Red Sox Minor Lines: Tyreque Reed and Kutter Crawford continue to shine

Worcester L 4-6

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

Jonathan Araúz, DH: 0-4, 2 K

Franchy Cordero, 2-4, 1 2B, 1 K

Marcus Wilson, RF: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K

Yairo Muñoz, 3B: 0-3, 1 RBI, 3 K

Chris Hermann, C: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 3 K

Josh Ockimey, 1B: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 3 K

Kyle Hart (SP; L): 5.2 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 4 BB, 3 K (90 pitches)

Marcus Walden: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (5 pitches)

Caleb Simpson: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (12 pitches)

Brandon Brennan: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 0 K (15 pitches)

Austin Brice: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (17 pitches)

It’s been a little while since we’ve talked about Wilson, who got off to a pretty hot start in this Worcester lineup before slowing down over the last couple of weeks. He’s still having a good season, though, and the home run (his fourth of the year) in this game adds to that. He’s the forgotten man on this 40-man roster, but after somewhat surprisingly getting put at Triple-A instead of Double-A he’s been punishing the ball this year for an .895 OPS. He’s got the power and speed combination you’re looking for, although his hit tool still calls into question how much will carry over to the majors. With Jarren Duran on the verge of the majors and Cordero alongside him in Worcester and on the 40-man, I wouldn’t be surprised if Wilson is a 40-man casualty, but with the way he’s playing that should come via trade and not DFA, if it does come to pass at all.

Portland W 2-1

Jeisson Rosario, CF: 0-4, 2 K

Pedro Castellanos, LF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI

Johan Mieses, DH: 1-4, 1 R, 2 K

Ronaldo Hernández, C: 0-4, 1 K

Kutter Crawford (SP): 5 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 K (69 pitches)

Durbin Feltman (H): 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K (15 pitches)

It’s really unfair to look at a player’s stats and decide to take out their worst game or their worst stretch and act as though the numbers minus the hiccup are indicative of true talent. But it’s also really tempting to do with someone like Crawford. The righty has made five starts this season, including this latest strong showing for Portland. In one of them, he allowed five runs over 2 ¹⁄₃ innings. In the other four combined, he pitched a total of 18 innings, allowing just three runs (1.50 ERA) with 21 strikeouts and only four walks. Crawford is coming off Tommy John surgery and pitching for the first time since early in 2019, but it doesn’t look like he’s missed a beat. I was convinced he was a lock for the bullpen sooner than later, and while that possibility still exists he’s deserving of plenty more run in the rotation.

Greenville W 7-4

Cameron Cannon, 2B: 0-5, 1 E

Christian Koss, SS: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 R, 1 E

Tyler Esplin, CF: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Tyreque Reed, 1B: 2-3, 1 3B, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI

Brandon Howlett, 3B: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 K, 1 SB

Tyler Dearden, LF: 1-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K

Devlin Granberg, RF: 2-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI

Brayan Bello (SP): 5 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K (82 pitches)

Jacob Wallace (S): 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K (29 pitches)

There’s a whole lot I’d like to highlight from this game. Bello took a bit of a step back, which on its own is not worrisome because he was still solid, but given his issues with consistency in the past it’s worth watching to see if things continue to slide from here. At the back end of the game, Wallace needed this kind of outing. It’s been a brutal year for the reliever, but this is the kind of outing that can turn it around. On offense, Reed just continues to hit the crap out of the ball, as the homer was the eighth of the year for the minor-league Rule 5 selection. And then finally, Koss got off to a brutal start in his first year with the organization, but he’s swinging the bat better of late with hits in his last six games, and his OBP jumping from .269 to .304 in just a week.

Salem L 5-7

Gilberto Jimenez, CF: 1-5, 1 R, 1 K

Matthew Lugo, SS: 1-5, 1 K

Jaxx Groshans, DH: 3-5, 2 2B, 3 R

Nick Northcut, 3B: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 K

Nick Yorke, 2B: 1-5, 1 2B, 1 K

Wil Dalton, RF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K

Shane Drohan (SP; L): 3.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K (71 pitches)

Drohan is one of the more interesting pitchers in the system, having been drafted out of Florida State last summer with a bit more upside than your typical mid-round college pitcher due to him relatively recently deciding to focus on baseball. And his first four starts showed that upside as he pitched to a 1.69 ERA in March. This first start of June was his worst start of the year, however, and he’s been showing some cracks as far as failing to miss bats and giving up some hits in each of the last two outings. As we say sometimes, though, it can be a good thing to see a little bit of failure, because part of evaluating prospects is to see how they bounce back. This is Drohan’s chance to do just that.

Player of the Day: Tyreque Reed

Player of the Day Chart