Red Sox Minor Lines: Brayan Bello shines in his 2022 debut

Worcester W 8-3

Jeter Downs, SS: 1-5, 1 R, 3 K

Triston Casas, 1B: 1-3, 1 HR, 2 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 K

Rob Refsnyder, CF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K

Franchy Cordero, LF: 0-4, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 CS

Connor Wong, C: 0-4, 2 K

Ryan Fitzgerald, 3B: 1-3, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 K

Yolmer Sánchez, 2B: 3-3, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 R, 3 RBI

Thomas Pannone (SP): 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K (63 pitches)

Eduard Bazardo (W; BS): 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (23 pitches)

Tyler Danish (H): 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (14 pitches)

John Schreiber: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K (17 pitches)

Kaleb Ort: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (10 pitches)

Tuesday was the home opener for Worcester, and they did their fans proud. This was just an all-around good game, with three homers on the day. For Casas it was number two on the year — and it went 477 feet! — as he looks to push his way to the majors at some point this summer. Fitzgerald, meanwhile, had missed the last few games after being deemed a close contact for COVID, but he showed no rust smashing his fourth homer of the year in four games played. And finally Sánchez had the best offensive performance of the day with not only a homer but a single and a double. Jonathan Araúz has not endeared a ton of confidence in his time filling in for Trevor Story, and Sánchez does have major-league experience. It’s too early to think about that change now, but if a 40-man spot can be opened at some point it could be a possibility. We also have to at least give a quick mention to Pannone as well. He’s flown under the radar as a minor-league signing, but he gave a terrific first impression here.

Portland W 7-1

David Hamilton, 2B: 2-4, 1 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, 3 SB

Christian Koss, SS: 2-5, 2 RBI, 2 K

Tyler Dearden, LF: 3-5, 1 3B

Nick Sogard, 3B: 2-4, 1 2B, 2 R, 1 K

Brayan Bello (SP; W): 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K (73 pitches)

Jacob Wallace: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (15 pitches)

Frank German: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (14 pitches)

Portland’s pitching staff is going to be a fun one this year. The Sea Dogs got a great performance to end the weekend from Brandon Walter, and now they start this week with a huge debut from Bello. The righty emerged last season and made himself probably the top pitching prospect in the organization. There are still some command issues here and there, but this is what he can do when everything is working, which is just full domination. On offense, Hamilton is up to seven stolen bases. They’ve played four (4) games. He’s fast.

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Greenville W 11-0

Ceddanne Rafaela, DH: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 R, 2 K

Nick Yorke, 2B: 1-5, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI

Matthew Lugo, SS: 1-4, 1 BB, 1 R

Alex Binelas, 1B: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI

Gilberto Jimenez, CF: 2-5, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB

Tyler Esplin, RF: 2-5, 2 2B, 1 R, 2 K

Yusniel Padron-Artiles (SP; W): 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K (79 pitches)

Not too much trouble here to start the week for Greenville, who scored four runs in the first, and four more in the fourth, and were off to the races. We saw some rare Jimenez power here, which is nice to see coupled with the strong weekend he had to start his season. The outfielder isn’t coming off a throwaway season or anything like that, but he was more average than anything else in 2021, which was disappointing given expectations. He’s got a 1.143 OPS four games into this season, and has shown a little bit of power. That’s never going to be a big part of his game, but he needs to at least make some hard contact if he’s going to hit enough to take advantage of the speed and defense. Padron-Artiles had a hell of a night too. There’s not a ton of prospect value here, but he’s good for a few of these eye-opening outings every year.

Salem W 7-4 (F/11)

Eddinson Paulino, 3B: 1-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K, 2 E

Brainer Bonaci, 2B: 1-5, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K

Marcelo Mayer, SS: 3-6, 1 2B, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K

Blaze Jordan, 1B: 0-3, 2 BB, 2 R, 1 E

Nathan Hickey, C: 1-3, 1 HR, 3 BB, 1 R, 5 RBI

Niko Kavadas, DH: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 K

Phillip Sikes, CF: 0-4, 1 BB, 3 R, 3 K, 1 CS

Juan Daniel Encarnacion (SP): 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K (75 pitches)

Jacob Webb (W): 2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K (24 pitches)

This was an exciting game for Salem, who got a grand slam from Hickey in the 11th that gave them enough of a cushion to end this game and stay undefeated on the young season. Hickey was the team’s fifth round pick last year, and is arguably the team’s top catching prospect. That said, it’s also not a guarantee he sticks behind the plate, and as one would expect the profile looks a whole lot different depending on where he lands positionally. Kavadas was another 2021 draftee — he was an 11th rounder — and he showed off the raw power here. As a first base only profile, that power needs to play consistently.

Player of the Day: Brayan Bello

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