And Victor Santos continues to impress for Portland.
Worcester W 5-4
Connor Wong, C: 3-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI
Franchy Cordero, LF: 0-3, 2 BB, 1 SB
Johan Mieses, DH: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI
Jeter Downs, 2B: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI
Raynel Espinal (SP): 6.1 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 5 K (94 pitches)
Álex Claudio: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (8 pitches)
Eduard Bazardo (W): 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 k (28 pitches)
It’s been a strange season for Wong, who was obviously part of the return in the Mookie Betts trade. He never really got a chance to find a rhythm for most of the first few months of the season. The catcher was dealing with some injury issues early on that kept him out of action, and then when he did come back he spent a lot of time on the traveling taxi squad. That spoke of the team’s confidence in him, but it also prevented him from getting into game action. And when he did get in, he struggled. But the playing time has been more consistent the last couple months, and he’s looking much better. With two homers in this game, he’s now hitting .257/.289/.441. There are still things to work on to be sure, but that power plays.
Portland W 2-1
Pedro Castellanos, RF: 2-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 E
Triston Casas, 1B: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 CS
Ronaldo Hernández, C: 0-4, 1 K
Hudson Potts, 3B: 0-4, 3 K
Jeisson Rosario, CF: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K
Cameron Cannon, 2B: 0-3
Victor Santos (SP): 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K (75 pitches)
Andrew Politi (W): 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (21 pitches)
Joan Martinez (SV): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K (17 pitches)
When the Red Sox received Santos from the Phillies earlier this summer as the player to be named later for C.J. Chatham, it was a surprisingly strong return. It’s not that Santos was an elite prospect or anything, but he was interesting, which is more than certainly I expected. Since the trade, he has only become more interesting. After this latest phenomenal start, he’s now got a 2.49 ERA over 43 1⁄3 innings with Portland, striking out 41 and walking only six. That control in particular has been incredible, and when he’s mixing in a solid strikeout rate you can see a guy who might make his way into the depth conversation later in the 2022 season. We should also shout out Castellanos, who brought his OPS up above .800 with his homer.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851707/1234628029.jpg)
Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images
Greenville L 1-3
Nick Yorke, 2B: 1-4, 1 R, 3 K
Tyler Dearden, LF: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K
Brandon Howlett, 3B: 0-4, 1 RBI, 3 K
Stephen Scott, DH: 1-3, 2 K
Jeremy Wu-Yelland (SP; L): 1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 0 K (23 pitches)
Jose Espada: 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K (52 pitches)
The good news for this game is that Greenville did not get perfect game’d, which is normally not a thing to note except for the fact that they did not put their first man on base until the eighth inning. But beyond that, I really got nothing on this one.
Salem W 8-2
Tyler McDonough, 2B: 2-4, 1 3B, 2 R
Tyler Miller, DH: 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI
Ceddanne Rafaela, CF: 1-4, 1 R, 1 SB
Matthew Lugo, SS: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 K
Nick Decker, LF: 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K
Nicholas Northcut, 1B: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI
Alex Erro, C: 3-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Bradley Blalock (SP): 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K (74 pitches)
We’ve talked a little bit about Northcut of late, so there’s not really too much more to add here besides that his season should not be overlooked. If you’re just looking at batting average, he’s easy to glance past, but he’s been doing a whole lot more. A former 11th round pick who got a big bonus in the 2018 draft, Northcut is drawing a ton of walks and hitting for impressive power. His line for the season now stands at .249/.346/.492.
FCL W 10-9
Marcelo Mayer, DH: 2-4, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 K
Phillip Sikes, RF: 1-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K
Bryan Gonzalez, LF: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 3 R, 1 K, 1 SB
Cuba Bess, 1B: 3-4, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 BB, 2 R, 3 RBI
Yorberto Mejicano, C: 0-2, 2 BB, 2 RBI, 1 K
B.J. Vela, 3B: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 K
Angel Bastardo (SP): 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K
Michael Gettys (H): 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K
This was a wild one down on the complex, with the two teams combining for 12 runs in the final three innings and the Red Sox squad walking it off in the ninth. Mayer had a nice day towards the top of the lineup, picking up a couple more hits and a walk to continue showing that on-base ability to start his career. They also got another big game from Bess, who was signed as an undrafted free agent last summer. This was his second big game of the month, as he had a double and a homer just under a week before this one. On the season, he’s hitting .245/.424/.510, albeit in only 20 games. I also thought it was interesting that Gonzalez is up to eight stolen bases. He’s not exactly known for his speed, so I’m guessing this is a combination of him maybe being a more intuitive base runner than we may have thought and just inexperienced batteries failing to hold runners.
DSL Red W 12-4
Ahbram Liendo, 2B: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB
Miguel Bleis, CF: 2-3, 1 HR, 2 BB, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 K
Enderso Lira, C: 1-2, 1 R, 1 K
Luis Ravelo, SS: 0-4, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K
Kelvin Diaz, LF: 2-3, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI
Frank Astacio, 1B: 2-5, 2 R, 1 K
Francis Hernandez (SP): 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Jose Ramirez (W): 3.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K
DSL Blue L 5-6
Juan Chacon, CF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 CS
Jean Carlos Reyes (SP): 4 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 7 K
It’s Bleis that we’re most excited about, not just of the players who had good days at the DSL, but just of any player there period. Their most highly touted international prospect in a few years, he’s showing some flashes for why people are so excited. This was his fourth homer of the year, and he’s now hitting .272/.346/.446. As for Reyes, we haven’t seen a whole lot of days with this kind of strikeout total, but his ERA on the year is down to 3.07.
Player of the Day: Connor Wong