Minor Notes: Mullins, Clarke, and Arias promoted; Anthony and Mayer stay hot

The first wave of promotions for the 2025 season are here, with three of the system's top 30 prospects moving up the ladder. Reinforcements are on the way for Boston with a couple of key players nearing returns, and Worcester's bats did a lot of damage in a seven-game series against Syracuse. 

Mullins to Portland; Clarke and Arias to Greenville

Three of the system's top performers are getting promoted, with left-handers Hayden Mullins and Brandon Clarke going to Portland and Greenville, respectively, while shortstop Franklin Arias (pictured, left) will join Clarke in Greenville. Beyond the Monster's Andrew Parker was the first to report the promotions.

Mullins is second in the system with 27 strikeouts, and he has done that while only walking three in 17 innings. His ERA was 1.06 with the Drive this season after he posted a 3.94 ERA in 89 innings with the Drive last season. Clarke's numbers were equally fantastic in Salem, as he pitched to a 0.93 ERA and struck out 17 while walking two in his 9 2/3 frames. Arias reached base in each of his first 16 games for Salem, and finished with a .346/.407/.397 line over 78 at-bats. Nazzan Zanetello had been getting most of the reps at shortstop for Greenville, but had struggled to a .203/.354/.297 line thus far. 

New Podcast episode

Chris and Ian were back on Thursday with a new episode of the podcast, and they discussed when fans may see Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer in the big leagues as they continue to feast on Triple-A pitching. They also discussed the major league pitching staff, and answered several reader e-mails. 

Wong begins rehab assignment

It has been a quick return from a fractured pinky for Connor Wong. The fracture happened on April 7, and on April 27 he started a rehab assignment. He was behind the plate and went 2 for 4 with an RBI in his first game with Worcester. 

Giolito set to make Boston debut on Wednesday

Red Sox manager Alex Cora announced that Lucas Giolito will start Wednesday's game against the Blue Jays. It will be Giolito's first start with the Red Sox since signing with the team prior to the 2024 season. He underwent an internal brace procedure on March 12, 2024, and he made five rehab starts in 2025. The results have been poor, as he pitched to a 5.19 ERA over 17 1/3 innings. He walked 13 and struck out 17. In his most recent start on Friday, he went 4 2/3 innings and threw 85 pitches (47 strikes). 

Transactions

• On Wednesday Josh Winckowski needed 80 pitches to get through three innings against the Mariners. The next day he was optioned to Worcester, with Luis Guerrero taking his place in the big league bullpen.
• Worcester added Gabriel Jackson and Jonathan Brand from Portland, and they placed Jacob Webb on the injured list with a left oblique strain.
• In Portland, Max Ferguson was activated from the injured list, while CJ Liu got transferred to the 60-day injured list. Liu has missed all of 2025 so far with shoulder tightness. 

Where are they now?

• Former Red Sox outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. has been hired by ESPN as a college baseball analyst. The 2018 ALCS MVP will do both studio and in-game analysis for the SEC network. Bradley had a decorated college career at the University of South Carolina. In 2009 he was named a consensus Freshman All-American. He then helped South Carolina win back-to-back national championships in 2010 and 2011, and the 2011 team went undefeated in College World Series play. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of the College World Series in 2010. 

Players of the Week for April 21-27

Marcelo Mayer, 2B/3B/SS, Worcester Red Sox

6 G, 20 AB, 9 H, 3 2B, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 7 R, 3 BB, 4 K, .450/.480/1.050

This was Roman Anthony's award to lose after he started the week 7 for 14 with a home run and five walks. But he missed the doubleheader on Sunday after fouling a ball off his foot on Friday. Mayer (pictured, right) went 4 for 7 with a home run and six RBI on Sunday to come out on top. Over his last 10 games Mayer is batting .385/.435/.872 while rotating between second base, third base, and shortstop. He now has 34 RBI in 23 games, and he leads the International League in that category by 13. A healthy start to the season while showing plus power and defensive versatility is everything that fans could have hoped for Mayer in 2025. Mayer also topped this week's Baseball America Hot Sheet, and was named the International League Player of the Week. 

Payton Tolle, LHP, Greenville Drive

1 G, 0-0, 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K

Tolle's professional career got off to a rough start as he allowed six runs in 1 2/3 innings in his debut. But he bounced back with four innings of one-run ball in his second start, and his third start was the best in the system last week. He struck out nine batters in four innings and recorded 12 swinging strikes. The 6-foot-6 left-hander was drafted in the second round in 2024, and he looks to be finding his footing in High-A. 

Trennor O'Donnell was named the Pitcher of the Week for the Carolina League. O'Donnell earned a win while tossing five shutout frames with seven strikeouts. 

Photo Credit: Franklin Arias and Marcelo Mayer by Kelly O'Connor

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