WORCESTER –– It was Minor League Opening Day in Worcester on Friday afternoon, but the Triple-A WooSox game was more major than minor.
Six of the nine hitters in Friday’s lineup have already made their major league debuts: Jarren Duran, Bobby Dalbec, Jorge Alfaro, Daniel Palka, Niko Goodrum and Greg Allen.
Palka and Allen each had two-hit games, and each contributed a home run; Allen’s fourth-inning grand slam opened the floodgates. By game’s end, the WooSox had beaten the Syracuse Mets, 11-2, despite both teams collecting 10 hits.
Garrett Whitlock headlined the show.
A Rule 5 steal from the Yankees, Whitlock went four innings, and allowed one run (earned) on six hits, walked one, and struck out six. His velocity sat in the mid- 90s, but dropped a few mph lower as the outing went on.
He’d thrown 63 pitches over four innings in his last outing in Florida, so the Red Sox were hoping for five on Friday. Pitch count, 75 to be exact (50 for strikes), limited him to four.
The 26-year-old righty was with the big-league club for the home opener at Fenway on Thursday before heading out to Worcester for a couple of rehab games. It’s technically a stint on the injured list, but he’s not hurt per se; the Red Sox were careful not to rush his preseason program after his season-ending hip surgery last September. The expectation is that he’ll be ready to be activated around April 11, the earliest available date per the parameters of the 15-day IL.
“Just getting built up” has been his focus, he said Thursday. “That’s really it. You know, just making sure the hips hold strong and you know, just trying to fine-tune every every pitch again. I feel great right now. So I think again, just the thing is just get built up and ready to be back with the team.”
Technically, Whitlock will be back at Fenway on Saturday, so that he can meet with the team and find out where his next rehab appearance will be. The WooSox go to Buffalo next week, so Double-A Portland is the logical location.
David Hamilton set an organizational record last year with 70 stolen bases at Double-A, a feat that, unsurprisingly, earned him the organizational honor of Minor League Baserunner of the Year.
The 25-year-old infielder got down to business in his Triple-A debut on Friday, swiping his first bag in the bottom of the first inning. He went for a second in the seventh, but got caught stealing. No other WooSox player attempted a steal.
Batting second in the lineup behind Duran (1-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB), Hamilton broke up a 1-1 tie with a solo home run in the bottom of the third. He finished the day 3-for-5 with a run, two RBI and two strikeouts.
Ryan Sherriff impressed in his season debut, pitching a 1-2-3 eighth inning.
The 32-year-old lefty is a candidate for the major league bullpen, which only has one lefty, Richard Bleier, at the moment. Joely Rodríguez is on the 15-day injured list with a Grade 2 oblique strain, and there’s no timetable for his return.
Sherriff debuted with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017, and spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays. He has a 3.65 ERA in 44 1/3 career regular-season innings, and hasn’t allowed a major league home run since 2018. He also made two one-inning appearances for the Rays in the 2020 World Series, and didn’t allow a hit.
It was an impressive day for the bullpen, in general. In five relief innings, five pitchers held Syracuse to four hits, one run, four walks, and seven strikeouts.