Worcester: W, 15-1 (BOX SCORE)
Many will love the Franklin Arias move to Triple-A so he can showcase his power and contact tools at the next level, facing guys who have pitched in the Majors before. On Thursday, while their old manager (and current Major League manager) Chad Tracy was inducted into the WooSox Hall of Fame Class of 2026, the team didn’t even need the 20-year-old infielder to pop off against guys who have made their debut in the Show, such as Braxton Garrett and Amos Willingham. Behind Raymond Burgos’ best start
of the year (in which he retired eleven batters in a row at one point), all they did was collect 18 hits, 9 with runners in scoring position, and six extra-base hits. Andrew Knizner got on base six times, Allan Castro hit a home run in the seventh that put an exclamation mark on the game, Braiden Ward had three hits at the bottom of the lineup, and simply put, the WooSox dominated the Jumbo Shrimp. (Marlins AAA)
Portland: W, 3-2 (BOX SCORE)
John Holobetz had a fantastic performance along with the rest of the pitching staff; the staff as a whole held Binghamton (Mets AA) scoreless all the way until the ninth, but Holobetz was the clear standout, striking out ten and keeping the Sea Dogs in the contest. Which leads us to the biggest story of the minor league system right now: in Franklin Arias’ final game in Portland, all he did was hit his 19th home run of 2026, which, in a one-run game, made all the difference. The team announced on Thursday night that he’d be joining the Triple-A roster, as the promising prospect will be taking the trip down 95 south… or, since I guess they’re in Binghamton, he’ll be going 88 to the Thruway to the Pike. Anyway! This is big news. Many in the 2025 Mikey Romero camp have departed it for reasons not entirely his fault, so this gives them another infielder to watch until Jack Winnay inevitably tears the cover off the ball next year. I do not see Arias getting promoted again at his young age, and I also don’t see him being any part of a trade to bolster this year’s roster; he seems untouchable and really a piece the team wants to make sure develops correctly (however arbitrary “correctly” is)… but baseball is baseball and we’ll have to see.
Greenville: PPD, Rain (Make-Up Today)
Rain, rain, go away. The Drive play two against Spartanburg (Astros High-A) today. (Rhyme intentional)
Salem: W, 8-7 (BOX SCORE)
The pitching wasn’t exactly at the top of their game in hosting Greensboro (Braves A), but they didn’t have to be. They did strike fourteen out despite allowing seven runs on ten hits and walking nine, and those strikeouts played a part in the Green Jackets stranding a dozen, which Salem took full advantage of. Kleyvar Salazar had his second consecutive home run with a game (I’m still convinced he was about to hit one when Tuesday’s game was rained out) and due to three consecutive innings with runs, the RidgeYaks were able to hold off a ninth inning rally to narrowly escape with a W.
