Red Sox Minor Lines: A blowout in Worcester lowlights a tough day on the farm

Worcester L 1-18

Michael Chavis, 1B: 0-5

Marcus Wilson, RF: 2-5, 1 2B

Franchy Cordero, LF: 1-4, 1 K, 1 E

Yairo Muñoz, 3B: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI

Jeter Downs, SS: 2-4, 1 E

Kevin McCarthy (SP; L): 1 IP, 9 H, 8 R, 0 BB, 2 K (33 pitches)

Marcus Walden: 2.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K (54 pitches)

Brandon Brennan: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K (28 pitches)

Kaleb Ort: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (13 pitches)

Well, yikes. Worcester has been home to some blowouts going in both directions, with the run environment at the new Polar Park really favoring hitters in a big way. In this game specifically, the pitching was obviously terrible and would have been no matter what, but it’s interesting that McCarthy, a pure reliever, got the start. This is the second time we’ve seen the Triple-A club run out with a reliever to start, though it’s hard to tell whether it was as an opener or a bullpen game. Matt Hall came in after McCarthy’s blow-up of a day, but he blew up as well and only pitched an inning and a third. Aside from the terrible results, I’m keeping an eye on strategy in Triple-A, because if they are starting to use openers down there that signals to me they may be thinking that is the best route in the event of an injury to the big-league rotation.

Portland L 0-3

Jeisson Rosario, CF/RF: 1-4, 1 2B, 2 K

Pedro Castellanos, RF: 0-2

Ronaldo Hernández, DH: 1-4, 3 K

Denyi Reyes (SP; L): 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 7 K (79 pitches)

Durbin Feltman: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (4 pitches)

It has been rough going for Hernández this year after the catching prospect came over from the Rays in an offseason trade. Defense has always been his question mark behind the plate, but he has generally always been able to hit. That hasn’t really been the case this year, however, as he ended Saturday’s game with a .238 average and a .674 OPS. He did heat up a bit towards the end of May, but he’s now got three hits total in five games in June. The strikeouts in this game are particularly striking, as even through his struggles he had been making contact. Between Hernández and Connor Wong, who has missed most of the season with injury, the Red Sox aren’t getting much from their top two catching prospects, both of whom are on the 40-man.

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Greenville W 6-3

Christian Koss, SS: 2-3, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 CS

Cameron Cannon, 2B: 1-4, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 1 K

Tyler Esplin, CF: 0-5, 2 K

Tyreque Reed, DH: 1-3, 2 BB, 1 RBI, 1 K

Brandon Howlett, 3B: 0-5

Devlin Granberg, 1B: 2-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

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

Chris Murphy (SP): 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K (82 pitches)

Alex Scherff (S): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (11 pitches)

This is a second big day in a row for Granberg, who now has homers in two straight games and in three of his last four. We should also give a shoutout to Koss, who had been struggling pretty hard but is starting to heat up in June. It’s only been five games, but he has multiple hits in three of them and at least one hit in 10 straight games going back to late May. The overall numbers still look a bit underwhelming with a .257/.330/.376 line, but that’s far ahead of where he was even just a couple weeks ago. Koss, if you recall, came to Boston in the Yoan Aybar trade and had a big pro debut back in 2019.

Salem L 1-5

Ceddanne Rafaela, CF: 0-4, 2 K

Matthew Lugo, SS: 0-4, 1 K, 2 E

Stephen Scott, 1B/C: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R

Joe Davis, DH: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI

Nick Northcut, 3B: 0-4, 2 K

Bradley Blalock (SP; L): 2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (62 pitches)

Jorge Rodriguez: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 5 K (60 pitches)

It has been a tough year for Lugo, who had been starting to pull himself out of his rough start over the last week or two prior to this game. His average was sitting at .196 back on May 22, and even after the 0-fer today he’s at .228. That is still not good, of course, but it’s a step in the right direction. That said, his defense has also been shaky all year, and his two errors on Saturday give him eight on the year. I came into the year as one of the high guys on Lugo, as he profiles as a potential jack-of-all-trades shortstop, but he’s not making good on that potential so far. On a more positive note, Davis, a senior sign from 2019, is killing the ball and is up to a .913 OPS on the year.

Player of the Day: Devlin Granberg

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