Red Sox Minor Lines: Jarren Duran hits his first homer

Worcester W 8-6

Jarren Duran, RF: 3-5, 1 HR, 1 BB, 3 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Jeter Downs, SS: 1-6, 1 R, 4 K, 1 SB

Chris Hermann, C: 2-2, 2 BB, 1 RBI

Yairo Muñoz, 3B: 4-5, 3 RBI

Marcus Wilson, LF: 0-4, 1 BB, 2 K

Tate Matheny, CF: 2-5, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 3 K

John Schreiber (W): 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (25 pitches)

Eduard Bazardo: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (12 pitches)

Here’s the kind of game people were hoping to see from Worcester this season, particularly from Duran atop the lineup. Although he is not the best prospect in the organization, or even in this lineup, he is the guy who has people more excited than anyone else due to his performance the last 18 months or so as well as his proximity to the majors. It had been a tough first few games for the speedy outfielder, but he broke out a bit on Friday and then had this big game today, including showing off some of that newfound power. How much of that actually translates into competitive games is going to determine if all the hype that’s been building of late has been appropriate.

Portland W 5-1

Jeisson Rosario, CF: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI

Triston Casas, 1B: 0-4, 1 RBI, 3 K

Roldani Baldwin, DH: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 K

Ryan Fitzgerald, 2B/SS: 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI

Kutter Crawford (SP): 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K (54 pitches)

Denyi Reyes (W): 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K (59 pitches)

The pitching staff for Portland is going to be fun to watch this year, and most of that reasoning doesn’t even include guys like Crawford and Reyes, both of whom caught a little bit of hype over the last few seasons before falling off for one reason or another, mainly injury. Crawford is something of a forgotten man coming off Tommy John plus the COVID season, but the start to his season suggests he’ll be someone to follow. It seems both he and Reyes will be serving in this piggyback kind of role to start the season, but especially for Crawford I’d expected to see him in more of a traditional relief role after the injury. A few more outings like this could put him back on a rotation track. We should also mention Rosario has been red hot to start the season. After this multi-hit effort he’s hitting .417 with a 1.063 OPS.

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Greenville W 11-1

Cameron Cannon, 2B: 2-4, 2 2B, 1 HBP, 2 R, 1 K, 1 E

Danny Santana, CF: 0-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K

Tyler Esplin, RF: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI

Tyreque Reed, 1B: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI

Brandon Howlett, 3B: 2-4, 1 R

Kole Cottam, C: 2-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Tyler Dearden, LF: 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 K

Nick Sogard, SS: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI

Brayan Bello (SP;W): 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K (76 pitches)

Alex Scherff: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K

It had been a tough start to the schedule for Greenville, who dropped their first four games. They really bounced back in a big way here with an all-around blowout for their first win in 2021. There’s a lot of guys to highlight with this performance, but Dearden clearly stands out with his two-homer day. He was drafted in the 29th round as an overslot, projectable, cold-weather prep player out of New Jersey back in 2017. He hasn’t quite developed as some have hoped and he’s lost much of his prospect shine, but he reminded us on Saturday that there is still some outside hope at a left-handed bench bat with some pop.

Salem G1 L 1-11

Gilberto Jimenez, CF: 1-3, 1 HBP, 1 R

Nick Yorke, DH: 0-4, 2 K

Nick Northcut, 3B: 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 K

Matthew Lugo, SS: 0-3, 1 K, 1 E

Wil Dalton, 2-3, 1 K

Ceddanne Rafaela, 2B; 2-3, 1 2B

Bradley Blalock (SP): 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K (52 pitches)

Jorge Rodriguez (L): 0.2 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K (38 pitches)

Salem G2 W 6-1

Gilberto Jimenez, CF: 1-5, 1 RBI, 1 SB

Nick Decker, RF: 1-4, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 1 K

Stephen Scott, DH: 1-2, 1 HR, 2 BB, 2 R, 1 RBI

Nick Northcut, 3B: 1-3, 1 RBI, 2 K

Ceddanne Rafaela, SS: 2-3, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 3 SB

Alex Erro, C: 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 K

Shane Drohan (SP): 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 7 K (63 pitches)

Cody Scroggins (W): 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K (42 pitches)

Brandon Walter (S): 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (30 pitches)

It was definitely a tale of two games kind of day for Salem, and there are a lot of different players who could get the highlight in this section. I’m going to go with Rafaela, though, who is an interesting name to keep an eye on this year. There is some split between what his ceiling is, with some being as high as seeing him as an everyday player, but the more likely best-case scenario is a good utility man who can play all over the infield with some athleticism. He’s already moved around a lot this season and is hitting .429 on the young season with a .967 OPS. Those three stolen bases in the second game of the doubleheader should speak to his athleticism as well. I’d also be remiss if I did not mention Drohan’s pro debut. He’s a guy to keep an eye on who could have a higher ceiling than his fifth-round selection may imply.

Player of the Day: Tyler Dearden

Player of the Day Chart