Tyler Flowers and Dayan Viciedo will play in two All-Star games

The Birmingham News:

It’s official now. Birmingham Barons Tyler Flowers and Dayan Viciedo will be the first minor leaguers to participate in an all-star doubleheader.

Of sorts.

Flowers and Viciedo are scheduled to play in the prestigious Futures Game July 12. After requesting and getting permission from the parent Chicago White Sox, the duo will return to Birmingham July 13 to participate in the Southern League All-Star Game at Regions Park. …

Carlos Quentin to start minor league rehabilitation assignment

Mark Gonzales:

White Sox slugger Carlos Quentin left his teammates Friday to start a minor league rehabilitation assignment. Quentin’s destination wasn’t revealed yet, but his locker stall at Kauffman Stadium was empty.

Quentin hasn’t played since tearing a tendon in his left foot on May 25. …

Cowley writes Quentin will be headed to Charlotte.

Ozzie says the biggest test for Quentin will be running, starting and stopping.

SoxMachine’s Winston-Salem & Kannapolis Minor League roundup

Justin Edwards:

at Winston-Salem: 1-0, 7.00 ERA, 9 IP, 10 H, 4 HR, 2 BB, 3 K
at Kannapolis: 4-3, 3.80, 45 IP, 48 H, 2 HR, 7 BB, 30 K

The Sox have put Edwards on the fast track following Tommy John surgery, getting the call to Winston-Salem despite being the third- or fourth-most deserving Kannapolis pitcher.  His fastball is in the high-80s, so he has some work to do in terms of missing bats.

Henry Mabee promoted to Birmingham

Winston-Salem Journal:

The Dash had one roster change yesterday. The Chicago White Sox sent right-handed pitcher Henry Mabee to Class AA Birmingham and replaced him with right-hander Gregory Infante, who was called up from low-A Kannapolis.

Mabee’s stats.

Gregory Infante and Nevin Griffith promoted

FutureSox:

Gregory Infante has been promoted to Winston-Salem from Kannapolis and Nevin Griffith has been promoted to Kannapolis from Bristol.

Is Kenny trying to manipulate Carter’s trade value by keeping him in W-S?

Carlos Torres: International League (AAA) All-Star

Here are the full rosters.

Jordan Danks update

Kevin Goldstein:

White Sox center fielder Jordan Danks never lived up to expectations at the University of Texas, but after receiving an over-slot $525,000 bonus as a seventh-round pick last June, he’s almost been a revelation. He was initially batting .322/.409/.525 at High-A Winston-Salem, and has since had little trouble adjusting to more advanced pitching at Double-A, posting a .308/.387/.442 line for Birmingham before being sidelined with a wrist injury.

“I came away impressed with him,” said one scout, “he reminded me of Jordan Schafer with a little less power and a little more hitability,” he added, while adding praise for Danks’ overall game. “He plays a very good center field, he works the counts, he does all of the little things; he’s an everyday big leaguer for sure.”

SoxMachine’s Birmingham & Charlotte Minor League roundup

Dayan Viciedo is improving:

Viciedo’s numbers still aren’t impressive on the whole, but he’s making every necessary improvement right now.  Last month, it was all about the quality of his contact.  This time around, it’s his walks and strikeouts.  Check it out:

* April: 2 BB, 19 K
* May: 3 BB, 23 K
* June: 9 BB, 11 K

He also topped .400 in slugging for the first time in a month (.426), along with his career high in OBP (.342).  He’s still committing plenty of errors, but the Sox paid him to hit, and he’s following the correct curve right now.

BTW,  Jhonny Nunez was promoted to Charlotte.

Chris Carter update

Kevin Goldstein gives us an update on the guy Kenny traded to get Carlos Quentin:

… one scout had more concerns about Carter’s propensity to swing and miss than anything positive to say, noting that he’s “so big and strong, and it is absolutely enormous power. But if the ball is not in his immediate bat path, he misses.” The scout added, “He’s bad at seeing the slider, and bad at laying off the slider, and that’s a very tough combination to overcome,” admitting there are some fears that Carter will be just an up-and-down player in the end. “He’s going to keep putting up big numbers, but he has holes above and below the barrel, and lots of areas that big-league pitchers can go to get him out. With what the A’s have done with Jack Cust, you’d never want to say never, but I think when he gets to the big leagues, he’s just going to strike out a ton.”

Tyler Flowers Q & A

JJ Stankevitz has an interview with T-Flo:

JS: What have your coaches said about your defense?

TF: Chicago’s expressed that they’re real pleased. Obviously, there’s certain things that me and every catcher in Double-A can improve. There’s definitely stuff on my agenda to take note of and try to improve and be more consistent with. They made it very clear that I’m going to be a catcher, and I was definitely pumped to hear that. They weren’t just excited about my bat, but they were excited about me behind the plate too. That was important to me. Working on being consistent with my throwing and footwork. I feel like receiving’s come a long way, blocking balls has come a long way. Calling a game, our pitching coach has helped me out tremendously, especially explaining the staff to me, explaining what their put-away pitch is, going back to their tendencies how to get them to of it. It’s been pretty good.

Tyler’s tearing the cover of the ball to the tune of .292/.439/.532. He’s hitting .354/.453/.684 in June (.479 BABIP for June though).

11 Birmingham Barons at the SL All-Star Game

The 11 players are: Catcher Tyler Flowers, 1B Brandon Allen, 2B C.J. Retherford, 3B Dayan Viciedo, OF Stefan Gartrell, OF David Cook and pitchers John Ely, Fernando Hernandez, Jhonny Nunez, Brian Omogrosso and Lucas Harrell. Barons manager Ever Magallanes will coach the south team.

Birmingham Barons best team in the minors

The Barons’ .671 winning percentage (51W-25L) is the best in the minor leagues (h/t Baseball America). The Barons are the Sox AA affiliate.

Jordan Danks spotted playing catch without wrist cast

according to FutureSox’s John Norris.

Ozzie Guillen: Scott Podsednik to CF when Carlos Quentin returns

Mark Gonzales:

Left fielder Scott Podsednik will move to center field once Carlos Quentin returns from plantar fasciitis of the left foot, Guillen said. Quentin will accompany the team to Cleveland and Kansas City and could start a minor-league rehabilitation assignment next month.

Josh Phegley’s signing bonus: $888,600

Terre Haute Tribune Star:

Phegley signed a contract Thursday in Chicago, with the deal including a signing bonus of $858,600 plus $30,000 to be used for college, according to his father John.

After spending the night in Chicago on Thursday, Josh passed his physical on Friday. During their trip, both Josh and his father were given a tour of U.S. Cellular Field, which included meeting White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.