Red Sox Minor Lines: Franchy Cordero homers again for Worcester

Worcester W 2-0 (F/6)

Michael Chavis, 2B: 0-3

Marcus Wilson, LF: 1-3, 1 2B 2 K

Franchy Cordero, DH: 2-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Yairo Muñoz, 3B: 1-3

John Schreiber (SP): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K (20 pitches)

Stephen Gonsalves (W): 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 9 K (80 pitches)

The rain held off just long enough for this one to officially count, and the Red Sox got to see another ball the leave yard off the bat of Cordero, already surpassing his big-league total this year with two in Triple-A. But I’m really interested in the pitching here. Gonsalves was awesome, and that’s good to see because he is part of a messy rotation depth picture. He’s been up and down this year, but he has the talent to put together good spot starts or multi-inning performances out of the bullpen. What’s really interesting, however, is that Worcester used an opener. To my recollection that’s the first we’ve seen that from the farm system this year. I’m really curious if that was something we’ll see more of, or if that’s something we’d see in the majors if one of these non-Houck/Seabold depth options had to come up for a spot start. It could be meaningless, but it’s definitely piqued my interest.

Portland W 5-0

Grant Williams, 2B: 2-4, 1 BB, 2 R

Pedro Castellanos, LF: 1-4, 1 BB

Joey Meneses, RF: 2-5, 1 2B, 2 R, 1 K

Ronaldo Hernández, 1B: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 HBP, 1 RBI, 1 K

Denyi Reyes (SP; W): 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K (73 pitches)

Zack Kelly: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (20 pitches)

Just a few years ago, Reyes was added to the 40-man roster for the Red Sox in order to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. He was a bit younger at the time and hadn’t pitched above High-A, and ultimately he was never able to get up to the bigs. But he’s still working in the organization after some health issues, and his first start of 2021 was a major success. He’s still unlikely to get up to the bigs in any sustained way as the stuff just isn’t there, but he’s got enough command and pitchability to hang around the upper minors for a few years, at least. We should also give a shoutout to Williams, who not only is hitting .333 but he’s doing so without having struck out once this season in 70 plate appearances.

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Greenville L 6-7 (F/10)

Nick Sogard, 2B: 2-6, 1 2B, 1 R

Christian Koss, SS: 1-5, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 SB, 1 CS

Tyler Esplin, DH: 3-5, 2 R, 2 K

Tyreque Reed, 1B: 1-3, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Brandon Howlett, 3B: 1-5, 1 RBI, 1 K

Kole Cottam, C: 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI

Cole Brannen, CF: 3-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K

Chris Murphy (SP): 4 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 4 K (79 pitches)

Brendan Cellucci (H): 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (37 pitches)

This was a tough game for the Greenville pitching staff, which allowed three runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game and push it to extras, and then after the Drive got a run in the top of the tenth their bullpen gave up two more for the loss. Before that, however, Murphy had another solid game, but with more control issues and inefficiency in general. He’s now only tossed at least five full innings twice in five starts this year, which is partially. the organizational philosophy in a post-COVID year, but also because he’s struggling to keep the ball in the zone and keep his pitch count down. He is striking out more than a batter per inning, but he’s also issued 12 walks and hit another batter over 23 frames on the season. It’s not unexpected, but it is a wrinkle that needs to be worked out before he can take any sort of next step.

Salem G1 L 0-4

Gilberto Jimenez, LF: 1-3

Matthew Lugo, SS: 0-3, 1 K

Nick Northcut, 3B: 0-3, 2 K

Nick Yorke, 2B: 0-2, 1 BB

Stephen Scott, C: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 K

Ceddanne Rafaela, CF: 0-1, 2 BB, 1 SB

Ryan Zeferjahn (SP; L): 4 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 2 K (44 pitches)

Salem G2 L 4-8

Ceddanne Rafaela, CF: 0-4, 1 K

Matthew Lugo, SS: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 R

Jaxx Groshans, C: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K

Nick Yorke, DH: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI

Jake MacKenzie, 2B: 2-3, 1 K

Bradley Blalock (SP): 3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K (54 pitches)

Jorge Rodriguez (L): 3.2 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 5 K (64 pitches)

I probably haven’t spend enough time this year talking about Groshans, who is having a nice season at the plate. A fifth rounder in 2019, the catching prospect didn’t have great numbers in his first pro summer, but the tools were there to be an offensive catcher. The defense is still a question mark, and he’s doing some DH’ing here as well, but the bat has been good in the early going. After hitting his second homer of the season in game number two, he’s up to a .306 average with a .959 OPS. His bat probably won’t play at any spot besides catcher on an everyday basis, so as far as his future goes it’s really all about how his defense progresses. There’s a chance of a solid bat-first backup here.

Player of the Day: Stephen Gonsalves

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