Minor Notes: Triple-A season begins; Song needs Tommy John surgery

Spring training has officially concluded, and Boston and Worcester have started their seasons. The rest of the full-season affiliates begin play on Friday. For a full look at current and projected rosters, please check out our Projected Rosters page, which includes the major league and minor league squads. 

-----

Worcester wins opening series

The WooSox opened the season on the road in Lehigh Valley, taking two out of three games from the IronPigs. David Hamilton (pictured) and Romy González homered twice over the three games, with Hamilton going deep for the third straight year on Opening Day. Brian Van Belle turned in the best pitching performance of the weekend, striking out six over five shutout innings. 

Rosters affected by injuries

Several players who were projected to start the year in the majors or upper minors are dealing with injuries of varying significance. Boston placed Vaughn Grissom (left hamstring strain) and Rob Refsnyder (left toe fracture) on the 10-day injured list. Boston also placed Bryan Mata (right hamstring strain) on the 15-day injured list. Injuries continue to plague Mata, who has just over 100 innings pitched since the end of the 2019 season. As expected, the Red Sox placed Chris Murphy (left UCL sprain) on the 60-day injured list. Murphy is expected to require season-ending surgery to repair a torn UCL in his pitching elbow. 

The biggest injury news of the week was that Noah Song will undergo Tommy John surgery. It is a tough blow for Song, who hoped 2024 would be his first fully healthy minor league season. Another new injury that broke this week was Brandon Walter being placed on the injured list with a left rotator cuff strain. There is currently no timeline for his return. 

Trades

The Red Sox completed two trades over the last week. In the first trade, they sent Christian Koss to San Francisco. While no return was listed, it was most likely for cash considerations. Koss was acquired from Colorado in exchange for Yoan Aybar in December 2020. Koss was solid for Greenville and Portland in 2021 and 2022, but his offense dropped off in 2023 between Portland and Worcester. 

In the second trade, Boston acquired Naoyuki Uwasawa from Tampa Bay for cash considerations. He was added to the 40-man roster and optioned to the FCL. The 30-year-old right-handed pitcher spent nine seasons with the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan. He was posted and signed by Tampa Bay this offseason but triggered an assignment clause in March after not making the Rays' 40-man roster. In 2023 he threw 170 innings with a 2.96 ERA and 124 strikeouts. 

2024 SoxProspects Pre-Season All-Stars

Nine position players and seven pitchers were named Pre-Season All-Stars. The Portland roster is featured prominently on the position player list, while the pitchers are spread evenly between Worcester, Portland, and Greenville. 

Opening Day Podcast

Chris and Ian reunite to break down the rosters for Boston and Worcester, while also going through injury updates, recent transactions, and e-mails. 

New wave of players released

12 players were released over the last week, with four seeing significant time in the system. Stephen Scott, Franklin German, Dylan Spacke, and Albertson Asigen were the more tenured players to be released. Ruben De La Cruz, Aaron Liranzo, Daury Pena, Argeny Sanchez, Gabriel Mavarez, Jhoan Solarte, Geiser Figueroa, and Nathanael German were also released from the Dominican Summer League.

Both Scott (35) and German (22) peaked in the top 40 of the site's rankings at one time. German was acquired along with Adam Ottavino from the New York Yankees as part of a trade for New York to shed salary in 2021. German was named the 2022 Red Sox Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year and got a brief cup of coffee with Boston at the end of that season. His control regressed significantly in 2023 as his walk rate approximately doubled from the prior year. 

Two of the released players quickly found new homes. Scott has already landed with Detroit on a minor-league deal. The 26-year-old hit .228/.339/.470 in 215 at-bats with Worcester last season. Reports are that Scott asked for his release. Asigen, who hit .322/.437/.439 in 56 games between the FCL and Salem, was picked up by the White Sox.

Key links

Alex Speier of the Boston Globe is reporting that from Portland on down, the organization will employ six-man rotations. With most teams playing Tuesday through Sunday, the teams will use multi-inning relievers behind them. 

Tim Crowley of NESN.com posted two articles covering key players on the Worcester roster. The first is on pitching prospect Richard Fitts, who earned the win in his final spring training appearance. He fired 3 1/3 scoreless innings against the major league roster for the defending champion Texas Rangers. The second article is on Chase Meidroth as he preps for his Triple-A debut. 

Photo Credit: David Hamilton by Kelly O'Connor

Tweet