Is there a spot for him on this roster in 2025?
Worcester: L, 5-6 (BOX SCORE)
The Rail Riders (Yankees AAA) got to Tanner Houck very early in Houck’s second lackluster rehab start. Houck went an inning and two thirds, allowing four runs on three hits and two walks. A happy early birthday to Houck, who turns 29 this weekend, but I personally have no desire to figure out where there’s a place for him on this pitching staff this year, and the team has about three weeks to figure that out before he needs to be called back up (pitchers get 30 days in rehab compared to 20 for batters). Isaac Coffey also couldn’t find the strike zone in his 3 1⁄3 innings, walking six. Nathan Hickey continues to be an effective hitter for the bottom half of the WooSox lineup, as he finished a triple shy of the cycle and hit his tenth home run of the season. And, speaking of triples, Password continues raking, as well, grabbing a triple to drive in two and make this a two-run game before the team squandered a scoring opportunity.
Portland: W, 4-3 (BOX SCORE)
Despite nearly tripling the RumblePonies (Mets AA) up on hits, 11 to 4, the Sea Dogs barely eeked one out thanks to some solid pitching by Hayden Mullins, Noah Song and Yovanny Cruz. Song, who participated in Portland’s no-hitter this past weekend, got two more scoreless innings, allowing one hit and holding Binghamton in a pivotal point in the game. And welcome to Double-A, Brooks Brannon! This is another catching prospect I’m excited about if he can stay healthy and perhaps improve behind the dish a bit defensively. The catcher/first baseman hybrid slashed .271/.316/.402 in Greenville, is profiled as a power hitter, and is just 21 years old. He started his Double-A tenure with a double and a walk. And finally, James Tibbs is settling just fine in Double-A quickly, improving his OPS to .862 with two hits of his own.
Greenville: L, 1-2 (BOX SCORE)
A slow day offensively against Rome (Braves High-A) negated a solid five innings from Joe Holobetz, and Blake Kirwin was saddled with the decision loss due to lack of pop. The Drive grabbed three hits all night and only scored a run via a two-out wild pitch in the eighth, where the inning was unceremoniously ended a few pitches later due to a Zanetello grounder.
Salem: L, 0-8 (BOX SCORE)
From three close games to one that Salem would rather forget. The Crawdads (Rangers A) got the benefit of hits from each of their first four batters, but couldn’t string anything together into a run, and didn’t draw a single walk all night. Meanwhile, Hickory had six hits with runners in scoring position, which is, uh, a lot more than zero.
Have a happy day game Wednesday!