Results tagged ‘ Tyler Saladino ’
Five Dash alums reassigned to minor league camp
Jake Petricka dealt two scoreless innings in big league spring training (Steve Orcutt/W-S Dash).
For many minor league players, spring training is an opportunity to get a taste of a big league atmosphere and pick the brains of those at higher levels. As camp progresses, some of these players are sent back to minor league camp for their own good (more at bats or innings to prepare for the season) and the team’s own good (big league players are gearing up for the season, too).
Today, the White Sox announced that five non-roster invitees to spring training, all of whom are Dash alums, have been reassigned to minor league camp: C Mike Blanke, RHP Jake Petricka, INF Tyler Saladino, C Kevan Smith and INF Andy Wilkins.
Here are their’ stats from big league spring training:
- Blanke: 3 games played, 0-for-1
- Petricka: 2 appearances, 2.0 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs
- Saladino: 6 games played, 2-for-6, 1 run, 1 RBI
- Smith: 2 games played, 1-for-1, 1 run
- Wilkins: 4 games played, 3-for-9, 2 runs, 3 RBI
Obviously, statistics from a small sample size during spring training are not incredibly important, but these Dash alums performed well with many White Sox decision makers watching them. Congratulations to them.
The White Sox made one other move today: LHP Charlie Leesman was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte. Leesman, a 2010 Winston-Salem alum, did not appear in a game with Chicago in spring training.
The Sox still have 55 players remaining in big league camp, and many of them are Dash alums. We will keep you posted on any spring training transactions that take place.
- Brian
Dashing Around Baseball – May 15
We are at the halfway point of the first half of the Carolina League season. Rain has disrupted the schedule to the point where teams have played anywhere from 33 to 36 games. With the Dash set to play games 35 and 36 on the schedule tonight, this edition of Dashing Around Baseball will primarily be a first-half report card, with my predictions for the first-half season champions thrown in. Of course, a look around the White Sox system is in here as well.
NORTHERN DIVISION
The Northern Division has shaken out into a distinct hierarchy. Lynchburg has a 6.5 game lead over second place in the division with the three other teams sitting below .500. Here’s how it looks for each team at the midway point.
Lynchburg- The Hillcats have a potent offense and sit behind only the Dash in runs scored, hits, home runs and RBI in the Carolina League. First baseman Nick Garcia is hitting .359 on the season with 23 RBI and three home runs. He made his mark on Winston-Salem pitching when the teams met last weekend, batting .455 with a home run and four RBI in the series.
Wilmington- The Blue Rocks have a 15-21 record, and that is good enough for second place in the division. Wilmington has the pieces to put together a run in the second half, but the team’s talent lies in its youth. If starting pitcher Yordano Ventura can replicate triple-digit radar gun outings and the offense starts hitting, the Blue Rocks will mount a run.
Potomac- The Nationals have been dealt a brutal hand with the injuries to its core players. Prodigious infielder Anthony Rendon has been out since injuring his ankle in the second game of the season. There appears to be a discrepancy between Rendon and the Nationals organization but one definite is that he will not be back for the rest of the first half of the season. Potomac certainly would have been a division favorite with Rendon in the fold.
Frederick- The Keys are seventh in the league in team batting and pitching (Potomac is last in both). To make up an 8.5 game deficit in 35 games is certainly doable, but Frederick has only had one stretch where it has won more than two games in a row all season, and that occurred during the first week of the season.
PREDICTION: Wilmington puts it together and challenges Lynchburg, but the Hillcats offense and favorable schedule (9 games against Frederick in the first two weeks of June) carries them to the first-half division title.
SOUTHERN DIVISION
The Dash are the class of this division so far, but an extremely competitive division has kept all four teams in contention of winning the crown at the halfway point. Here’s a look at Winston-Salem’s challengers.
Barnes has compiled a 1-0 record, with a 1.50 ERA and 20 strikeouts in two starts for Salem. (SoxProspects.com)
Salem-The Red Sox (1.5 games back of the Dash) offense has explosive capability led by Jackie Bradley Jr., who leads the Carolina League in batting average and on-base percentage. Salem’s Travis Shaw is second in the league with a .366 average. Matt Barnes, Boston’s top pick in 2011 made his High-A debut against the Dash on May 5. It went pretty well. How long Barnes stays with Salem is unknown, but he has the potential to grab a win every time he makes a start. The Red Sox and Dash play seven more games before the first half of the season comes to an end, with all of these games taking place in Salem.
Carolina- Even after losing Clayton Cook to the DL and T.J House to Double-A Akron, the Mudcats pitching staff contends with Myrtle Beach as the best pitching staff in the league. Carolina is 2.5 games out of the division lead, but starters Francisco Jimenez and Mike Rayl are in the top five of the league for lowest ERA. Closer Jose Flores has six saves to lead all active pitchers.
Myrtle Beach-The Pelicans can pitch, but they can’t hit. Cody Buckel has the lowest ERA and most strikeouts in the league. He anchors a Myrtle Beach rotation that has a team ERA of 3.o4, also the best mark in the league. With four games against the Dash this week, we’ll find out if the Pelicans are built to contend for the division.
PREDICTION: The division stays close until the end, when the Dash hang on for the crown due to seven games against Potomac and Wilmington to end the first-half of the season. Carolina and Salem each finish within two games of the title.
AROUND THE FARM
Tyler Saladino is hitting .258 with 15 RBI and a home run in his first season with Double-A Birmingham (Steve Orcutt/W-S Dash).
- Adam Dunn might be on his way to AL Comeback Player of the Year. It’s still early in the season, but Dunn already has hit 12 home runs, one more than he hit all of last season. 2010 Dash alum Addison Reed picked up his third save of the season in the 7-5 win.
- The Knights had a marathon evening last Wednesday night. Charlotte had two walk-off wins in a double-header, including a game one contest that went 14 innings.
- 2011 Dash alums Tyler Saladino and Jared Mitchell have led Birmingham to a 21-18 record, two games back of division-leading Jackson. Mitchell leads the Southern League in triples, while Saladino is batting .258 with 15 RBI and a league-leading 28 runs scored.
- Kannapolis has struggled this season, falling 10.5 games back of first-place Greensboro. White Sox 2011 top draft pick Keenyn Walker hit his first career home run Saturday night in a 2-1 win.
A bit of a lengthy recap, but thanks for Dashing Around Baseball today. The Dash play two tonight, starting at 6 against Myrtle Beach. Join us for the Pregame Dash starting at 5:45.
-Mike
Dashing Through the Madness
March Madness is finally here, with 16 games today and tomorrow. By now, I’m sure you have made all your picks. Here in the Dash front office, we are having a pool, with the winner earning a free date with Bolt.
Here are some of my favorite predictions from fellow Dash front office team members:
- Gerri Brommer, our VP of Sponsor Services and a strong supporter of the Dash Board, is quite daring. She is one of two people with Indiana in the Final Four out of the South, and she has 6th seeded UNLV and 5th seeded Temple in the Elite Eight.
- The most popular significant upset is Long Beach State over New Mexico in a 12-5 game. Six people (out of 13) have “The Beach” advancing to the weekend, and two have LBSU heading to the Sweet 16.
- Sales superstar Jay Andrews and stadium ops czar Corey Bugno have Harvard in the Sweet 16 even though their first-round opponent (Vanderbilt) is a popular Elite Eight/Final Four pick nationwide. I happen to think the Crimson will beat Vandy, but Jay and Corey take it to another level.
- Nikki Caldwell, my new best friend, is the only one other than me to advance my alma mater, Ohio, past Michigan, the program that calls Ohio State “Ohio.” I have the Bobcats in the Sweet 16. Maybe that is a bit biased.
So here is how the Final Four shapes out in our 13-person pool:
South: 11-Kentucky; 2-Indiana
West: 6-Michigan State; 5-Missouri; 1-Marquette; 1-Louisville
East: 7-Ohio State; 4-Florida State; 1-Vanderbilt; 1-Cincinnati
Midwest: 7-North Carolina; 6-Kansas
Good luck in your brackets! Here are a few Dots on this gorgeous Thursday.
DASH DOTS:
- It was a tough and early end to Spring Training for 2010 Dash alum Brandon Short. Short, a non-roster invitee to Camelback Ranch, crashed into the center-field wall in the White Sox’s March 8 game against Texas. He dislocated his left shoulder and tore his left labrum. Short will likely miss the 2012 season after playing all of 2011 with Double-A Birmingham.
- Things are going much better for a Dash infielder from a year ago. Tyler Saladino was moved into big league camp yesterday. A seventh-round selection in ’10, Saladino hit .270 in 102 games in Winston-Salem last summer. Good for him.
- Also yesterday, three Dash alums moved around the White Sox’s system. Right-hander Gregory Infante was assigned to Triple-A Charlotte, and Brian Omogrosso and Jake Petricka were reassigned to minor league camp. Still, this trio gained some invaluable experience and learned some fantastic lessons while with the big leaguers.
- I am actually heading back home to Ohio to complete my official move to the Winston-Salem area, so the blog will be a little quiet over the weekend. I will be back in town late Monday, so I’ll rejoin you then. Mike will step in for a post or two in my absence.
I keep my bracket in my back pocket until it is no longer relevant. Here’s hoping I still have it when I talk to you again next week. Enjoy the games.
- Brian
