Dash's Danish gets aggressive, hurls gem

Just a year out of high school, White Sox right-hander Tyler Danish realized he had been giving Carolina League hitters too much credit. That changed Monday night.

Chicago's No. 4 prospect adjusted his mind-set and found positive results, scattering three hits while striking out seven over six shutout frames for Class A Advanced Winston-Salem in a 6-2 win over Myrtle Beach.

Shortstop prospect Cleuluis Rondon -- known primarily for his defensive chops -- chipped in with a homer and a triple. The long ball was Rondon's first since late in 2013 and only his fifth as a pro. The 20-year-old was promoted from Class A Kannapolis last week -- Monday marked his sixth game with the Dash.

Rondon's outburst supported Danish's best start with the Dash. The 19-year-old admits he had been struggling with passivity since his mid-May promotion from the Intimidators.

"I got down here and I was thinking, 'I have to make better pitches. I have to make my breaking balls break more,'" he said. "I was overthinking things and trying to pick too much. Tonight, I went in, threw the ball over the plate, and it ended up I had great stuff."

Danish entered Monday with a 5.16 ERA in seven starts with Winston-Salem after posting a 0.71 mark in seven starts with Kannapolis. The right-hander has struggled some with his command, and he also made just one start between June 8 and July 2 while dealing with minor shoulder discomfort. Danish said the time off was strictly precautionary and added the shoulder has felt fine since returning to action.

The Valrico, Florida native was dominant from the start Monday, working around a first-inning triple by Christopher Bostick by striking out the side. He added another punchout in the second and two more in the fourth. Beginning with a strikeout of Texas' top prospect Jorge Alfaro in the fourth, Danish retired the final eight batters he faced.

MLB.com's prospect team raved about Danish's heater this preseason, noting he "gets exceptional sink on his fastball when he works in the low-90s," and that he can reach up to 95 mph. Danish also has an advanced changeup and a promising slider, and he was able to use all three offerings in and out of the strike zone Monday.

"I had all three working," Danish said. "Both my changeup and my slider are go-to pitches for me, whichever is working on that night. Tonight, I had both, so I went to both when I needed. Whatever finger the catcher [Mike Marjama] put down, I threw that pitch."

Danish thinks he's found the balance between properly strategizing for more advanced Carolina League hitters while still deploying his electric stuff in an aggressive manner.

"Here, you have to outsmart guys," he said. "They don't swing at as many pitches out of the zone. That was just a mental thing, to get back into it and make quality pitches when I need to."

As for Rondon, Danish raved about his defensive abilities after the game. Rondon has been nicknamed "Los Manos" -- "The Hands" in English -- by teammates for his defensive skills.

"His hands are unreal," Danish said. "You'll think it's a single, and then there he is, throwing the guy out. It's unbelievable and it helps knowing anything that's in his zone, he'll field it and make an out. That's big for me as a ground-ball guy that he fields everything. Nothing gets by him. Ever."