Down month or not, the shortstop’s trajectory still looks promising.
It’s easy to reference this video from Top Gear when I see the Red Sox lose lately:
It’s a sad state of affairs and this season is looking worse by the day. One thing that doesn’t make me sad is delivering these Minor Lines to all of you. Let’s get into it.
Worcester: L, 0-4 (BOX SCORE)
RailRiders (Yankees AAA) starter Cam Schlittler was born a Red Sox fan and grew up in Walpole. Now pitching for “the enemy”, he really channeled a world-beating pitcher on Tuesday, pitching six shutout inning and striking out nine WooSox. As a whole, the WooSox got just three hits in Scranton in a shutout loss, and were trying lower leverage guys like a pair of rehabbing relief arms in Jovani Moran and Hobie Harris, the former of which I’d expect up in Boston before the end of July. Also, when we’re talking about Boston roster spots, observe that Kristian Campbell is playing first base in Triple-A, but he’s also striking out four times in a game in Triple-A, so your mileage may vary.
Portland: L, 1-5 (BOX SCORE)
Binghamton (Mets AA), who has a record of 46-23 this season, kept reliever TJ Shook out there for 3 innings of scoreless ball and Mets 16th ranked Nick Morabito got to the Portland pitching staff three times. The Sea Dogs did have the benefit of catcher Ronald Rosario at DH firing off a couple of hits of his own, but the damage was done early to Caleb Bolden and the team hit 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
Greenville: W, 6-2 (BOX SCORE)
Behind Blake Aita, most is possible. He struck out eight Emperors (Braves High-A) and allowed just one hit in six innings, and with 80 pitches and 57 connecting for strikes, he may have been able to go a bit longer, but the bullpen did its job. It would have been hard for them not to, though.
Franklin Arias looked for a while like he was having a smaller scale of a Kristian Campbell 2024 season seemingly primed for a third level of pitching in the same season. He may well get it if any Portland infielder finds himself out of the organization via some sort of trade next month, but he’s hit a little snag… which made his two-RBI single even sweeter. As it stands, the 19 year old Venezuelan, who now finds himself as the fourth-ranked prospect in the Red Sox system, is hitting just .191 in June, but still remains the best hitter in this Greenville clubhouse. Save, perhaps, for Nelly Taylor, who has already showed his bat in recent weeks, but how about Nelly swiping three bags in the same game, increasing his total on the year to 21?
Salem: W, 5-2 (BOX SCORE)
Don’t worry, I won’t name this article “The Yoelin Cespedes” game, but it’s awesome to see him hit a late-game home run to really seal the deal against Hickory (Rangers A) and bring Salem’s expected winning percentage up 22 points to 97.6%. Also, it may be about a year away from time to get acquainted with Devin Futrell. The Vanderbilt alum was teammates with Triston Casas’ brother in high school, has the build for a pitcher (6’5”, 220), already has control that many lefties don’t gain until later in their journey to the Majors, and really just needs to find some velocity – and strikeout ability – again after dealing with an angry shoulder injury from his last season at Vandy. Tuesday was a good step, as he went four scoreless, but he obviously needs more time to develop.
Have a happy Thursday!