Braves fall to Red Sox 8-2 in Spring Breakout showcase

The Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves sent their top prospects to Fort Myers for their spring breakout game to showcase their top prospects. Atlanta struggled on both sides of the ball, but some of their young players still stood out.

Boston takes an early lead

Boston sent out their top pitching prospect Wikelman Gonzalez to start this game, and he didn’t look that great for them. Gonzalez struggled to get anything in the zone against the Braves, but the lineup couldn’t take advantage and put up any runs early. Nacho Alvarez worked a walk in the first inning, but couldn’t advance further and the inning was ended when a hot shot by Sabin Ceballos was snagged on a diving play by Boston’s third baseman Chase Meidroth. In the second inning it was Isaiah Drake who got on base, and he caused a bit of chaos as he stole second base. He and Luke Waddell who walked next both pulled off a double steal, but it was inexplicably called back for batter interference, presumably. The call wasn’t exactly explained and it seemed even the NESN commentators were unsure why the double steal was called off. This would loom large. In that same at bat Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. put a soft liner into the outfield, and center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela made a good running play then doubled off Drake at second base who had drifted far too much towards third base. Diego Benitez grounded out, ending the rally.

Braves starter Owen Murphy had command problems in his own right, though he struggled more in the zone than out of it. Murphy struggled to locate his curveball and slider, and wasn’t able to force the whiffs to put away hitters. Murphy would allow a one out walk in the second inning to MIguel Bleis, and Bleis stole second base and then scored on a Nick Yorke base hit. Finally Murphy would get out of it when Yorke was caught stealing on a good throw from Drake Baldwin, but Boston took a 1-0 lead into the third inning. After the Braves went down in order in the third Murphy was back on the mound and would take on the nine spot and the top of the Red Sox order. Murphy struggled to kick off the inning by allowing a hit and a walk, and it was clear he was beginning to get frustrated with some ball/strike calls that he thought he should get. Murphy would bounce back, dropping in a slow curve to freeze Marcelo Mayer for his first strikeout. Unfortunately he couldn’t escape, with Kyle Teel taking a first pitch breaking ball into right field for an RBI double. That ended the day for Murphy, and Patrick Halligan had a tough assignment with two runners in scoring position.

Bullpen time

The game was immediately broken open, with Ceddanne Rafaela absolutely smashing a hanging slider for a three-run home run. Halligan retired the next two to end the inning, but the damage was done. The Braves saw six batters straight retired after that earlier Waddell walk, until finally Sabin Ceballos worked a walk to lead off the fourth inning. Isaiah Drake followed that up by splitting the gap on the first pitch, tripling to drive in Ceballos with the Braves first hit of the game. Luke Waddell followed by cracking a high fastball the opposite way for a single to cut the Boston lead to 5-2. Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. would ground out to end the inning.

Murphy would return to pitch the fourth inning (gotta love spring training rules), and immediately gave up a double off of the center field wall. Blaze Jordan followed with a hard liner into center fielder, but Luis Guanipa tracked it down for the first out. In the inning Drake would leave the game with an injury, potentially a cramp, after chasing down a pop up into foul territory. On the play he stepped right on the cutout of the grass and warning track and then tumbled awkwardly, so he could have hurt it there but didn’t pull up until he was walking back into position. Murphy’s day would end with a sacrifice fly, putting Boston up 6-2. Domingo Gonzalez came in to finish the inning and immediately issued a walk, but buried a slider for a strikeout of Mayer to end the inning.

Update from Mark Bowman

Finally in the fifth inning we got the chance to watch Spencer Schwellenbach pitch. Schwellenbach got off to a rough start, giving up a deep fly out, then a hit, then a walk on a borderline 3-2 pitch. After this Allan Castro put another run on the board by knocking through a base hit. Schwellenbach would carve up Edinson Paulino for his first strikeout, then backed that up with a nasty slider to whiff Blaze Jordan for the third out. Schwellenbach would work through the sixth inning without allowing a run, and he got some help from the defense. Nacho Alvarez made a great play up the middle, getting the first out of the inning and saving Schwellenbach from a jam after he allowed a leadoff single. Schwellenbach then got a strikeout and a ground out to Sabin Ceballos to end the inning.

The Braves struggled on offense in the fifth and sixth inning, but Cody Milligan finally got them started in the seventh. He cracked a line drive into right field and the defender made a...curious read to allow the ball over his head and over the wall for a ground rule double. Ambioris Tavarez would follow by drawing a walk, but the next two batters went down quickly leaving Bryson Horne as Atlanta’s final hope in the game. Horne popped out weakly to left to end the competitive portion of the game, though the two teams would play the bottom of the inning to finish out. Luis Guanipa finished 0-3 in the game, but looked solid and put up three good at bats with solid contact in all of them. Schwellenbach issued a walk as he lost the leadoff batter in the bottom of the seventh after going up 1-2, then a passed ball from Tyler Tolve allowed the runner to move up a base. Alvarez made another solid pick on a chopping ground out and a strong throw for the first out of the inning. Tolve dropped another ball right in his glove to allow the runner to move to third as it seemed communication between he and Schwellenbach was breaking down a bit. These defensive mistakes would lead to a run as Schwellenbach allowed an RBI single to Allan Castro to extend Boston’s lead to 8-2. The game would end as Schwellenbach forced a groundball over to second base and Tavarez and Alvarez turned a smooth double play to end it.