Rey there, Brett writing tonight’s and tomorrow’s Updates. This one’s a mixed bag, with the expected results (Bham cruises, Knights flop, Kanny isn’t sure, Winst0n-Salem oh please). But a short message that due to the trickiness of our new polling software, some of our Updates have bypassed them. Melissa and Kristina, troopers that they are, have not. But for the next two nights I’m going to do a hybrid, where I name the top and bottom players but then at the very end, you can vote on the best and worst of the night.
Nashville Sounds 5, Charlotte Knights 4 (Statcast Box)
It was a disastrous game for the Knights (59-70) battery, as ex-MLB bright spot Jonathan Cannon got knocked around and took the loss while catcher Adam Hackenberg was victimized for seven stolen bases against just one runner caught. Plus, Hackenberg and Jacob Amaya stopped a top of first rally dead in its tracks, both striking out with the bases loaded to end the inning. A game that could have been blown open — and pressure taken off of Cannon, who surely wonders if his best hope for 2026 is Knights Opening Day starter — instead fizzled.
The Knights did leave first bats with a 2-0 lead, courtesy of a hitter who took advantage of sacks packed, Jacob Gonzalez:
There was some good news, not with the bats but the pen. Cannon gave up all the runs it the game (five, four of them earned) which means we had clean slates from four other Charlotte arms. That includes the rehabbing Dan Altavilla, pronouncing himself healthy with the six fastest pitches of the night, all 96 mph+.
Birmingham Barons 7, Knoxville Smokies 1
What a treat it is that the Barons (75-49) get to trot out the two (by performance, if not ranking) top starters in the system, on the same day, routinely. It was another devastatingly-good piggyback start for Tanner McDougal and Tyler Schweitzer. Schweitzer, the southpaw second arm in the pairing, usually is in line for a win, and tonight was no different:
And while McDougal’s dominance and 2025 turnaround has captured more headlines (and likely sees him regarded more highly as early-2026 rankings trickle out, Schweitzer has had an extraordinary run of scoreless innings. LET’S BE CLEAR however, that the FutureSox tweet above is wrong — while Schweitzer has yet to give up an earned run in Birmingham this year, that’s just 36 2/3 innings; he gave up a homer to end a pretty bad run of 50 innings with Charlotte this season, ending in fact with his demotion back to Bham. All told, Schweitzer’s current scoreless run is 33 innings, which is 32 2/3 in Birmingham plus one final out on July 13 in Charlotte. If you want to consider it just a Double-A scoreless streak, that’s all 26 2/3 of Tyler’s season plus the final 1 1/3 innings he threw for the Barons in 2024, totaling 38 innings.
No matter how you dice it, Schweitzer is hot. So hot, in fact, that you wonder whether, as a September 1 roster expansion call-up or some other time in September (recall the Sean Burke came up to pitch in a few games last September not as on of the two players brought up on September 1 but later in the month) Shane Murphy, McDougal and/or Schweitzer get some Chicago time, as a thank-you for a killer year plus an add-to-40-man primer to prepare to compete for a 2026 rotation spot.
The Barons offense battered the Smokies to submission and forced a position player pitching surrender at just 5-0 (catcher Casey Opitz took the eighth, with Knoxville down just 5-0, and tacked two to the tab).
Rome Emperors 2, Winston-Salem Dash 1
Hey man, it’s the Dash (52-70), what can you say?
Lucas Gordon got ripped off again, falling to 1-10 largely based on his offense’s inability to do anything in his starts (3.96 ERA, you think?). In TWO games this season of 21 starts, Gordon has allowed more than three earned runs, which might signify a game clearly yoking him with a loss. The lefty already has gotten a fairly raw deal in the Sox org (2.79 career ERA in the org over 51 games, and exactly one of them thrown at a level higher than High-A), now this.
All told, by Dash standards this wasn’t a BAD game. But it was a typical game.
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 10, Salem Red Sox 7
Kanny (58-66) had a roller-coaster game, breaking out to a 5-0 lead in the first before kicking the game to the Red Sox, 7-6. Oh wait, that’s not the final score! Hey hey, the CBs stormed back for four in the bottom of the eighth and then locked down Salem for the win.
The Cannon Ballers were efficient with the bats, in that they turned nine hits into 10 runs. That said, seven of the nine safeties came from just three hitter: Jordan Sprinkle, Ely Brown and James Taussig. The arms were a little rougher, with Luis Reyes and Jesus Mendez (first save of the year) good, Hale Sims OK, and Blake Shepherdson and Liam Paddack throwing the game into doubt.
