He’s tearing the cover off the ball in Worcester. He wasn’t moved. What’s next?
Good morning! Craig Breslow’s inability to move prospects not named Blaze Jordan, James Tibbs or Zach Ehrhard (not even his brother, Drew? Come on, man…) or acquire anyone not named Steven Matz or Dustin May has led to the next logical question for a lot of these guys: “Okay, so, like, what’s the plan?”
We now know some of it is optioning Brennan Bernardino to Worcester (do NOT get me started on this, but it’s probably just to get him some rest…) logjamming the catcher position’s depth even more by signing Chadwick Tromp to a minor league deal, calling up Cooper Adams, Connelly Early and David Sandlin to Worcester, sending Miguel Bleis to Portland following Tibbs’ departure, and outright releasing some guys who had been starting for Salem like Karim Ayubi and Yanier Asencio.
Well, that’s a handful, time to look at results for, uhh, everyone else.
Let’s get into it!
Worcester, Game 1: W, 3-2 (BOX SCORE)
In what may be his last start in Triple-A (I hope he gets a few more, but I digress…) Kyle Harrison had not a perfect start against Lehigh Valley (Phillies AAA) but one good enough for the WooSox to win. Nate Eaton certainly helped matters with his late triple to score Vaughn Grissom and Jhostynxon Garcia. More on the Password on just a second. The Eaton triple had a .448 WPA and the WooSox never looked back thanks to some lockdown hitless relief by Nick Burdi (who I genuinely thought got DFA’d, but is just rehabbing) and Alex Hoppe.
Worcester, Game 2: W, 5-1 (BOX SCORE)
The Password is: CantStopRaking. His OPS improves to .922 following a late grand slam, his thirteenth home run in a little over two months. This put the WooSox not only on the board but lift them to a 4-1 lead, thanks to a solid start by newly promoted pitcher David Sandlin, who may very well experience a second call-up before season’s end. Also, Friday featured some clean work by Zack Kelly, who can stay down there for the time being. The team managed just five hits in the seven-inning contest but that was all they needed.
Portland: L, 1-2 (BOX SCORE)
It might be a bad night when your top five hitters go hitless. Even though Dalton Rogers gave the team a good chance to beat Altoona (Pirates AA) by going six shutout innings and striking out seven, the Sea Dogs stranded eight men and Logan Webb couldn’t hold the line, not that the line was a very strong one. Catching prospect Brooks Brannon does continue to hit following his promotion to Portland, but it was one of few bright spots on a dreary night in Maine.
Greenville: PPD to Today, Rain
Speaking of dreary nights, the field was unfit to play baseball in Greenville. They’ll try a double-header at 5:30 tonight.
Salem: W, 1-0 (BOX SCORE)
Speaking of guys ready for a callup, have yourself a week, Starlyn Nunez! His hits don’t usually come with much power which plagues his OPS, but he’s had 16 total bases in 8 hits in the last five games. Justyn Gonzales drove in the only run of the night against Lynchburg (Guardians A) which also speaks well to Devin Futrell’s five innings where he allowed just one hit. Futrell has gotten very unlucky with run support in his starts and that trend continues here, but you can’t score less than zero runs, so his shutout earns him his first decision win in Single-A.
Have a happy Saturday!