Red Sox Minor Lines: An underwhelming day on the farm

Worcester L 5-13

Jarren Duran, LF: 2-5, 2 R, 2 K, 1 SB, 1 E

Marcus Wilson, RF: 1-3, 1 3B, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 SB

Yairo Muñoz, DH: 1-5, 1 RBI, 1 K

Jeter Downs, 2B: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 K

Jonathan Araúz, 3B: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 E

Jack López, SS: 2-3, 1 BB

Stephen Gonsalves (SP; L): 4.1 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 2 K (81 pitches)

Marcus Walden: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 1 K (29 pitches)

Matt Hall: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (12 pitches)

This was another solid day for Duran at the plate as we await his promotion to the majors, but today I want to talk about a couple of the pitchers. Gonsalves did not have a great day, which has not exactly been common for him this season. After getting some rave reports from the Alternate Site last summer, the southpaw got off to a decent start before going on a really strong run, having allowed just one run over his three starts, spanning a total of 16 innings. It will be interesting to see how he bounces back, because he was arguably the best non-Tanner Houck rotation depth option in Portland. Meanwhile, Walden got off to a tremendous start, going 6 ²⁄₃ innings before allowing his first run and pitching to a 2.89 ERA in May. June has been a different story, however, and after this outing his ERA this month is at 6.94.

Portland L 4-5 (F/10)

Jeisson Rosario, RF: 1-5, 2 K, 1 SB

Triston Casas, 1B: 0-4, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 K, 1 SB

Pedro Castellanos, DH: 0-4, 1 BB

Hudson Potts, 3B: 2-3, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Ronaldo Hernández, C: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI

Devlin Granberg, LF: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 K

Grant Williams, 2B: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 K

Brayan Bello (SP): 1.2 P, 2 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 2 K (57 pitches)

Seth Blair: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (17 pitches)

Jose Adames: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K (27 pitches)

Zack Kelly (L): 1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (17 pitches)

It is jarring at this point to see this kind of line from Bello, who has been the best pitching prospect in the system to this point in the season. That said, any time this kind of start does come about, it’s cause for concern just given the lack of consistency we’ve seen from Bello before. Back in 2019 he had a couple of runs of dominance, but in the middle of them there was a long stretch of mediocrity with some outright bad outings. He’s earned the benefit of the doubt here this season, and he's bounced back from one tough outing in Double-A already (albeit better than this one), but it’s worth keeping an eye on. On a more positive note, shoutout to Granberg for his first Double-A homer. Oh, and we can’t not mention a four-strikeout inning for Adames, who is having a very nice season in this Portland bullpen.

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Greenville W 8-7 (F/10)

Nick Sogard, 2B: 1-5, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB

Cameron Cannon, SS: 1-4, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 SB

Brandon Howlett, 3B: 0-4, 3 K, 1 E

Wil Dalton, CF: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 K

Yusniel Padron-Artilles (SP): 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K (69 pitches)

Alex Scherff (W): 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K (46 pitches)

This was a bit of a strange game that, frankly, I’m not sure how Greenville won. They managed only six hits on the evening, with nobody contributing more than one hit and a double from Sogard being the only extra-base hit on the docket. But they stole a total of six bases and they drew a whopping nine walks, meaning there was pressure on the defense all night and that was enough to pull out a victory. It’s a strange kind of night where the overall team did well, but there’s really not anyone specific to talk about, except perhaps Scherff who somewhat quietly continues to have a nice season in this bullpen. He worked around trouble in this one, but on the year he has a 2.25 ERA over 19 ²⁄₃ innings with 32 strikeouts and 11 walks.

Salem L 2-5

Nick Yorke, 2B: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 RBI

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

Jaxx Groshans, DH: 0-4, 1 K

Ceddanne Rafaela, SS: 0-4, 2 K

Eduardo Lopez, LF: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Shane Drohan (SP): 4 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 2 K (69 pitches)

We end an underwhelming day on the farm with another loss, and another game without much to speak on. Yorke and Jimenez were both okay at the top of the lineup, and Lopez did manage to get a second hit since the promotion, but that was almost all of the offense. On the mound, Drohan had a solid day, particularly by the results, but there is still some concern there. After a huge start to the season, he’s been struggling to miss bats and in fact has more walks than strikeouts in each of his last three starts. It’s been a bit of a tough month of June for the 2020 draftee, pitching to a 6.23 ERA over 17 ¹⁄₃ innings with 12 strikeouts and 17 walks. He can’t wait for the calendar to flip over to July.

Player of the Day: Marcus Wilson

Player of the Day Chart