The centerpiece of the Jose Quintana deal and current White Sox No. 2 Prospect, Eloy Jiménez, has been the one minor league player who seems to consistently make headlines every, single night. In just 29 games with the Winston-Salem Dash, Eloy hit .345 with 8 HR and 26 RBI, enough to earn himself a promotion to Double-A Birmingham on Tuesday. Joining him on the flight to Alabama was his Dash teammate and catching prospect, Zack Collins. In the month of August, Collins has been on fire offensively, hitting .343 with 2 HR, 7 RBI, and 11 walks.
Both Collins and Jiménez were in the Barons’ lineup on Wednesday night, providing plenty of excitement for fans as they made their debuts. One thing is for certain, both players did not disappoint. In his very first at bat, Eloy picked up where he left off in Single-A. He sent a ball 368 feet to right field for an opposite field bomb, sending shock waves across social media. Just an inning later, Jiménez got hold of another pitch, hitting an absolute rocket to centerfield for a double. According to Statcast, the ball was hit 389 feet at 109 mph straight over the centerfielder. Just the sound the ball made when it left the bat, in Dan Hayes’ video, was enough to let everyone know this guy is “the besss.”
— Dan Hayes (@CSNHayes) August 17, 2017
Keeping in mind all of this happened within the first two innings of the game is just scary. Now, let’s fast forward to the 4th inning where it was time for Zack Collins to make his mark. And it was a massive mark! The catcher connected for a 420 foot bomb with an exit velocity of 110 mph.
— Dan Hayes (@CSNHayes) August 17, 2017
The Barons were eventually able to pull off the 9-4 victory over the Montgomery Biscuits. Eloy finished the night 2-4 with his HR, double, RBI, and 2 runs scored. Zack Collins went 1-3 with the bomb, a walk, and two strikeouts. After their impressive debuts, it appears the Birmingham Barons’ lineup has received an offensive jolt from the rising prospects. If you’re a team in the Southern League, you have to be happy with the season ending in a month because facing guys like Eloy for an entire series is not a pleasant thing. It’s going to continue to be very entertaining as we watch him develop along with other prospects.
Other News From the Farm
Charlotte Knights: Lucas Giolito is continuing to improve and get stonger as the season goes on. Wednesday night was no different as the White Sox No. 7 Prospect threw 6 shutout innings. He gave up 7 hits and one walk while recording 7 strikeouts. Charlotte got the win after crushing Toledo 8-3.
Winston-Salem Dash: Alec Hansen had another dominant outing for Zack and Eloy’s old team. The righty pitched 7 innings, giving up just three hits and one run. He finished the night with an impressive 11 strikeouts, moving up to second place in the MiLB leaderboard with 166 total strikeouts. Hansen’s stellar performance along with a big offensive night for Jameson Fisher (2-4, RBI, R) led to a 4-1 Dash victory over the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.