Jose Quintana struck out 7, walked 1 in 5.2 innings (May 20)

Montgomnery @ Birmingham:

Birmingham Barons
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Jose Quintana (L, 1-3)	5.2	9	4	3	1	7	0	2.77
Santos Rodriguez	1.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	4.24
Ryan Kussmaul	1.0	3	1	1	0	1	0	1.29
Leroy Hunt	1.0	1	0	0	1	2	0	7.36

Pitches-strikes: Quintana 102-69, Rodriguez, S 10-10, Kussmaul 22-16, Hunt 24-15.
Groundouts-flyouts: Quintana 6-5, Rodriguez, S 0-1, Kussmaul 1-1, Hunt 0-1.
Batters faced: Quintana 29, Rodriguez, S 3, Kussmaul 6, Hunt 5.
Inherited runners-scored: Rodriguez, S 1-0.

Quintana has a 41 K / 14 BB ratio in 48.2 innings (9 starts).

Simon Castro struck out 8, walked 1 in 6 innings (May 16)

Montgomery @ Birmingham:

Birmingham Barons
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Simon Castro	6.0	8	5	4	1	8	0	3.88
Ryan Kussmaul	3.0	1	0	0	2	3	0	0.90
Leroy Hunt (L, 0-1)	1.0	4	3	3	1	0	0	10.13

Pitches-strikes: Castro, S 102-66, Kussmaul 41-26, Hunt 35-17.
Groundouts-flyouts: Castro, S 9-1, Kussmaul 3-2, Hunt 3-0.
Batters faced: Castro, S 28, Kussmaul 12, Hunt 8.

Castro has a 36 K / 10 BB ratio in 45.0 innings (7 games).

Jose Quintana struck out 8, walked 2 in 7 innings (May 15)

Birmingham @ Pensacola:

Birmingham Barons
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Jose Quintana	7.0	2	0	0	2	8	0	2.51
Henry Mabee (L, 3-1)	1.0	2	2	2	0	2	1	0.81

WP: Mabee.
HBP: Fleury (by Mabee).
Pitches-strikes: Quintana 91-56, Mabee 19-12.
Groundouts-flyouts: Quintana 4-2, Mabee 0-1.
Batters faced: Quintana 23, Mabee 6.

Quintana has a 34 K / 13 BB ratio in 43.0 innings (8 games). And it seems Mabee allowed his first run(s) of the season tonight.

Nestor Molina struck out 7, walked 1 tonight (April 26)

Birmingham@ Montgomery:

Birmingham Barons
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Nestor Molina (W, 3-1)	6.2	10	2	2	1	7	1	3.56
Matt Wickswat	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	16.50

Pitches-strikes: Molina 104-65, Wickswat 1-1.
Groundouts-flyouts: Molina 8-3, Wickswat 0-1.
Batters faced: Molina 31, Wickswat 1.

Molina has a 23 K / 3 BB ratio in 30.1 innings (5 games).

BTW, Jared Mitchell went 3-3 in Game 1 and 2-4 in Game 2 of today’s doubleheader and now is batting .338/.472/.563/1.035 with 17 BB and 20 K in 71 AB. He has a .429 BABIP in 63 AB.

Nestor Molina struck out 5, walked 1 tonight (April 20)

Mississippi @ Birmingham (AA):

Birmingham Barons
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Nestor Molina (W, 2-1)	7.0	6	0	0	1	5	0	3.80
Brandon Kloess	2.0	1	0	0	0	3	0	3.12

Pitches-strikes: Molina 102-70, Kloess 17-15.
Groundouts-flyouts: Molina 9-2, Kloess 1-1.
Batters faced: Molina 28, Kloess 7.

Molina has a 16 K / 2 BB ratio in 23.2 innings (4 games). Jared Mitchell went 2-5 with a Home Run and 2 K. He is hitting .298/.420/.544/.964 with 20 K and 11 BB in 57 AB.

Simon Castro struck out 7, walked 1 tonight (April 17)

Birmingham @ Chattanooga:

Barons
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Simon Castro (W, 1-1)	7.0	5	1	0	1	7	0	4.50
Brandon Kloess (H, 1)	1.0	2	1	1	0	0	0	4.05
Ryan Kussmaul (S, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00

Castro has a 16 K / 5 BB ratio in 16.0 innings (3 games).

Nestor Molina struck out 7, walked 0 tonight (April 15)

Birmingham @ Chattanooga (AA):

Barons
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Nestor Molina (W, 1-1)	8.0	7	3	3	0	7	1	5.40
Santos Rodriguez (S, 2)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00

Pitches-strikes: Molina 94-68, Rodriguez, S 15-8.
Groundouts-flyouts: Molina 6-7, Rodriguez, S 1-2.
Batters faced: Molina 30, Rodriguez, S 3.

Jared Mitchell went 2-3 with a 2B, a BB and a K and is hitting .343/.511/.543/1.053 with 11 BB and 11 K in 35 AB. Unfortunately, he has a .455 BABIP.

White Sox Opening Day lineup

Scott Merkin:

Other White Sox links:

• J.J. previews the outfield, and the bullpen. And together with Toni Andracki publishes the 2012 All-Chicago team.
• James previews the AL Central race, and explains the White Sox’ advantage as the start of 2012.
• Fangraphs’ Marc Hulet says there are dark clouds over the South Side..
• MLBTR reviews the White Sox offseason.
• FutureSox posts the previews for the Sox minor league teams (rookie ball starts after June’s draft): Charlotte Knights (AAA), Birmingham Barons (AA), Winston-Salem Dash (A+), Kannapolis Intimidators (A). Baseball America previews the Sox minor league system too.

And Slate’s Lily Rothman has an excellent article on the plight of Minor League players.

Seems Jared Mitchell is going to AA-Birmingham

Scott Merkin:

A White Sox fan in search of the team’s future starters need look no deeper than Double-A Birmingham. That rotation features Nestor Molina, Simon Castro, Jose Quintana and Pedro Hernandez, who all took part in big league camp, as well as right-hander Cameron Bayne. If a starting spot opens up during the course of the season, there’s a chance the White Sox would look at the Barons as quickly as they would check the rotation for Triple-A Charlotte.

Molina (Sergio Santos, from Toronto), Castro and Hernandez (both Carlos Quentin, from San Diego) all came over during offseason trades. Birmingham’s roster also will feature relievers such as Nevin Griffith, Dan Remenowsky and Ryan Kussmaul, as well as position players such as Mitchell, Andy Wilkins and Jose Martinez.

Other White Sox links:

• James previews the 2012 bullpen.
• J.J. looks to see if Brent Morel is falling back into bad habits, says Chris Sale is going to be fine, and with Tony Andracki publish the 1960-2012 All-Chicago team.
• Chris Lamberti looks on the legend that was Rube Foster.
• Fangraphs’ Chris Cwik examines the entire White Sox organization.
• SeedlingToStars’ Wally Fish compares various Topp-100 prospect lists.

Terry Doyle is back with the Sox

Terry Doyle, Rule 5 Twins selection, returned to the White Sox and assigned to Triple-A Charlotte—
Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) March 21, 2012

I see Doyle had a 2/3 K/BB ratio in 5.1 innings with the Twinkies. 5.1 innings is a pretty small sample size. Seems the last of his 3 outings did the most damage. Hopefully, Dotson can keep his ratios as they were in AA-Birmingham.

UPDATE: Here’s Minnesota general manager Terry Ryan:

“We offered him back to the White Sox, with some discussion about possibly trying to keep him,” said Minnesota general manager Terry Ryan of Doyle, who cleared waivers and posted a 3.07 ERA over 26 starts for Class A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham last year. “I threw some things at Kenny, he threw some things back just like any of those discussions go. We couldn’t work it out, so we’re sending him back today.”

He needs to get on with his career. You never like to see a young kid that’s trying to make his way to the Major Leagues sit around too long. He’s only had a few innings here. That’s not good for anybody’s career, so we made a decision sooner rather than later.”

Hector Santiago, starting pitcher?

Scott Merkin:

[Hector] Santiago, 24, entered Tuesday’s scheduled off-day for the White Sox as a veritable lock to break camp as one of the team’s seven relievers. He threw a scoreless inning against the Reds during Monday’s 1-0 loss at Camelback Ranch, giving him six without allowing a run this spring, while striking out six.

And the screwball has played a major part in this success.

… After being selected in the 30th round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft, Santiago made 129 of his first 130 appearances out of the bullpen for Bristol, Class A Kannapolis and Class A Winston-Salem. He started 23 games for Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham in 2011, before pitching 5 1/3 scoreless innings in relief for the White Sox, giving up just one hit.

His impressive debut with the White Sox and continued success in Spring Training has caught the eye of the higher-ups in the organization.

“You know, we may take a [Chris] Sale approach with him,” said White Sox general manager Ken Williams of Santiago, who also could work as a late-inning left-hander. “We might keep him in the bullpen and then look to start him down the line.”

Speaking of pitches, Jake Petricka wants to continue developing his breaking stuff:

The harshest critic of Jake Petricka is … Jake Petricka.

Armed with a mid-90 mph fastball that most deem to be a “plus” offering — scouting jargon for beyond big league average — the White Sox’s No. 5 prospect shrugged and said he believed it to be only average. OK, he relented, maybe slightly above average.

Despite receiving an invitation to Chicago’s Major League camp this spring, it’s clear the 23-year-old right-hander is wary of becoming a one-pitch pitcher destined for the bullpen. He’s intent on improving his secondary pitches — a changeup and a slider — necessary ingredients for a future in the rotation.

Petricka finished 2011 in Class A Advanced Winston-Salem’s starting rotation. He went 7-8 with a 3.65 ERA over a career-high 113 1/3 innings across three lower levels before working exclusively as a reliever in the Arizona Fall League. Impressing others, if not himself, in either role this month likely would lead to a spot with Double-A Birmingham.

MiLB.com asked Petricka to describe and grade each of the three pitches he employs, fastball included. (His grade is based on a scout’s traditional 20-80 scale, 50 being Major League average.) Here is Petricka, in his own words:

Other White Sox links:

• Chris has an excellent post on the Birmingham Barons new publicly-financed park.
• J.J. looks at Gavin Floyd future, and Jake Peavy’s bullpen comments.
• James looks at Dayan Viciedo’s future.
• Chris Kamka says the Jackie Robinson could’ve broken the color barrier in a White Sox uniform.
• John Sickels likes Nestor Molina.
• David Pinto looks at the Sox’s run production.

Ex-catcher and A’s bench coach Joel Skinner will manage AAA-Charlotte

Corey Brock:

Joel Skinner, who spent last season as the bench coach for the A’s, has been named as the manager of the White Sox Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte, N.C. Skinner spent nine seasons on the Indians’ Major League staff, with stints as the third-base coach, interim manager and bench coach. Skinner appeared in 564 games as a catcher with the White Sox (1983-86), Yankees (1986-88) and Indians (1989-91).

Other moves are Tim Laker will be the Minor League roving hitting instructor, Andy Tomberlin will be the hitting coach at AAA-Charlotte, Brandon Moore will be the hitting coach at AA Birmingham, and Bobby Thigpen will be the pitching coach at AA-Birmingham. Van Schouwen has a rundown of the Sox developmental instructors.

Other White Sox links:

• James explains how the draft provisions in baseball’s next CBA could be moving the rest of the league to the White Sox way and gives us Kenny Williams tickle index.
• J.J. can’t understand why is there speculation that Alejandro De Aza won’t be the Sox leadoff hitter in 2012. Damn right. And Kenny better not have any Chone Figgins plans.
• THT’s Jeffrey Gross looks on the White Sox off-season.
• Fangraphs’ Dave Cameron says John Danks is a left-handed Edwin Jackson.

Sox sign 22-year old LHP Jose Quintana [UPDATE #2]

Cash Kruth:

The White Sox announced the signing of two left-handers on Thursday, agreeing to one-year deals with Donnie Veal and Jose Quintana. …

Daryl Van Scouwen’s scouting report:

“Quintana’s fastball is in the 89-91 mph range. He also throws a curveball and changep, and according to one scouting report, “throws with some deception.”

Quintana’s stats:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
2006	17	Mets	VESL	FRk	NYM	0	1	.000	8.44	3	0	0	0	0	0	5.1	6	7	5	0	8	0	5	2	0	0	30	2.625	10.1	0.0	13.5	8.4	0.63
2008	19	Yankees 2	DOSL	FRk	NYY	3	2	.600	1.96	15	12	0	0	0	0	55.0	36	17	12	0	24	0	76	5	0	5	223	1.091	5.9	0.0	3.9	12.4	3.17
2009	20	Yankees 2	DOSL	FRk	NYY	2	1	.667	2.32	14	14	0	0	0	0	50.1	25	17	13	0	37	0	80	3	1	6	211	1.232	4.5	0.0	6.6	14.3	2.16
2010	21	2 Teams	2 Lgs	Rk-A	NYY	3	2	.600	3.26	20	3	10	0	0	1	38.2	25	21	14	1	18	0	44	4	0	1	165	1.112	5.8	0.2	4.2	10.2	2.44
2010	21	Yankees	GULF	Rk	NYY	3	1	.750	2.31	15	0	10	0	0	1	23.1	14	11	6	0	8	0	32	3	0	1	97	0.943	5.4	0.0	3.1	12.3	4.00
2010	21	Charleston	SALL	A	NYY	0	1	.000	4.70	5	3	0	0	0	0	15.1	11	10	8	1	10	0	12	1	0	0	68	1.370	6.5	0.6	5.9	7.0	1.20
2011	22	Tampa	FLOR	A+	NYY	10	2	.833	2.91	30	12	3	0	0	1	102.0	86	35	33	5	28	0	88	1	0	7	402	1.118	7.6	0.4	2.5	7.8	3.14
5 Seasons						18	8	.692	2.76	82	41	13	0	0	2	251.1	178	97	77	6	115	0	293	15	1	19	1031	1.166	6.4	0.2	4.1	10.5	2.55
FRk (3 seasons)				FRk		5	4	.556	2.44	32	26	0	0	0	0	110.2	67	41	30	0	69	0	161	10	1	11	464	1.229	5.4	0.0	5.6	13.1	2.33
A (1 season)				A		0	1	.000	4.70	5	3	0	0	0	0	15.1	11	10	8	1	10	0	12	1	0	0	68	1.370	6.5	0.6	5.9	7.0	1.20
Rk (1 season)				Rk		3	1	.750	2.31	15	0	10	0	0	1	23.1	14	11	6	0	8	0	32	3	0	1	97	0.943	5.4	0.0	3.1	12.3	4.00
A+ (1 season)				A+		10	2	.833	2.91	30	12	3	0	0	1	102.0	86	35	33	5	28	0	88	1	0	7	402	1.118	7.6	0.4	2.5	7.8	3.14

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/10/2011.

UPDATE: Kenny Williams talked about Quintana:

“He’s a strike thrower,” Williams said. “He can spin the breaking ball. He’s got velocity to both sides of the plate. He can grow up and be a starter. We’re very happy to have both.”

UPDATE #2: Phil Rogers reports (end of #2) Quintana will be assigned to AA-Birmingham.

AA-Birmingham loses Game 5 of best of 5 series 7-1 [UPDATE]

Boxscore:

Birmingham Barons
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Edwards (L, 0-1)	4.1	5	6	6	2	1	0	12.46
Kloess	1.2	2	1	1	0	2	0	4.15
Jones, N	2.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0.00

The only Xtra Base Hits I see is a double by Jon Gilmore and another by Alden Carrithers. So, Birmingham lost the series 3-2 and is eliminated from the Southern League playoffs.

Great Falls advanced to the Championship Round of the Pioneer League playoffs. They’ll play against the Ogden Raptors Orem Owlz. Game 1 is at Ogden tomorrow (Tuesday). Games 2 and 3 are at Great Falls Thursday and Friday

UPDATE: Great Falls’ opponent is Ogden, not Orem. Sorry for that. /UPDATE

In the 2007 Pioneer League playoffs Orem defeated Great Falls 2-0 to win the title. In the 2008 Pioneer League playoffs Great Falls defeated Orem 2-1 to win the title. Dan Hudson had 12 strikeouts and got the W in Game 3 (boxscore).

AA-Birmingham wins Game 4 7-1. Best of 5 series tied at 2.

Boxscore. About game 5:

The Barons and BayBears will play a decisive Game Five of the Southern League’s Southern Divisional Series Monday night, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. [CT] at Mobile’s Hank Aaron Stadium. Birmingham will send left-handed pitcher Justin Edwards (0-0, N/A) while the BayBears counter with right-hander Charles Brewer (0-0, N/A).

Great Falls’ Game 3 is underway. Great Falls won 12-2 and won the best of 3 series 2-1. Next is the Championship/Final round!