White Sox: Dane Dunning Dominating Class A Competition
White Sox top 10 prospect has been dominant in Class A Kannapolis. The right handed pitcher could earn a promotion to Class A Advanced if he continues succeeding for Intimidators.
The Chicago White Sox received a solid return in the trade of Adam Eaton to the Washington Nationals this past offseason. The return featured three pitchers who were all regarded as top prospects in the Nationals farm system.
Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning were included in return to the Sox in exchange for Eaton. Giolito and Lopez were the headliners as they both had experience pitching with the Nationals. The wild card was Dunning, a 2016 first round (29th overall) draft pick of the Nationals. Dunning didn’t have much experience pitching professionally as he appeared in just seven games for Class A Short Season Auburn Doubledays in 2016.
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Although Dunning is listed as the 10th top prospect in the Sox farm system by mlbpipeline.com, he could very well move up in the list by the end of this season. Dunning is currently dominating Class A for the Kannapolis Intimidators and could be promoted to Class A Advanced Winston-Salem Dash if he continues succeeding.
So far through four games started, Dunning is 2-0 with a 0.35 ERA for the Intimidators. Dunning has recorded 33 strikeouts to just two walks in 26 innings pitched for Kannapolis. His last start on Wednesday against the Hagerstown Suns was dominating. Dunning pitched six innings allowing no earned runs and recording seven strikeouts.
This was Dunning’s fourth consecutive start where he recorded five strikeouts or more.Dunning’s control for Kannapolis has been great as he’s throw nearly 70 percent of his pitches for strikes through four starts.
He’s only given up one earned run through four starts and this was in his first outing of the season for Kannapolis. If Dunning continues to excel with the Intimidators, he should be pitching for Winston-Salem before the end of May.
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The Sox won’t rush Dunning through their farm system, but the young pitcher could very well become a staple in the team’s rotation in the near future. With the Sox impressive pitching depth in the minors currently, this team could have a solid array of arms in the majors by 2019. Dunning could become the steal of the Eaton trade with the Nationals if he continues to improve.