Red Sox Minor Lines: Oh, hello Triston Casas

Worcester L 2-4

Jarren Duran, CF: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 BB

Danny Santana, 3B: 2-5, 1 RBI, 1 K

Yairo Muñoz, 1B: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 E

Marcus Wilson, LF: 0-4, 2 K

Jeter Downs, SS: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 CS

Michael Gettys, RF: 2-4, 2 2B, 1 R, 1 K

Daniel Gossett (SP): 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 8 K (82 pitches)

John Schreiber: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (11 pitches)

Brandon Brennan: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K (21 pitches)

Colten Brewer (L): 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K (10 pitches)

Kevin McCarthy: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K (19 pitches)

It wasn’t really a positive day for Worcester after a strong inaugural day at the park on Tuesday, but there was one positive. That would be Danny Santana, who was up at Triple-A for the first time this year after rehabbing last week with Greenville. The veteran is expected to help in the majors at some point relatively soon, though they are downplaying how soon that could actually be. His track record in the majors is weak enough that the expectations shouldn’t be too high, but this team needs a shot in the arm right now and if they’re not going to call on Duran — and that certainly appears to be the case — then Santana is worth the shot. He’s hitting well in his minor-league stint including this two-hit game here.

Portland W 14-3

Grant Williams, 2B: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 R

Pedro Castellanos, LF: 2-5, 1 BB, 3 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Triston Casas, 1B: 4-6, 1 2B, 2 HR, 3 R, 6 RBI, 1 E

John Mieses, RF: 2-6, 1 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 K

Joey Meneses, DH: 2-6, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K

Ronaldo Hernández, C: 2-5

Roldani Baldwin, 3B: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K

Ryan Fitzgerald, SS: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Josh Winckowski (SP;W): 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K (67 pitches)

Joan Martinez: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (9 pitches)

This was a dominant game for Portland, and a few players deserve shoutouts here, including Winckowski, Martinez, Mieses, and Meneses, as well as Fitzgerald for putting together a strong stretch of late. But let’s be honest. This game was all about Triston Casas. The top prospect in the organization hit his first home run of the season in the fourth with an absolute moonshot out to right field. he followed it up with another homer in his next at bat in the sixth. We knew it was only a matter of time before he got going, and he did so with a bang in this game. The dude can hit, plain and simple.

Greenville L 2-3

Cameron Cannon, DH: 0-2, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 K, 1 SB

Christian Koss, SS: 0-4, 2 K

Tyler Esplin, RF: 0-4, 1 K

Brandon Howlett, 3B: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K

It was a quiet day all around for Greenville, and we can highlight Koss here, who has gotten off to a really tough start. The prospect who came back to Boston in the Yoan Aybar deal (Aybar pitched against Portland last night too, as an aside), he had some minor hype given how well he hit after being drafted in 2019. Things have not yet carried over to 2021. Obviously the sample is tiny just eight games into the season, but the bat hasn’t gotten going. He has just two hits and three total bases on the year, and he hasn’t added a walk yet either. Again, the sample is too small to be overly worried but it’s something to monitor over the next few weeks.

Salem L 1-8

Gilberto Jimenez, CF: 1-4, 2 K

Nick Yorke, 2B: 1-4, 1 K

Nick Decker, RF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI

Nick Northcut, DH: 0-3, 1 BB, 2 K

Matthew Lugo, SS: 2-4

Ceddanne Rafaela, 3B: 1-4, 1 R

Ryan Zeferjahn (SP;L): 3 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 2 BB, 3 K (71 pitches)

Wednesday was the second start of the year for Zeferjahn and, well, things have not gone according to plan. He has now thrown just 5 ¹⁄₃ innings between those two starts, allowing a whopping 11 runs (10 earned). Zeferjahn is an interesting pitcher with a big fastball and a workable breaking ball, but most everyone agrees he will end up in the bullpen. There is some organizational philosophy at play here, but I wouldn’t have minded seeing him shifted to a relief role to start this season. Having started him in the rotation they won’t yank him from that role after just two bad starts (and nor should they since it would be awful for his confidence) but still look for that move to come perhaps as early as late summer.

Player of the Day: Triston Casas

Player of the Day Chart