Red Sox Minor Lines: Kutter Crawford continues to dominate in Portland

Worcester W 7-4

Yairo Muñoz, DH: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 RBI

Connor Wong, C: 1-5, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Franchy Cordero, 1B/RF: 0-4

Marcus Wilson, RF: 0-3, 1 R, 1 K

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

Jonathan Araúz, SS: 3-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 E

Chad De La Guerra, 3B: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 K

Tate Matheny, CF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 2 K

Marcus Walden (SP): 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K (27 pitches)

Stephen Gonsalves (W): 4.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 7 K (87 pitches)

Brandon Brennan (H): 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K (24 pitches)

Phillips Valdez (SV): 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (13 pitches)

There was a lot of chatter around this game, and really the whole system, on Wednesday night as Wilson exited the game around the same time Pedro Castellanos was pulled in Portland and Cameron Cannon in Greenville. It turned out to be a coincidence, with all three suffering some sort of injury within an hour or so of each other, though Cordero’s exit late in the game may be an indication he’s coming up to take the spot of Danny Santana. As far as performance goes, Araúz had a monster game in what has been a somewhat quietly disappointing season for the infielder. And on the mound Gonsalves continues to look better following an opener, and to me the most likely path to the majors he has at this point is as a multi-inning reliever.

Portland W 11-6

Jeisson Rosario, CF/RF: 2-5, 2 R, 1 RBI

Pedro Castellanos, LF: 1-2, 1 BB, 2 R

Devlin Granberg, RF/LF: 1-5, 1 R, 2 RBI

Tyreque Reed, 1B: 1-2, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 E

Hudson Potts, 3B: 2-4, 2 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI

Ronaldo Hernández, DH: 0-4, 1 K

Ryan Fitzgerald, SS/CF: 4-4, 2 R, 2 RBI

Jhonny Pereda, C: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI

Kutter Crawford (SP; W): 6 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 9 K (93 pitches)

Zach Schellenger: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 1 K (28 pitches)

Joan Martinez: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (12 pitches)

It’s really starting to look like Crawford is ready for a new challenge, as he is just rolling through Double-A competition right now. The righty has a 3.30 ERA over his 10 starts on the season, and he’s been particularly dominant even more recently. After spending most of June on the injured list, he’s made five starts since coming back and has allowed nine runs over 26 innings (3.12 ERA) with 39 strikeouts and only a single walk. He has been one of the best stories in the system this year coming off Tommy John surgery, and he could see a push up the ladder relatively soon. Offensively, Potts is still struggling to get on base this year but every few games he’s showing he can still hit the ball with authority. Though he’s only got a .287 OBP, his .196 Isolated Power is keeping his head close to above water.

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Greenville W 5-3

Christian Koss, SS: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI

Cameron Cannon, DH: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K

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

Joe Davis, 1B: 2-3, 1 R, 1 RBI

Wil Dalton, LF: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI

Brian Van Belle (SP; W): 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K (81 pitches)

Jacob Wallace (H): 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (19 pitches)

It’s been a weird year for Van Belle, who was one of the undrafted free agents signed by the Red Sox last summer. He had a horrible start to his year in May, and then was a bit all over the place in June, but he’s been great in July. In fact, the righty has year to allow a run over three starts this month, tossing 17 shutout innings with 15 strikeouts and only two walks. He’s an interesting name to watch moving forward. It was also nice to see a strong outing from Wallace, who has been settling in much more of late after a terrible start to his season. At the plate, Koss remains one of the hottest hitters in the system, pushing his line in July to .450/.493/.700.

Salem W 4-2

Nick Yorke, 2B: 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 SB

Gilberto Jimenez, LF: 1-4

Matthew Lugo, SS: 2-4

Nick Decker, RF: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K

Ceddanne Rafaela, CF: 0-4, 1 R

Nicholas Northcut, 1B: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI

Antoni Flores, 3B: 2-3, 2 2B, 1 R

Shane Drohan (SP): 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 5 K (70 pitches)

It’s nice to see Flores have some success up in full-season ball. Once among the most intriguing young prospects in the organization, he has seen his stock move in the wrong direction really since 2019, when his athleticism was noticeably decreased. He started this season on the complex but was just recently called back up to Salem, and this was a very good game that can hopefully spark a strong run to end the season. The Red Sox farm system has seen a lot of pop up guys this season, but given Flores’s past pedigree he’d instantly be the most exciting. All that said, we’re not there yet after one just game. At this point, we’re still in wait and see mode.

Player of the Day: Jonathan Araúz

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