Worcester: L, 6-9 (BOX SCORE)
One thing you may notice reading Sunday’s Minor Lines is that offense was aplenty, but the pitching was pretty lackluster. In most cases, it’s not much of a cause for concern. But in the WooSox’s loss to Buffalo (Blue Jays AAA) in the series finale, it may have altered a trajectory a little bit.
Let me explain: John Holobetz has been serviceable across two levels this season in addition to working his way up the organization in 2025. The 24-year-old makes his bread and butter in the top end of the strike zone with a 94 MPH heater that has some room for development, but the righty was pitching well enough that it was feasible he could become an option down the stretch and develop the pitch while in the Majors, as it’s clear he has good control of that pitch and a reliable repertoire. With Patrick Sandoval struggling in the bigs, it looked possible that he could be called on to help out at some point this season.
On Sunday, Holobetz gave up six runs on six hits in just eight outs. His ERA stands at almost 6 in Worcester, albeit in an extremely limited sample size. But we’ve seen this movie a few times, folks; I don’t want to see a guy debuting while struggling to keep runners off the basepaths in Triple-A, even against a talented Buffalo lineup. One does not have to roam far mentally to wonder if Anthony Eyansson would be seeing some time in Worcester by now had he not been dealt at the trade deadline as part of the Adley Rutschman deal, but one would also take some respite in the fact that Craig Breslow has been incredibly good at scouting pitchers in his time with the Red Sox organization thus far and that another Eyansson may not be far behind. Is it Holobetz, whom the team acquired for Quinn Priester in 2025? Almost certainly not in the same way; they’re not the same caliber of talent, won’t be used the same way, and don’t have the same strengths. But, if Sandoval continues to struggle, the Sox will need to call on someone down the stretch.
Also, to those wondering why shortstop wasn’t addressed during the busy trade deadline the club had, the likely reason if not the biggest benefactor of that had his first action since May on Sunday. He went 1-2 with a double. In this floundering lineup, at his best, Trevor Story is someone who can add some pop. But Story can be streaky as well, so here’s hoping September 2026 Story can be similar to end of 2025 Story – a guy who the team counted on to get a big hit or at least be a sound fielder.
While the WooSox took some time to drum up some offense on a rehabbing Spencer Arrighetti, who the Blue Jays acquired for Daulton Varsho, a home run by a raking Mikey Romero (at least lately) and a very late shot by Jason Delay should have sealed the deal for Worcester, but instead they were left scrambling to overcome an early deficit given up by Holobetz and Devin Sweet. But, it’s better that type of performance happens in Worcester than in Boston, er, Pittsburgh this weekend.
Portland: L, 6-8 (BOX SCORE)
Jack Winnay’s seventeenth homer of 2026 and sixth in Double-A. One other single early in the game. Two more hits by a slumping Will Turner and Henry Godbout, just the infielder’s second since his promotion last week. There was not a ton of offense Sunday, but the team made the most of drawing five walks in the finale against Binghamton (Mets AA) and plating those walks, as they went 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Sadly, though, this was a bullpen game, Reidis Sena didn’t make it out of the first before giving up a home run, Morgan McSweeney allowed four runs and as many hits, and the Sea Dogs’ lack of later offense came back to bite them as the RumblePonies broke a 6-6 tie in the eighth and stayed on top.
Greenville: L, 12-15 (F/12) (BOX SCORE)
In a game where there were a total of 50 at-bats with runners in scoring position, Greenville had plenty of hits, going 9-for-27 (.333) in that category. Out of the nine hole, Antonio Anderson took a sure defeat at the hands of Spartanburg (Astros High-A) and smacked a ball over the fence to get this game to a twelfth inning. There, the Drive allowed four runs resulting from keeping Trennor O’Donnell in for a fourth inning (or technically fifth, but a fourth full inning) and could only score the Manfred runner in their half. It was a slight surprise they even got to that point in the game, as Matt Duffy also couldn’t get out of the first without giving a couple runs up, but fourteen hits certainly helped matters. Committing four errors and stranding seventeen runners, however, did not.
Salem: L, 5-8 (BOX SCORE)
Jose Bello at least made it through four innings in Delmarva (Orioles A) but he let two home runs out of the park and, stop me if you’ve heard this before, left Salem playing catchup earlier than desired. Kleyvar Salazar put the game within striking distance with his tenth home run of 2026 in the seventh inning, but that hit was the only one with runners on the RidgeYaks achieved all afternoon, and that puncher’s chance become very slim as the game grew longer.