Red Sox Minor Lines: Brayan Bello cannot be stopped

Worcester W 5-1

Jarren Duran. RF: 3-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI

Marcus Wilson, DH: 1-4

Franchy Cordero, LF: 0-2, 2 BB, 1 R

Michael Chavis, 1B: 1-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K

Jeter Downs, SS: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 K, 1 CS

Connor Wong, C: 0-4, 2 K

Yairo Muñoz, 3B: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 CS

Jonathan Araúz, 2B: 1-3, 1 K, 1 E

Stephen Gonsalves (SP; W): 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 7 K (106 pitches)

Kevin McCarthy (H): 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (24 pitches)

Marcus Walden: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (9 pitches)

This was a strong all-around day for Worcester, with a big day coming from the top of their lineup in Duran and then a strong day all around on the mound. For Duran, he continues to swing a hot bat since coming back from Olympic qualifying. This was his fifth multi-hit game in his last six starts, and in the month of June he is hitting .277/.358/.596. I know there are still flaws in his game, but he’d be an upgrade over at least a few players on the active roster. Get him up. Meanwhile, Gonsalves is separating himself from the non-Tanner Houck rotation depth options. He’s allowed just one run in his last three starts spanning 16 innings, striking out 22 and walking only five. Between this performance and the positive sentiments coming out of the Alternate Site last summer, don’t be surprised if he gets a look in some capacity before this season is up.

Portland W 4-1

Triston Casas, 1B: 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Hudson Potts, DH: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K

Tanner Nishioka, 3B: 2-3, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI

Brayan Bello (SP): 5.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 10 K (80 pitches)

Zack Kelly (H): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (12 pitches)

I was one of the highest on Bello coming into the season, which I do not say to brag. There are plenty of players on whom I have been quite wrong so far this year (Matthew Lugo, hello). I mention how high I was on him so I can also point out he has blown even me away. I did not expect him to be in Double-A at all this early in the season, never mind putting up this kind of outing. He has simply been magnificent this season, and there really aren’t any signs of slowing down. The righty had significant highs in 2019 as well, but they didn’t last as long as his performance has this season and they certainly didn’t include an on-the-fly adjustment to Double-A competition.

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Greenville L 5-8

Christian Koss, SS: 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 K

Cameron Cannon, 2B: 1-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI

Tyler Esplin, CF: 3-4

Brandon Howlett, DH: 4-5, 1 R, 1 K

Grant Gambrell (SP; L) 2 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 2 K (58 pitches)

Jacob Wallace: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K (28 pitches)

This was Gambrell’s second start since coming over to the Red Sox organization in the Andrew Benintendi trade. The righty was solid in his first outing, struggling to miss bats but working around that to allow just one run over five innings. He didn’t miss a ton of bats here either, and this time it caught up to him. To some extent he was singled to death, but there were three doubles in there as well to go with the two free passes, so it’s hard to portray this in a positive light. It’s all about how he responds. What we can portray in a positive light is Howlett’s night, with his four-hit night pushing his batting average up over .300.

Salem W 5-4

Nick Yorke, DH: 0-4, 1 BB, 1 R, 3 K

Gilberto Jimenez, CF: 3-5, 1 2B, 1 R, 4 RBI, 1 K

Matthew Lugo, SS: 2-5, 1 SB

Ceddanne Rafaela, 3B: 1-4, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 1 K

Eduardo Lopez, RF: 2-4, 1 R, 1 K

Jake MacKenzie, 2B: 2-4, 2 R, 1 K

Shane Drohan (SP: 2 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 5 BB, 3 K (51 pitches)

Brandon Walter (W): 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K (41 pitches)

This was a strange game, with Delmarva leading 4-0 for a big chunk of it despite them managing just two hits on the entire game. But control issues got the best of Drohan, who is falling into a bit of a slump after a nice start to the season. His struggles were masked a bit by late offense, though, and Jimenez was right in the middle of it. We talked recently about how he’s been slumping, so it’s only fair we point out when he has a big game. Also getting a shoutout is Lopez, who made his A-ball debut in this game. Lopez was the team’s top international signing in the 2018-2019 signing period, and he’s a sleeper outfield prospect to watch for the rest of the year.

Player of the Day: Brayan Bello

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