April 5, 2026 at 7:00 AM
Cup of Coffee: Sogard stays hot at the plate, Eyanson makes pro debut in Greenville
It was a day full of headlines across the Boston farm system. Nick Sogard continued his torrid start to 2026 in a Worcester win while John Holobetz dazzled for Portland. Down in Greenville, a pair of 2025 draft picks made their pro debuts on the mound.
The WooSox flexed their power on Saturday, scoring all of their runs from home runs. Mickey Gasper started the day offensively for Worcester with a two-run shot in the top of the first, which drove in Nick Sogard, who walked to start the game. In the third frame, Sogard would add his third home run of the young season with a solo shot. Nate Eaton followed the infielder with his first big fly to cap off a back-to-back attack. The final tally of the day came off the bat of Tsung-Che-Chung who connected with his second home run to put Worcester out to a 5-0 lead after four innings.
On the mound, Jake Bennett was stellar in his second appearance. Over five innings of work, the left-hander held St. Paul scoreless while allowing a single hit with two walks and five strikeouts added to his line. Jacob Webb followed Bennett with a pair of scoreless innings before Kyle Keller ran into trouble in the eighth. Keller was charged for three earned runs on four hits (one home run) and a walk. Tayron Guerrero came on in the ninth and grabbed his second save of the year with a scoreless ninth.
Three Portland pitchers combined for the shutout as John Holobetz turned in a strong outing in his first start of the year. After posting a 3.03 ERA in 2025, the right-hander tossed five shoutout frames along with a pair of hits, pair of walks and three strikeouts. While Holobetz was keeping Somerset scoreless, the Sea Dogs scored its lone run of the game in the third. After Tyler McDonough reached on a fielder's choice, he stole second, advanced to third on a single by Nate Baez and eventually scored on an RBI groundout from Ronald Rosario.
After Holobetz, Isaac Coffey pitched the following two innings, allowing a single hit but preventing any runs from scoring. After Coffey, Erik Rivera earned a two-inning save with a scoreless eighth and ninth with three strikeouts.
Anthony Eyanson made his first appearance in professional baseball as he got the start. The third round pick in last year's draft struck out six over three innings with just a solo home run standing as the only blemish on his line while throwing 33 of his 51 pitches for strikes. Fellow draft pick Marcus Phillips relieved Eyanson in what was hoping to be a bulk outing. Phillips struggled with his command and managed to only get two outs in the fourth inning before being taken out. The right-hander walked three, gave up three hits and three runs. Calvin Bickerstaff came on after Phillips and pitched well over 3 1/3 innings, allowing no runs with two strikeouts. P.J. Labriola struggled in the eighth and ninth inning, allowing five runs on just two hits (both home runs) while only recording four outs.
Offensively, Yoeilin Cespedes stayed hot at the plate with a 3-for-5 outing with his fourth double of the season. Justin Gonzales also belted his second home run in as many days, sending an eighth-inning pitch over the left field wall. Jack Winnay added a hit and walked twice in the contest as well.
It was another pro debut for one of the 2025 draft picks as Christian Foutch earned the start and struck out a pair of hitters over three scoreless innings. Foutch departed with the RidgeYaks leading 2-0 after Salem plated a pair of runs in the second inning. With two outs in the inning, Avinson Pinto reached base on a throwing error and Stanley Tucker followed him with a single, sending Pinto to third. With Frederik Jimenez at the plate, a wild pitch scored Pinto and sent Tucker to second. The very next batter, Tucker stole third base and came home to score on another throwing error. The RidgeYaks added a run in the fifth on a Luke Heyman run-scoring single and two in the eighth on an RBI walk by Jimenez and a wild pitch that plated Pinto for the second time.
Following Foutch on the mound, Devin Futrell pitched in bulk relief and held Delmarva scoreless over four innings while striking out six. After Harry Blum pitched a scoreless eighth, Griffin Kilander allowed three runs and had the tying run on second base before closing the game out for the victory.
Player of the Day: Arguably no one in the Boston organization has been off to a hotter start to 2026 than Nick Sogard. After a 1-for-3 day with two walks and a home run on Saturday, the infielder is slashing .368/.571/.895 with three home runs, six runs batted in along with a 9-to-2 walk to strikeout ratio. Sogard has tapped into his power early on after only hitting five home runs with Worcester across 91 games last season.
Photo Credit: Nick Sogard by Kelly O'Connor