Red Sox Minor Lines: A happy birthday for Eduardo Lopez

Worcester L 2-7

Jarren Duran, CF: 0-4, 1 SB

Jonathan Araúz, 2B: 0-4, 1 K

Jeter Downs, SS: 0-2, 1 BB, 1 K

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

Rob Refsnyder, RF: 1-4, 1 K

Ryan Fitzgerald, 3B: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Connor Wong, DH: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 K

Jaylin Davis, LF: 1-4, 2 K

Ronaldo Hernández, C: 0-4, 1 K

Carlos Martinez (SP; L): 0.2 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 0 K (33 pitches)

Eduard Bazardo: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (26 pitches)

Darwinzon Hernandez: 3 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 K (47 pitches)

Zack Kelly: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (8 pitches)

Kaleb Ort: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K (19 pitches)

This was a rough one for Worcester, though there were a few quick positives to touch on. At the plate, both Casas and Fitzgerald went deep, hitting their sixth and eighth homers, respectively. Casas is obviously the player many want to see up, but Fitzgerald is another guy who could make come up for a spark at some point in the near future. I’d be willing to give it a shot. On the mound, it’s nice to see Bazardo with this kind of outing, and Hernandez to an extent as well, though that control is still worrisome. Less positive was the organizational debut for Martinez. It’s a minor-league deal so there’s no real risk here, but this was about as discouraging a start as possible if you were hoping for some sneaky value with this move. It’s still not clear what kind of role they’re looking at him for, but I’d much prefer to see him in relief.

Portland L 4-7

David Hamilton, 2B: 1-4, 1 3B, 1 R

Nick Sogard, RF: 0-4, 1 RBI

Devlin Granberg, CF: 1-2, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 E

Christian Koss, SS: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI, 3 K

Victor Santos (SP; L): 4 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 4 K (74 pitches)

Not too much to talk about with this one, with Portland managing to score four runs on just three hits, thanks in part to six walks. Koss had the big swing, though, with a three-run homer. He’s a quietly interesting player in that there’s some bench potential down the road, just with a low ceiling. He had a bit of a tough start to this season but he’s starting to turn it on, now up to a solid, if unspectacular, .712 OPS on the year.

Greenville W 10-3

Nick Yorke, 2B: 2-5, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI, 2 K

Tyler McDonough, DH: 1-3, 1 R, 3 SB

Ceddanne Rafaela, SS: 1-4, 1 2B, 3 K

Alex Binelas, 1B: 1-3, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 SB

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

Gilberto Jimenez, RF: 1-4, 2 R, 2 K

Tyler Esplin, CF: 3-4, 1 R, 1 RBI

Alex Erro, C: 3-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 K

Shane Drohan (SP; W): 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K (73 pitches)

Devon Roedahl: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (24 pitches)

Ryan Fernandez: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (18 pitches)

The bad news is Northcut’s four-game homer streak is over. The good news is the rest of the Drive roster had no problem picking up the slack. Offensively, we’re still waiting for Yorke to get going. He’s had a couple of nice games early this month, but it’s been something like one game on, two games off as a rhythm for the last week or two. We know he can hit at this level given what he did in the second half last year, but it seems the league has adjusted. Now it’s his turn to adjust back, which is probably the most important part of the prospect development path. Meanwhile on the mound, Drohan continues his rollercoaster ride of a season. He’s now got four starts in which he allowed one or zero runs (albeit the first in just 3 ¹⁄₃ innings due to control issues), but two in which he’s allowed at least five. This is the first times he’s made two good starts in a row this year, though, so that’s a nice sign.

Salem G1 L 3-8

Eddinson Paulino, SS: 0-4, 1 K

Brainer Bonaci, 2B: 0-3, 3 K, 1 E

Miguel Ugueto, DH: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K

Niko Kavadas, 1B: 1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI

Blaze Jordan, 3B: 1-2, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Eduardo Lopez, CF: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K

Juan Daniel Encarnacion (SP; L): 2.2 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 0 BB, 2 K (51 pitches)

Salem G2 W 5-3

Eddinson Paulino, 2B: 1-2, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R

Brainer Bonaci, SS: 0-2, 1 BB

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

Blaze Jordan, 1B: 1-3, 1 RBI

Eduardo Lopez, CF: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K

Karson Simas, RF: 2-2, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 SB, 1 CS

Tyler Uberstine (SP; W): 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 3 K (60 pitches)

It was a nice 20th birthday for Lopez, who reached base twice in the first game then hit a homer in the second. He’s been on fire of late after not playing to start the year, and all of a sudden he’s hitting .306/.364/.531 after this impressive day. This is a big season for him as he’s failed to really take off after getting a six-figure bonus in the 2018 J2 period. It’s still very early as he’s only played 13 days, but if he keeps something like this up the whole season he’ll be back on the prospect radar.

Player of the Day: Alex Erro

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