move, southpaw Matt Wickswat is rejoining the Dash from Birmingham.
Bachanov is 7-2 with a 3.95 earned run average in 23 appearances (nine starts) with the Dash. The righty, who is one win shy of the Dash’s team lead, was with the Barons from June 29 to July 24 and went 0-1 with a 9.00 earned run average over five innings.
Wickswat returns to the Triad after spending much of his 2012 campaign with the Barons. The left-hander, who snapped one of the most bizarre streaks in minor league baseball earlier this year, was 1-7 with a 10.64 earned run average in 19 appearances (seven starts) with Birmingham. In his three-and-a-half week stint with the Dash earlier this half, Wickswat was 1-1 with a 6.55 earned run average.
For those who appreciate milestones, the Dash’s next roster move will be their 100th this season. Winston-Salem and Salem wrap up their three-game series tonight at 7:00 from BB&T Ballpark. Talk to you at 6:45 for the Pre-Game Dash.
- Brian
Five Roster Moves And A Birthday
Photo courtesy of Steve Orcutt/W-S Dash.
After a week-long break from roster moves, the Dash are back at it with five moves today. Both D.J. Jarrad and Billy Rice are returning to Low-A Kannapolis because of the activation of Marcus Semien and Keenyn Walker off the disabled list. Also today, Matt Wickswat earned a promotion to Double-A Birmingham on his 26th birthday.
Jarrad (two games) and Rice (four games) helped the Dash get through the week without Semien and Walker, and both will receive more playing time in the South Atlantic League.
The Dash do receive their top two hitters in the lineup once again, so the Walker-Semien combination has a chance to flourish once again. Walker was hitting .368 in 10 games with the Dash before the injury, while Semien (.270, 10 HR, 40 RBI) has been one of the Dash’s most consistent hitters.
And Wickswat received quite a birthday present today by heading back to the Southern League. The southpaw, who was the first left-handed reliever in Winston-Salem’s bullpen this season, made five appearances for the Dash and went 1-1 with a 6.55 earned run average.
Winston-Salem aims to continue Potomac’s winless stretch in the state of North Carolina tonight. Pre-game at 6:45 p.m. right here. We’ll talk to you then.
- Brian
Catching Up
I apologize for the three-day hiatus here on the Dash Board blog, but I couldn’t mention anything. I made a surprise trip home to Ohio to take care of a family matter, but I’m back with some unique stories we missed here on the blog.
- NBA players at BB&T Ballpark: Winston-Salem outfielder Trayce Thompson has quite a family background. His brother Klay averaged 12.5 points per game with the NBA’s Golden State Warriors last season, while his other brother Mychel earned a brief stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Both were in town for yesterday’s game, and they each threw a first pitch to Trayce. It was certainly a cool moment for the Thompson family.
- Baseball Academy continues: This week marks the final Baseball Academy session at BB&T Ballpark. Many Dash players have helped out, and apparently Terance Marin has a future in managing because he squad was the best earlier today:
- Dash starters continue to thrive: Over the Dash’s last nine games, the club’s starting pitcher has worked at least five innings and allowed no more than four earned runs every time. During that span, the Dash own a 7-2 record. The last time a Dash hurler did not fulfill these requirements was July 22 when Matt Wickswat, who was only making a spot start, went four and two-thirds in a rubber match loss to Frederick.
- July fireworks for Winston-Salem: The Dash posted a league-best 18-10 (.643) record during July, and Winston-Salem’s month-long win total is the highest number of wins for a Carolina League team in a single month this season. The Dash had not won 18 games in a month since May of 2010 (18-12), while Winston has not posted a better win percentage since April of 2010 (15-6; .714).
- Hair battle is on: Just check this out from Ben Hill, the best blogger and tweeter in the minors. It is safe to say the challenge was accepted by Dash graphics czar Caleb Pardick and me.
As you can tell, it has been a busy few days here in Winston. I’ll be back tomorrow.
- Brian
Left Never Felt So Right
Spencer Arroyo pitched for the Dash, but he never came out of the bullpen (Jody Stewart/W-S Dash).
When Matt Wickswat made his first 2012 appearance with the Dash Wednesday night, Winston-Salem finally did something that all big league squads took care of within the season’s first few weeks.
The Dash finally used a left-handed pitcher out of the bullpen.
It took Winston 90 games, but the club finally pulled off the feat. Shockingly, one other full-season minor league team still has not used a lefty out of its bullpen. The Akron Aeros, Cleveland’s Double-A affiliate in the Eastern League, have played 90 games without using a southpaw as a reliever.
For what it is worth, both the Dash (53-36-1) and the Aeros (52-38) have the best records in their leagues.
The state of Ohio does not like lefties, it seems. The only two other full-season squads who have used a left-handed reliever less than 10 times are in the state of Ohio. Low-A Dayton (Cincinnati) has used a lefty reliever four times, while Low-A Lake County (Cleveland) has done so on eight different occasions.
Wickswat is only the third lefty to work for the Dash this season. Wednesday night’s starter Blair Walters is the only other one still on the roster, while Spencer Arroyo made 14 starts before a promotion to Double-A Birmingham.
I wouldn’t expect other teams to adopt the “don’t use a left-hander out of the bullpen” philosophy, but it has worked well for the Dash. And Wickswat did post a perfect eighth inning of relief, so southpaw bullpen arms are working on a perfect season in Winston-Salem.
- Brian
Three More Roster Moves
Matt Wickswat is back in Winston-Salem (Steve Orcutt/W-S Dash).
The Chicago White Sox have been shuffling around the Dash’s roster frequently. Since June 1, Winston-Salem has had 39 roster moves, which calculates to almost one per day.
Three more moves took place yesterday, with right-hander Salvador Sanchez heading to Double-A Birmingham, southpaw Matt Wickswat joining the Dash from Birmingham and righty Ryan Buch heading to the disabled list.
Sanchez has been a quick riser through the White Sox system based on his appearances. The former outfielder made two appearances with rookie-level Great Falls last season. Here in 2012, he had worked twice in rookie-level Bristol and once in Low-A Kannapolis before joining the Dash. In Winston-Salem, Sanchez appeared in three games and posted four scoreless innings. He has not allowed a run in his nine career minor league innings.
Wickswat rejoins the Dash after spending much of 2011 in Winston-Salem. The Bellevue, Wash., native went 6-6 with a 4.03 ERA in 23 games (13 starts) with the Dash a year ago. With Double-A Birmingham this season, Wickswat was 1-6 with an 11.67 ERA in 16 appearances (seven starts). He will join the Dash’s bullpen.
Buch is heading to the disabled list with right shoulder inflammation. The new reliever has struggled in his role. He has a 12.10 ERA in five relief efforts, but he did dominate Low-A a few weeks ago while with Kannapolis. Buch allowed only one earned run in 10 innings of action.
The Dash and Myrtle Beach Pelicans kick off a four-game series tonight from TicketReturn.com Field at 7:05 p.m. Listen live to all the action beginning at 6:50 here. Talk to you then.
- Brian
