Dunning, Moncada named top minor-league performers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Of the three pitching prospects acquired for Adam Eaton in the trade with the Nationals, right-hander Dane Dunning was the least talked about despite his pedigree as a first-round pick in 2016.

Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez had pitched in the majors and, with loftier rankings on top-100 prospect lists, were viewed as the big catches in the deal.

While Giolito (0-3, 6.63 ERA) and Lopez (2-1, 4.10) have had poor to mixed results at Charlotte, Dunning breezed through the competition at Class A Kannapolis with such ease — allowing one earned run in 26 innings over four starts (0.35 ERA) — that he has been promoted to high Class A Winston-Salem, for whom he’ll make his first start Tuesday.

The Sox have begun naming a minor-league player and pitcher of the month, and the first such awards went to Dunning and prized prospect Yoan Moncada, who came in the Chris Sale deal.

Dunning struck out 33 and walked two in April. He ended the month with a streak of 25 innings without allowing an earned run.

Dunning is ranked 10th among Sox prospects by MLB.com. Moncada, the top-ranked prospect in baseball by Baseball America and MLB.com, has struck out 30 times in 21 games but stood out with a .314 average, four homers, seven RBI and an .885 OPS at Charlotte.

Garcia out

Avisail Garcia was out of the lineup after leaving the game against the Tigers on Sunday with a tight left groin.

Garcia, a candidate for American League player of the month, was better Monday.

“I’m going to give him another day,’’ Renteria said. “It’s a little cool out there — precaution and another day to get it worked on.’’

This and that

Center fielder Leury Garcia, designated hitter Matt Davidson, shortstop Tim Anderson and second baseman Tyler Saladino are on All-Star ballots for the first time. Monday was the first day for voting, which will be conducted exclusively online and via mobile devices at MLB.com, team websites and MLB.com apps.

*The Sox scored 49 runs over the previous seven games, with four 10-plus outputs during that span. They scored 49 in their first 16 games and were limited to three or fewer 11 times during that span.

Follow me on Twitter @CST_soxvan.

Email: dvanschouwen@suntimes.com

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