Boston Red Sox Prospect Watch: Debut steals the headlines
By Hunter Noll
Brayan Bello’s MLB debut headlines this week’s Red Sox Prospect Watch
The Boston Red Sox Prospect Watch this week has a lot of big performances. That’s all overshadowed by the MLB debut of a certain top prospect.
Brayan Bello made his Major League debut this week. It didn’t go great, but there was a lot to love. The right-handed pitcher allowed four runs on six hits and three walks (two strikeouts) over four innings. He had some issues but could’ve gotten out of a lot of trouble if a few things went slightly different. Bello starts again on Monday and if anyone is actually worried after one start (or even a few starts) they never wanted him to succeed in the first place. Have some patience, please.
Josh Winckowski had some issues in his start this week. The righty gave up six runs on six hits and five walks (two strikeouts) over five innings. Overall, he’s been really strong so far though so it’s no big deal. Wink has a 4.35 ERA, .289 BAA, and 1.52 WHIP over 31 innings in the Majors this year.
Kutter Crawford is back in the rotation due to injuries and wow was he clutch this week. The right-hander made two appearances. He combined to give up one run on six hits and three walks over 10 1/3 innings. Crawford struck out 14 batters in that time. He’s down to a 4.50 ERA, .239 BAA, 1.43 WHIP, and 38 strikeouts over 30 big league innings this season.
Jeter Downs was absolutely crushing it in Triple-A since that one-game-stint in the Majors. He’s suddenly slashing .217/.339/.472 with 10 doubles, one triple, and 16 homers. He’s driven in 32 runs, scored 52 more, and stolen 18 bases.
In 67 games he’s that close to a 20-20 season. Now back in the Majors, he’s made some plays. That included his first MLB hit (driving in a run in the ninth and eventually being the winning run on an Alex Verdugo walk-off single). He’s also made a great play in the field and drove in another run the next night.
The Red Sox are dealing with a wild amount of injuries at the moment and thankfully they’ve been able to pluck guys from Worcester to fill the gaps. Even better, a lot of the damage that’s been done the last two nights against the Yankees has been done by guys who started their seasons in the minors and then got themselves ready for the call. You love to see it.