And the Woo Sox were 3-hit in the only action on Thursday.
With a lackluster performance from the only level that played yesterday, it feels more appropriate to preview the true MiLB Opening Day that lies ahead on Friday. After today, Minor Lines will be covering the daily games from four levels:
AAA: Worcester Red Sox (Worcester, MA) – Record 2-3
AA: Portland Sea Dogs (Portland, ME)
High-A: Greenville Drive (Greenville, SC)
Low-A: Salem Red Sox (Salem, VA)
For an overview of which prospects were assigned to the various levels, Sox Prospects has everything broken down in great detail here:
https://www.soxprospects.com/org.htm
If you are an MLB TV subscriber, you can watch all minor league games for no additional charge. Even if you are not, there are a select number of games available for free each day. Here is a preview of MiLB Opening Day from the MiLB website:
https://www.mlb.com/milb/news/minor-league-opening-day-part-2?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage
For the Red Sox affiliates, here are their opening matchups on Friday:
Portland Sea Dogs (SP: Tyler Uberstine) at Reading Fighting Phils (PHI – SP: Jean Cabrera). First Pitch 6:45 ET.
Bowling Green Hot Rods (TB – SP: TBD) at Greenville Drive (SP: Hayden Mullins). First Pitch 6:45 ET.
Delmarva Shorebirds (BAL – SP: Chase Allsup) at Salem Red Sox (SP: Blake Aita). First Pitch 6:35 ET.
In terms of Thursday’s action:
Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 5, Worcester Red Sox 1 (BOX)
milb.com
The Woo Sox bats were stymied by Jacksonville starter Janson Junk, a name that could only belong to a baseball player. Junk threw five innings to get the win, allowing one run on three hits, walking one and striking out six. As pitching names go, I’d rather be Robert Gasser than Janson Junk. The only run Junk allowed was on an RBI single by Nate Eaton, scoring Blake Sabol to tie the game at 1-1 in the second. That was all the Woo Sox offense could put up on just a 3-hit day as a team.
Quinn Priester got his first start and went four innings, allowing six hits and two runs while striking out six. Priester averaged 94.9 with his fastball (sinker), maxing out at 96.6. His most effective pitch was the slider, throwing it 26% of the time and getting 6 whiffs on 14 swings (43% Whiffs).
Josh Winckowski relieved Priester, also giving up six hits over three innings, allowing one earned run, and striking out four. Isaiah Campbell gave up a run in the eighth.
Roman Anthony was 0-for-3 with a walk and 3 K’s, hitting .188 in a very short five-game sample. Marcelo Mayer was 0-for-4, hitting .238.
On Friday at 7:05 ET, Shane Drohan (1-0, 0.00) will take the mound against Jacksonville’s Robinson Pina (1-0, 3.60).