The Boston Red Sox did not play baseball last night, or even yesterday afternoon. But, never fear! About 60 miles west, in New England’s second biggest city and home of the gravesite of the guy who invented the smiley face, several players with MLB service time and some with some more service time certain to come in 2026, played baseball. My fourth full year covering Minor Lines has arrived, and every year it’s cooler and cooler to see where the players in these box scores end up in their careers.
Last season was very results-oriented, as an exhaustive list of storylines propelled more attention on the farm in the last 12 to 24 months: the dawning of the careers of Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, and current Pirates outfielder Jhostnyxon Garcia; the unceremonious demotion of Kristian Campbell as well as the Triple-A club trying him all over the diamond; the trade of former Minor Lines subjects Kyle Teel and Chase Meidroth; and Connelly Early absolutely dealing. This year is certain to bring some more.
There are still plenty of questions: where exactly Campbell belongs as well as his attitude around it (a disposition our own Tim Crowley had the chance to ask the 23-year-old about); when exactly Payton Tolle will be called back up to Boston and in what capacity; the focus on organizational catchers to supplement Carlos Narvaez’s place on the team; what’s going to happen to former first-round pick Mikey Romero, and so much more. But in the mean time, the WooSox faced off against the Syracuse Mets to open their season, so, for the first time in six months… let’s get into it!
Worcester: L, 1-3 (BOX SCORE)
There’s a lot to like about the Red Sox’s number seven prospect, Jake Bennett, who got the nod on Opening Day for Worcester. The team dealt Luis Perales straight-up for him. While he may not be Roger “The Rocket” Clemens, who was on hand for the game and threw the first pitch to his catcher (and current Red Sox hitting adviser) Rich Gedman, Jake Bennett’s command, size, and fastball has the front office penciling him in for years to come. The 6’6”, 234 pound lefty has velocity in spades, nearly touching 100 with his fastball. He had that on full display against Syracuse, as, although he was capped at 60 pitches, 44 were strikes and he had five strikeouts. He did allow a run, but it was unearned as a result of his fielding error to start the fourth, after which he exited the game and Seth Martinez allowed a home run in what would become the fatal inning for the game.
Following that, the WooSox got caught trying to cut the deficit when Braiden Ward was caught trying to steal his second base of the inning, Hayden Senger cutting him off on third with a throw to old friend Christian Arroyo, which abruptly ended the fifth. Syracuse went up by one more run off of Noah Song, who allowed four hits in his five outs, and all the WooSox could muster was a sacrifice grounder by World Baseball Classic participant Tsung-Che Cheng to score Mickey Gasper. Too little too late. The WooSox would not get another runner in scoring position and would lose the game, 3-1.
But this is an interesting team this year, as a whole. Mickey Gasper is back and in the organization in the infield, the depth pieces like Brendan Rodgers will be useful in becoming a backbone for the likes of Romero, and establishing and analyzing some more pitching depth from a team that claims to have a lot of it. We get the chance to see another guy the organization holds in high regard this afternoon as Tyler Uberstine gets the ball for Game 2. Have a happy Saturday!
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