Red Sox Minor Lines 7/6: Vaughn Grissom has himself a day

The Red Sox are now winners of five of six and comfortably above .500 (well, not very comfortably, but, alas…) but most of the AL is not laying down (how dare they!) Still, are the recent wins and an upcoming series against Colorado having us Red Sox faithful thinking Breslow might buy at the deadline? I’m not convinced, personally, and I think they’ll be doing a little of both, as has been the mantra for four years running, spanning two CBOs. But, if they were buyers, there’s certainly no shortage of names who are ready for the next level who are increasing their value. Let’s get into it.

Worcester: W, 8-7 (BOX SCORE)

Never mind that Cooper Criswell went just four outs in this game, and that being taken yard by a rehabbing Jesse Winker in the first rattled him for the rest of his appearance. Never mind that Chad Tracy had to use five pitchers to bring this one home. Never mind that the 5-through-7 holes in the lineup went hitless even with Blake Sabol being pinch-hit for Seby Zavala, who played catcher for the duration of the game (I’m still team let one of these guys go, demote Wong, promote Hickey, and promote Koloszvary from Double-A, but…). Never mind that Kristian Campbell, who, by the way, played error-free baseball at first, among a sea of solid hitters Sunday, struck out three times, contributing to the WooSox stranding seven.

The two teams traded blows, the Mets getting off to a 4-1 lead in the first only for the second frame to be reversed leading to a 5-5 tie game. Nick Sogard was exceptional, getting the lineup to the next batter with his three hits, who (struck out but then) got it to the next batter, Vaughn Grissom, who had himself a day with both a double and a home run. It was his twenty-second double and eighth home run of the season, the two hits combined gave the team almost a 30% expected winning added window, and suddenly I’m thinking of all the infographics of what the Chris Sale trade actually netted us when Grissom — who looks expendable with ALL-STAR ALEX BREGMAN returning, Trevor Story raking all of a sudden, and Marcelo Mayer playing solid baseball — undoubtedly gets shipped off at the deadline.

Portland: L, 5-10 (BOX SCORE)

Connelly Early was bound to have a bad day at some point this season, and it came on Sunday afternoon against New Hampshire (Jays AA) where everyone was GTSI. For those unfamiliar with wrestling lingo, that’s getting their expletive in. The Sea Dogs pitching staff, including Noah Song, collectively got tagged for ten runs on fourteen hits while walking seven, and that is not good even if Song did go scoreless and the staff as a whole struck thirteen Fisher Cats out. It’s a shame it came on a day the lineup raked, though; the game took an unheard-of (in Double A) 3 hours and 3 minutes. James Tibbs went 2-for-4 with a walk and launched his first home run in the organization, and outfielder Allan Castro actually completed the two most difficult legs of a cycle. In the spirit of trade deadline discussions, I can see Castro, who’s slashing .301/.381/.470, making his debut at some point in 2026, too, just probably not here.

Greenville: L, 5-6 (F/10) (BOX SCORE)

Joe Holobetz struck out eight in five innings amongst a Greenville staff who sat fifteen Tourists (Astros High-A) down Sunday afternoon, but that was with fourteen hits given up and there was a blown save in the midst and the Drive went down to .500 (40-40) on the season. Franklin Arias and Password’s brother Johanfran had five hits between them, but a third of the lineup went hitless on and the Drive were also a victim of strikeouts, getting shut down thirteen times.

Salem: L, 5-6 (F/10) (BOX SCORE)

To avoid reading another full descriptor on a one-run game, you can just leave the commentary at the above meme. But this actually was a good game for Salem offensively and defensively in Lynchburg (Guardians A), just, ya know, not, like, good enough to win. Luis Cohen went six strong innings but struck out just two, and the relief got just one K the rest of the night, and, ya know, got walked off. The bats started strong with a first-inning two-run shot by Enddy Azocar. Justin Gonzales had two doubles. But 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position wasn’t good enough to protect against a four-run ninth inning for the Hillcats. By the way, never look up guys on Fangraphs, because you’ll see guys being born in 2007 are playing professional baseball, and that will also make you, who, hypothetically, could have born in 1993, feel like the above meme.

Have a happy Monday!