Red Sox Minor Lines: Back from Tokyo

Worcester L 4-11

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

Delino DeShields, CF: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K

Joey Meneses, RF: 2-4, 2 RBI, 1 K

Jeter Downs, SS: 0-4, 2 K

Jack López, 3B: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Raynel Espinal (SP; W): 3.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 2 K (71 pitches)

Brandon Brennan: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 0 K (29 pitches)

Matt Andriese: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (12 pitches)

Durbin Feltman: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (29 pitches)

Jose Adames: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 1 K (30 pitches)

Well, first thing’s first as we always have to start with for Worcester these days: Muñoz did extend his hit streak to 32 games. He did that with a single, but also ended up hitting a home run in this game, which was a nice bit of change as he’s mostly been singling his way through this streak. We also saw a home run from López, who was in his first game back after traveling to Tokyo with Team USA. Unfortunately, the pitching just didn’t have it. Espinal has been pretty solid this year, but Syracuse got to him in the fourth and Brennan in the fifth, each for three runs, to essentially put this one away. Even Adames struggled, which has been exceedingly rare this year. This is the first time he allowed even a single earned run since June 11, and just the second time all year he’s allowed multiple earned runs in an outing.

Portland G1 W 3-2

Cameron Cannon, 2B: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 CS

Pedro Castellanos, RF: 1-2, 2 BB

Triston Casas, 1B: 0-4, 1 RBI

Devlin Granberg, LF: 0-2

Hudson Potts, 3B: 0-3, 1 K

Tyreque Reed, DH: 1-2, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI

Jeisson Rosario, CF: 1-3, 1 K

Grant Williams, SS: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Chris Murphy (SP): 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 6 K (86 pitches)

Enmanuel De Jesus (W): 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K (38 pitches)

Portland G2 L 0-3

Jeisson Rosario, CF: 1-3

Pedro Castellanos, RF: 0-3, 1 K

Triston Casas, 1B: 1-3

Devlin Granberg, LF: 0-3, 1 K

Hudson Potts, 3B: 0-3, 1 K

Ronaldo Hernández, C: 1-2, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K

Tyreque Reed, DH: 0-2, 1 BB, 2 K

Frank German (L): 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (76 pitches)

There was not a whole lot of offense in this doubleheader between Portland and Somerset, though we did get a big presence back in the Portland lineup. It wasn’t a terribly productive day for Casas, but like López with Worcester he returned from Tokyo. Casas was perhaps Team USA’s best player during the Olympics, but back at home he hasn’t really separated himself against Double-A competition. He hasn’t been terrible, granted, but for anyone who will be wondering why he’s not up in the majors down the stretch, it’s because of his Double-A performance where he has a modest .759 OPS. Long-term it’s not something I’m concerned about, but it would probably be over-aggressive to put him in a major-league pennant race right now. This doubleheader also saw the Double-A debut of 2019 second rounder (and Boston’s first pick of that draft) Cannon, who had spent the entire year before this with Greenville.

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Greenville L 4-6

Christian Koss, SS: 0-4, 1 K

Tyler Dearden, DH: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

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

Joe Davis, 1B: 1-4, 1 R

Stephen Scott, LF: 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI

Dean Miller, RF: 2-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI

Jay Groome (SP; L): 5.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 8 K (85 pitches)

Dylan Spacke: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (25 pitches)

This is a bit of a strange start for Groome, who ideally would have been pushing for a promotion to Double-A by this point in the season. He’s certainly shown flashes that warrant that push, but there’s too often been a “but” in his write ups. This time, it’s to do with the long ball. On the one hand, eight strikeouts and one walk can be looked at in conjunction with four runs on the board and his outing can be viewed through the lens of bad luck. On the other hand, three of the five hits he gave up were home runs, and one of the others was a triple, so clearly he was a little too hittable. The most important mission of the season for the southpaw was staying healthy, and he’s done that. But now it’s about finishing the season strong and setting himself up to be an actual major-league option at some point next year ideally, given he’ll be burning his second minor-league option in 2022. All that said, hard contact aside the strikeout and walk numbers have looked strong for a while now.

Salem W 9-4 (F/10)

Nick Yorke, 2B: 1-3, 1 HR, 2 BB, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 CS

Gilberto Jimenez, CF: 1-4, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Matthew Lugo, DH: 2-4, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 CS

Ceddanne Rafaela, SS: 1-4, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Nick Decker, RF: 0-3, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K

Nicholas Northcut, 1B: 1-5, 2 RBI, 1 K

Alex Erro, C: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Antoni Flores, 3B: 0-3, 2 BB, 1 R

Chih-Jung Liu (SP): 5 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 10 K (78 pitches)

Devon Roedahl (W): 2.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (33 pitches)

Just like in Worcester, we have to start these Salem write-ups with a hit streak update. Here it’s for Yorke, who did indeed push his streak to 20 with what was at the time a game-tying homer in the sixth. This game was actually tied at two heading into extras, where things just got wacky. But it was Liu early in the game who stole the show. An international signing from Taiwan back in the winter before the 2020 season, he stayed on the complex for the first half of the year, but he’s shown some impressive flashes. At 22 he’s not exactly young for the level, but his professional experience — this was only his eighth pro start — makes his placement here palatable. He needs to get more consistent, but starts like this show he has the potential to be a big breakout next year.

Player of the Day: Chih-Jung Liu

Player of the Day Chart