Ballou On Baseball
It is hard to imagine an organization having a better week than Boston had last week. The parent Red Sox were 6-0 and the WooSox were 5-1 with Worcester callups Rob Refsnyder and Jarren Duran playing major roles in Boston’s perfect week. Duran’s contributions are all about player development, but
It is hard to imagine an organization having a better week than Boston had last week.
The parent Red Sox were 6-0 and the WooSox were 5-1 with Worcester callups Rob Refsnyder and Jarren Duran playing major roles in Boston’s perfect week. Duran’s contributions are all about player development, but it is easy to forget that Triple-A can also be about player redevelopment, like in Refsnyder’s case.
His career has not exactly come full circle to see him doing so well with Boston, but Fenway Park is where Refsnyder made his major league debut on July 11, 2015, playing for the Yankees. New York was the first of seven organizations he has played for, a sign that everybody wants him as opposed to nobody wants him.
Through Sunday, Refsnyder was batting a combined .324 between Boston and Worcester with an OPS of .983. As good as the numbers are, Refsnyder has value beyond them as a player with experience and character. In the illogical world of minor league baseball, it would be great if WooSox fans never see him again.
While Duran and Refsnyder have been helping Boston win, the doors they left open with their callups have been filled Jaylin Davis and Christin Stewart, both late bloomers offensively this season. Davis hit .349 during Worcester’s 12-game homestand with a cycle, of sorts — a double, two triples and three homers. Stewart hit .366 with 5 doubles and 4 homers.
Both also made great defensive plays in the outfield. Davis’ diving catch of Ryder Jones’ soft liner to center in the fourth inning on Saturday was as good a play athletically, though not as dramatic or timely, as Tate Matheny’s over-the-wall grab in last year’s Chris Sale game.
The minor league season reaches its halfway point this week. The WooSox will hit the 50 percent mark in the schedule coming off a nearly 100 percent week for them and their partners 40 miles to the east.
TRIPLE-A TRIVIA
Questions.
1. Seven active major league managers played for a Red Sox Triple-A affiliate at some point in their careers, all with Pawtucket. Which manager played the most career games for the PawSox?
2. What major league and Triple-A teams have had the longest continuous affiliation?
Answers below.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The WooSox are scheduled to play seven games in seven days for a change as they will be in action on the July 4 Monday holiday versus Scranton-Wilkes-Barre at Polar Park. Worcester has next Tuesday off, instead.
Before that, they have a six-game series in Rochester against a Red Wings team that swept six at Polar Park from May 10-15. Rochester outscored Worcester, 39-19, in those games. The Red Wings have a strong Worcester connection. Chris Herrmann and Joey Meneses played for the WooSox last year. Their batting coach is ex-Red Sox player Brian Daubach and former manager Billy McMillon is a development coach.
Meneses hit .260 with 5 homers and 25 RBIs in 38 games for the WooSox and is having a huge year for Rochester in 2022. He is batting .296 with 15 home runs and 45 RBIs.
HERE AND THERE
Yolmer Sanchez celebrated his 30th birthday yesterday, so congratulations on that. To make it better, he is blowing out the candles in the major leagues, having been called up to Boston to replace the unvaccinated Duran while the Sox are in Toronto. As far as we can tell, last week marked a bit of baseball history with Yolmer Sanchez in the WooSox lineup and Yolbert Sanchez playing for Charlotte. And, no, they are not related. … Maybe he doesn’t like Table Talk pies or Coney Island hot dogs? In four different stints with the WooSox in two seasons, Christian Arroyo is 3 for 39 (.077) with one double, two RBIs and 15 strikeouts. … A note to WooSox manager Chad Tracy — can we see more of Silvino Bracho and those leg kicks? It is so Luis Tiantish, and that brings back a lot of fond memories for Red Sox fans of a certain age. … Saves are an unconstitutional stat in that they are not all created equal. Kaleb Ort’s last three have been one-run saves, the best there are. … Jeter Downs made his major league debut with the Red Sox, becoming the ninth player to graduate directly from Worcester to the major leagues. His debut came exactly one year after Connor Wong’s and meant that all three players Boston got in the Mookie Betts deal — Downs, Wong and Alex Verdugo — have played in the big leagues. … Pedro Castellanos homered Saturday in his WooSox debut. It is the fourth time that has happened, starting with Chris Herrmann on opening day in Trenton last May. Tate Matheny and Triston Casas also homered in their first WooSox games; Casas and Castellanos are the only two to do it in their Triple-A debuts. … Boston’s full-season affiliates were a combined 130-149 (.466) through Sunday. They were 539-501 (.518) last year.
TRIVIA ANSWERS
1. Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash played 60 games for Pawtucket in 2007 and 2010 combined. Alex Cora, Rocco Baldelli, Mark Kotsay, Chris Woodward, David Ross and Gabe Kapler also played for the PawSox. Baldelli, Kotsay and Woodward were all on the 2009 team.
2. The Kansas City Royals and Omaha Storm Chasers have been affiliated since 1969, the year the Royals were admitted to the American League as an expansion team.
CATCHING UP WITH…
Righty Kevin McCarthy, who worked in 28 games for the WooSox last season before being released, is with Cleburne, Texas in the independent American Association. He is 1-0 in 12 appearances. One of McCarthy’s teammates is Roger Clemens’ son Kacy.
Zac Grotz, who only got into eight games for Worcester last season, is pitching for the Acereros de Monclova in the Triple-A Mexican League. Monclova’s DH is Chris Carter, who led the National League in home runs in 2016, hitting 41 for the Brewers.