WooSox Continue Playoff Push During Fan Appreciation Week Presented by Bank of America at Polar Park 

The 2024 Polar Park finale is upon us as the Worcester Red Sox host the Syracuse Mets in their final homestand of the year. It is Fan Appreciation Week presented by Bank of America at the ballpark with many exciting festivities planned for WooSox Nation throughout the week.

Ahead of their final home game of the season, the WooSox look to continue the hot streak that has lifted them back into playoff contention. Since August 7, the club is 23-7 and has won 14 of their last 17 matchups on the road.

The WooSox took two games from Syracuse on Tuesday to open the series––winning their August 11 suspended game 11-4 before taking their regularly scheduled matchup 8-4. With the Columbus Clippers’ loss to St. Paul on Tuesday, Worcester now sits just 2.5 games back of Columbus for the International League second half lead with 11 left to play.

The WooSox’ turnaround resulted from all facets of the game coming together––coinciding with a few significant promotions.

Four of the Red Sox top five prospects according to MLB Pipeline––Marcelo Mayer (No. 1), Roman Anthony (No. 2), Kyle Teel (No. 3), and Kristian Campbell (No. 5)––were all promoted to Worcester in mid-August. Though an injury has prevented Mayer from making his Triple-A debut, Anthony, Teel, and Campbell have been significant contributors since putting on their WooSox unforms.

The youngest of the four, Anthony is slashing .340/.419/.530 with 34 hits and 25 runs scored in 25 games for the WooSox. The 20-year-old carries an eight-game hitting streak into Wednesday and has not made an error while playing all three outfield positions.

Teel got off to a relatively slow start at the plate to begin his Triple-A career, but as soon the calendar flipped to September, the backstop found the swing that made him the Red Sox’ first round pick in 2023. Including the August 11 suspended game on Tuesday, Teel is hitting .407/.529/.667 with 10 runs scored over his last eight games.

Campbell made his Triple-A debut on August 20 in Norfolk––about a week after Anthony and Teel played their first games at Polar Park. Before his promotion to Worcester, the Georgia Tech product posted a .976 OPS at High-A Greenville, then hit a cool .362/.463/.582 in 56 games for Double-A Portland, With the WooSox, Campbell has four home runs, 17 RBIs, and 17 runs scored in 18 games.

While the kids have provided a spark in the clubhouse, the bullpen’s improvement has been the most important aspect of the Worcester's turnaround.

Since the beginning of their winning stretch on August 7, the WooSox’ ‘pen has pitched to a 3.14 ERA in 120.2 innings while striking out 146 batters––good enough for 10.9 K/9. Dating back to August 13, the pitching staff as a whole leads the International League in ERA (3.35), saves (11), and WHIP (1.20) while surrendering the least earned runs (82) among all 20 International League teams.

Two of the WooSox’ top arms during the club’s resurgence––Luis Guerrero and Richard Fitts––recently earned their first promotions to Boston after leading the Triple-A staff.

Since August 4, Guerrero had been the WooSox’ most consistent arm in the backend of the bullpen, allowing just one run in his last 10 outings and striking out 23. The stretch included a 12.1 inning scoreless streak, adding to a year where Guerrero pitched to a 3.31 ERA in 42 games with 13.1 K/9 in Worcester.

Fitts followed Guerrero to Boston, earning his promotion just two days later on September 8. In his last six starts with Worcester, the Alabama native pitched to a 2.38 ERA while holding opponents to a .210 batting average. Most importantly, Fitts was efficient on the mound, firing 70% of his pitches for strikes and walking just four batters in 34 innings.

In their MLB debuts, Guerrero retired the only two batters he faced while Fitts fired 5.2 innings, allowing two unearned runs and striking out two.

Joining the two right-handers with a big league promotion was Eddy Alvarez––but the 34-year-old did not follow them to Fenway Park. On September 8, Alvarez was traded to the New York Mets and made his first appearance with the organization as a pinch runner the following day.

Alvarez was an integral member of the WooSox clubhouse and had an excellent year with the club. While playing six different positions, the Miami, Florida native led the team in RBIs (77) and doubles (26) while posting an .811 OPS. In his second to last game with Worcester, Alvarez notched the first three-homer game of his career, lifting the WooSox to a 12-2 win over Rochester.

During the WooSox’ last homestand at Polar Park in 2024, the organization has many festivities planned––including discounts, themed nights, and over 1,000 prizes––making for an exciting final week. Don’t miss out on the finale of WooSox ‘24 at Polar Park!

For more information, please visit https://www.milb.com/worcester/tickets/promotions.