White Sox A (Adv) pitcher of August: SP Jordan Guerrero
Jordan Guerrero is a bit of an unknown to many baseball fans both in Chicago and outside of Illinois. The Chicago White Sox drafted the left-handed starter in the 15th round of the 2012 MLB amateur draft.
After two unimpressive years in rookie ball, Guerrero finally made his debut with Class A Kannapolis in 2014. In 27 games (nine starts) he went 6-2 with a 3.46 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 78 innings.
This season he has been a full time starter between Kannapolis and Winston-Salem (Class A advanced). Before a promotion to Winston-Salem, Guerrero dominated the competition at Kannapolis posting a record of 6-1 with a 2.28 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 60 strikeouts in 55.1 innings. He also held opponents to a .214 batting average in his nine starts.
After his promotion in June, Guerrero got off to a slow start adjusting to the next level of competition. But in August, things begin to come together for the 21 year-old lefty.
Guerrero went 3-0 in his four starts last month. He pitched to the tune of a 1.29 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and had 22 strikeouts in 28 innings. Opposing hitters had an average of just .200 against him in four August starts.
His best game came on August 8th in a 1-0 win against the Salem Red Sox (Boston Red Sox Class A Advance affiliate). Guerrero went seven scoreless innings allowing three hits, one walk and while striking out seven. It was his fourth win of the season with the Dash.
Overall at Winston-Salem, Guerrero is 6-3 with a 3.78 ERA in 15 starts. He has 81 strikeouts in 88 innings and opponents are hitting .248 against him.
In MLB.com’s most up-to-date system rankings, Guerrero is ranked as the White Sox 11th best prospect.
Honorable mention
If you many of you don’t know who Guerrero is, then I’m sure even more of you are unfamiliar with Brad Goldberg. Goldberg was a 10th round pick of the White Sox back in 2013 and hasn’t really shown much in three years with the organization.
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His best showing thus far in the minors came in 2013 between the three lowest levels. The big right-hander went 3-0 with a 1.54 ERA in 16 games (12 with Kannapolis). Opposing hitter had an average of .143 and he struck out 49 in 35 innings.
The following year, Goldberg took a big step back and this season he has been up and down. In August however he has done a good job when given the opportunity to close games and as a result, gets the honorable mention nod.
Last month he was 5-6 in save chances and posted a 3.14 ERA along with 14 strikeouts in 14.1 innings. In those nine games opponents hit .264 against him.
His best game of the month came on August 14th in a 2-1 victory also against the Red Sox. Goldberg entered the game in the eighth and threw two scoreless innings allowing just one hit and striking out one to pick up the save.
On the season, Goldberg has a record of 1-4 with a 3.02 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 56.2 innings of work. He is also 10-11 in saves on the year.
Class A (Adv) pitcher notes
The White Sox have not let rookie first round pick Carson Fulmer pitch more than three innings once since he joined Winston-Salem. He continues to get better however as he posted a 1.20 ERA in five August starts…. Spencer Adams, who is ranked on MLB.com as the team’s fourth best prospect, made his Winston-Salem debut in August. Overall between Kannapolis and Winston-Salem, Adams is 11-5 with a 3.14 ERA this season…. Another notable addition to the Arizona Fall League from the White Sox system is Brandon Brennan. He has only made 11 starts this season and is 3-4 with a 3.88 ERA so the extra work can certainly be used.
Next: White Sox A Advanced player of August: OF Nolan Earley