Minor Notes: Kavadas mashes, Monegro and Romero start rehab
Injury News
Much of the week's news came on the injury front, where several injured major and minor leaguers began rehab stints. Bryan Bello started for Portland on Tuesday before rejoining the big club for Sunday's start. Nick Pivetta and Romy Gonzalez were activated on Wednesday after tuneups with Worcester. Among minor leaguers, Mikey Romero spent the week in Fort Myers where he went 5 for 11 with the FCL Sox. Yordanny Monegro and Chih-Jung Liu also pitched in the FCL, throwing three innings apiece in Thursday's victory. Bryan Mata made his first appearance of the season on Monday, throwing two innings for the FCL Sox.
Not all of the injury news was positive, with a trio of top-20 prospects going on the shelf. The worst fears were confirmed about the knee injury to Johanfran Garcia, as it was confirmed that the catcher has a torn ACL and will miss the rest of the 2024 season. Blaze Jordan was carted off the field with a finger fracture, and he is expected to miss several weeks. David Sandlin was scratched from his start on Saturday due to forearm tightness. He was placed on the 7-day injured list.
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Transaction Action
Mostly due to injury list activations, the team made a number of moves this week:
- The time in the organization for Zack Short was... brief. The infielder was designated for assignment upon Gonzalez's activation, and was traded to Atlanta the following day for cash considerations.
- Nayouki Uwasawa was optioned to Worcester on Wednesday with Pivetta rejoining the big club, and Josh Winckowski followed on Sunday upon Bello's activation.
- Ryan Zeferjahn was promoted to Worcester. The 2019 third-round draft pick was dominant to start the year with Portland, allowing just two runs (neither earned) in 13 2/3 innings with the Sea Dogs, striking 22 against only three walks. He pitched twice last week, earning his first Triple-A save on Saturday with two scoreless innings.
- Christopher Troye was moved to the development list, likely to retool after his velocity (and results) had been down in recent outings.
- Brandon Walter was moved to the minor league 60-day injured list. This will not free up a spot on the 40-man roster, but will create space on the organization's 165-player domestic reserve list.
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Podcast #316
Chris rejoined Ian on the podcast as they discussed Ian's recent week-long scouting trip to Portland. He gives reports and feedback on several of the system's top prospects, and that's the bottom line because the SoxProspects.com Podcast Team says so.
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Players of the Week for May 6 - 12
Niko Kavadas, 1B/DH, Worcester
6 G, 9-18, 3 HR, 3 BB, 4 RBI, .500/.591/1.056
Kavadas added three more home runs during last week's series with Buffalo, giving him an organization-leading nine on the season. The final home run of the week broke a fifth-inning tie to give the WooSox a lead they would not relinquish, part of a three-hit day for the 25-year-old Notre Dame product. He is currently ranked 57th in the system.
Juan Daniel Encarnacion, RHP, Greenville
5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 6 K, 1 BB
Encarnacion gets the nod for his dominant outing in Saturday's loss to Hickory. Encarnacion went five hitless innings, retiring the first 13 batters he faced, including six via strikeout. A hit batsman and walk in the fifth inning spoiled the perfect game bid, but did not deny him South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Week accolades. All the more impressive was that Encarnacion did not find out until warmups that he was getting the start--the 23-year-old righty stepped in when David Sandlin was scratched.
Photo Credit: Niko Kavada by Kelly O'Connor