Red Sox Minor Lines: Brayan Bello wins again

Worcester W 10-3

Jarren Duran, CF: 1-6, 1 3B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 5 K

Connor Wong, C: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 R

Ryan Fitzgerald, 3B: 1-4, 1 BB, 2 K

Rob Refsnyder, RF: 1-5, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 K, 1 SB

Christin Stewart, LF: 4-5, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 SB

Jeter Downs, SS: 0-2, 2 BB, 2 R, 1 SB

Ronaldo Hernández, DH: 3-5, 1 HR, 1 R, 4 RBI

Brayan Bello (SP; W): 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 6 K (86 pitches)

Durbin Feltman: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (27 pitches)

Frank German: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K (20 pitches)

This one was mostly about the offense, with three home runs and a double digit run total, but I want to start with Bello making his third career Triple-A start. The young righty is taking the minors by storm right now, and this was the worst of his three starts but a weirdly encouraging one. It looks from the box score that Bello just did not have his best stuff and command working in this game, giving up nine base runners. Even so, he was able to work around any issues and put together a very solid outing. Pitching with a lead helps, though half of Worcester’s runs were scored after he left the game. He’s thrilling when he’s on point, and he showed here he can work with his B- or C-game as well. Offensively, Hernández continues to roll, and he’s got a 1.588 OPS over his last six games.

Portland L 4-12

David Hamilton, SS: 1-5, 2 K

Nick Sogard, 2B: 1-3, 1 HR, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Devlin Granberg, CF: 1-5, 1 R, 3 K

Pedro Castellanos, 2-5, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K

Christian Koss, 3B: 2-3, 1 RBI

Jay Groome (SP; L): 2 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 1 BB, 1 K (57 pitches)

Jake Thompson: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K (57 pitches)

This was an ugly one for Groome, who has had a couple of rough outings in this season but this was certainly the worst. With this one start the lefty’s ERA climbed from 2.89 to 4.58, and coming into this one he had gone at least six innings in three straight outings, allowing just two earned runs combined across those appearances. The good news is the last time he had a start like this, on May 6 when he allowed four runs without getting through the fourth, he answered back with those three starts. We’ll see how he bounces back this time, but the Red Sox need more consistency from him at this point in his career. More positively, Castellanos is hitting .333/.345/.630, hitting six months in the month.

Greenville W 4-2

Tyler McDonough, 2B: 1-4, 1 BB, 1 R, 3 K, 1 CS

Gilberto Jimenez, RF: 3-5, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 1 K

Matthew Lugo, SS: 0-5

Nicholas Northcut, 1B: 0-5, 2 K

Alex Erro, C: 2-2, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 E

Brendan Cellucci (SP): 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (33 pitches)

Brian Van Belle: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (72 pitches)

Ryan Zeferjahn (SV): 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (24 pitches)

Not really too much to talk about offensively here, as Greenville largely just took advantage of poor control, drawing seven walks in the game. Instead, I want to talk briefly about Zeferjahn. A former third round pick, it always looked like he’d profile better in relief, and he’s getting his first chance to pitch purely in that role this season. It hasn’t always been perfect and there are still control issues he needs to work out, but the stuff clearly plays up. The righty has a 3.13 ERA over 23 innings, striking out 28. His 11 walks but three more hit batters needs to be fixed, but I suspect he’ll end this season in Portland’s bullpen and could be a darkhorse for a 2023 role in the majors later in the year, sort of on a similar trajectory as Frank German this year.

Salem L 4-7

Eddinson Paulino, SS: 0-4, 1 K, 1 SB

Tyler Miller, 3B: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 K

Blaze Jordan, DH: 0-4, 1 K

Phillip Sikes, RF: 2-3, 2 2B, 1 BB, 1 K

Gabriel Jackson (SP; L): 5.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 3 K (66 pitches)

We’ve talked a few of the non-elite prospects in this system that are heating up of late above with Hernández and Castellanos, and we can add Miller to this list as well. The team’s ninth round selection last summer, Miller got off to a really bad start in Salem but over the last couple of weeks has been among the best hitters in the system. Going back to May 14, Miller is hitting .326/.396/.630, hitting four home runs including a stretch last week when he hit homers in three consecutive games. Miller profiles at best as a bench player who can cover multiple corner positions, but he’s at least showing now that he can get a promotion to Greenville at some point this year if a roster spot opens to allow him to take it. We should also mention that Salem’s offense had to deal with Stephen Strasburg on a rehab assignment in this game.

Player of the Day: Christin Stewart

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