Plus, Richard Fitts is making good progress in his return from injury.
The Quinn Priester trade looks pretty good so far, huh? While Priester currently carries an ERA of 5.79 for the Milwaukee Brewers, Yophery Rodriguez has an OBP above .400 as Greenville’s leadoff hitter, despite being the youngest player on the team and one of the youngest in the league. (And, btw, Franklin Arias is only a couple of weeks older than him; this is an exciting team right now.) But now the trade has gotten even better, as John Holobetz has been identified as the mysterious player to be named later in the deal. Holobetz is a fireballer Milwaukee selected in the fifth round of last year’s MLB draft; he’s off to a great start in A-ball, with 31 strikeouts compared to just five walks in 24 innings pitched as a starter. (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)
But for as exciting as the 2025 Greenville Drive are, it’s the WooSox who are the can’t-miss team in the Sox farm system this year. That’s thanks, of course, to Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony, the later of whom Abraham Toro just called “the best minor league hitter [he’s] ever seen.” (Christopher Smith, MassLive)
The emergence of guys like Richard Fitts and Hunter Dobbins helped make Priester expendable. Fitts got off to a strong start before being sidelined with a strained pectoral muscle, but the team says he’s making great progress and could return by the end of the month. (Greg Dudek, NESN)
Pitcher injuries will obviously be something we’ll talk about a lot this season, as we do every season. Hopefully we don’t have to talk about them with respect to Garrett Crochet, though it must be noted that Garrett Crochet Declining Velocity Watch appears to officially be on. (Peter Abraham, Boston Globe)
Maybe his arm just needs a little bit of a rest. After a busy start to the season, the Red Sox are entering a stretch of the calendar that includes a lot more days off. (Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald)