Four Dash players named CL All-Stars

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (June 12, 2017) - Dash left-hander Tanner Banks, catcher Zack Collins, infielder Danny Mendick and outfielder Louis Silverio have earned spots in the Carolina League All-Star Game, the league office announced Monday. The four players will suit up as members of the Southern Division team in an intra-league matchup against the Northern Division on Tuesday, June 20, at 7:05 p.m. from Haley Toyota Field, the home of the Salem Red Sox.
On the mound, Banks has been the ace of Winston-Salem's pitching staff. The left-hander owns a 5-3 record with a 3.64 ERA, good for the 13th-best mark among qualifiers in the circuit. Banks, an 18th-round selection by Chicago in 2014, is also third in the league with 71.2 innings pitched. Meanwhile, the 25-year-old has registered a team-best 60 strikeouts while recording a quality start in nine of his 12 outings. Banks has collected a Midseason All-Star nod in three straight seasons. He was a Pioneer League All-Star with Great Falls in 2015 and a South Atlantic League All-Star with Low-A Kannapolis in 2016.

The 10th overall pick in the 2016 Draft out of the University of Miami, Collins has thrown out a Carolina League-leading 27 would-be base stealers behind home plate this season. In his first full season of professional baseball, the backstop also sits atop the CL with 46 walks and is tied for eleventh with a .378 on-base percentage. Ranked the seventh-best prospect in the White Sox system by MLB Pipeline, Collins leads the Dash with nine home runs.
Mendick, who was also a South Atlantic League All-Star in 2016 with the Intimidators, currently leads the Dash with an OPS of .871. Overall, the Fairport, N.Y., native has posted an impressive .292/.380/.491 line with five home runs and 23 RBIs. Defensively, the former UMass Lowell River Hawk has appeared in at least nine games at three different positions - second base, shortstop and third base.
Silverio, who is Winston-Salem's RBI leader entering play on Monday, rounds out the All-Star quartet. The 23-year-old paces the club with 32 runs batted in, a total buoyed by an impressive single-game display at the beginning of the season. On April 26 against Buies Creek, Silverio made history by tying a Dash-era record with seven RBIs in a 12-6 victory over the Astros at BB&T Ballpark.
Winston-Salem's four All-Star nods are tied for the second-most in the Dash era (2009-present). The players were selected via a voting process that involved the league's managers, general managers and media.
The Carolina League All-Star Game returns to Salem on Tuesday, June 20, at Haley Toyota Field. As part of a celebration of 50 years of Carolina League baseball in the Roanoke Valley, the Red Sox will host a skills competition on Monday, June 19. The skills competition will take place at historic Kiwanis Field, the original home of Carolina League baseball in Salem.