Wednesday was nearly a perfect night to be a White Sox fan. While Carlos Rodón fell just short of perfection, he still made history with his 114-pitch (75 strikes) no-hitter in a 8-0 win over the Indians.
Rodón was obviously the story of the night — not only in Chicago, but across all of baseball — but history isn’t made alone and several White Sox prospects contributed to the win.
Yermín Mercedes, Andrew Vaughn and Nick Madrigal combined to go 7-for-13 with a homer, double and four RBIs.
The White Sox struck for six runs in the first and just as the team got off to a fast start, so did the trio of prospects. Mercedes, who finished 3-for-5, highlighted that opening frame as he crushed a 431-foot, three-run homer that left his bat at 111.2 mph.
It’s hard to find a hitter who’s more locked in than Mercedes right now. The White Sox No. 20 prospect has only played in 10 games this season, but already has a trio of homers, 10 RBIs and four games with three or more hits. Oh, and he’s hitting an even .500.
Two batters later, Vaughn doubled, his lone hit in a 1-for-4 showing, and Madrigal wrapped up the first-inning scoring with an RBI single of his own.
Madrigal got off to a bit of a slow start this season, but collected two more hits and finished 3-for-4.
Here are more top prospect performances from Wednesday’s slate of games:
Jazz Chisholm Jr., SS, MIA
Chisholm put his entire skillset on display as part of a 2-for-4 night at the plate. Chisholm showed his speed as he legged out an infield single in the second and then flexed some muscle in the fourth, hitting his second homer of the season in Atlanta’s 6-5 win over Miami. The 23-year-old put the exclamation mark on Miami’s four-run third as he blasted a 2-1 cutter 413 feet to straightaway center field. The blast left his bat at 108.3 mph. Gameday »
Alejandro Kirk, C, TOR
Stepping to the plate 0-for-13 on the season, Kirk pulled a 1-1 curveball from the Yankees’ Corey Kluber 373 feet. Leaving Kirk’s bat at 102.6 mph, the dinger gave the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead. The 22-year-old catcher had a homer and two doubles while batting .375 over nine games for Toronto last year. Gameday »
Garrett Whitlock, RHP, BOS
Whitlock has been lights out to start the season and that trend continued Wednesday as he put together another scoreless frame in Boston’s 7-1 win over the Minnesota, the Red Sox’s ninth straight victory. Whitlock, who has yet to allow a run in his brief career, struck out one and has now fanned nine over 6 1/3 innings. Eduard Bazardo, the Red Sox No. 28 prospect, followed Whitlock out of the ‘pen, making his Major League debut. The right-hander issued a pair of walks, but struck out one and held the Twins scoreless in his lone inning of work. Gameday »
Josh Fleming, LHP, TB
Fleming threw five innings of one-run ball in his first action of the 2021 season. The 24-year-old gave up a solo home run in the second and left responsible for a pair of runners in the sixth, but Chris Mazza came in and kept Fleming’s line in tact. Fleming struck out a pair and threw 55 of his 84 pitches for strikes as he navigated his way around four hits and a pair of walks. Fleming made his debut last August and went 5-0 with a 2.78 over 32 1/3 innings. Gameday »
Akil Baddoo, OF, DET
There’s seemingly no stopping Baddoo these days as the 2020 Rule-5 selection continues to rake. After going 1-for-4 Wednesday, Baddoo is hitting .370 through the first nine games of his career. The outfielder provided the Tigers with their first run of the game via an RBI double in the second, giving him at least one hit and RBI in seven of the games he played. Gameday »
Alex Lange, RHP, DET
Lange gave up the first hit of his career, but he’s still yet to surrender a run. The 25-year-old yielded one hit and struck out two as he spun a scoreless frame in the Tigers 6-4 win over the Astros. Lange, whom the Tigers acquired from the Cubs in 2019, has struck out three in two scoreless innings this season. Gameday »
Zach McKinstry, RF/2B
The Dodgers’ No. 15 prospect, who has quickly become a fan favorite in Los Angeles, added to his growing legend by going oppo on a 378-foot homer to left in the eighth. He also singled to right in the sixth on a 2-for-4 night. McKinstry is batting .333/.361/.727 this season. Gameday »