Ballou on Baseball - August 4, 2026

There is nothing new in baseball but there is plenty of unusual, and historic.

For professional baseball fans in Massachusetts, there may have been times as good as these, but there could never have been better. The Bay State’s two pro teams, the Red Sox of Boston and their partner in Worcester, have combined to go 20-4 for the last two weeks, 44-12 since June 28.

As hot as the Boston Red Sox are, the Worcester Red Sox are even hotter. Boston is 9-3 in its last 12 games, Worcester 11-1.

Why the respective managers, Chad Tracy in the majors and Iggy Suarez here, have not been rewarded by having “interim” and “acting” removed from their titles is a mystery. Boston has fought its way into a playoff spot under Tracy. The WooSox are challenging to reach the post-season for the first time in their history with Suarez at the helm.

Worcester is scheduled to play its next 12 games at Polar Park with series versus Lehigh Valley and Buffalo. The WooSox are 28-21 at home this year. They have won their last seven straight here. Worcester is 11-2 in its last 13 games at Polar Park.

Overall, the WooSox are 2 1/2 games behind S-W-B, the leader in the second half standings

The last Worcester pro baseball team to win a championship was the 2005 Tornadoes, which won the Can-Am League title in 2005 under manager Rich Gedman. Before that, the 1909 Worcester Busters captured the New England League championship managed by future Hall of Famer Jesse Burkett.

That figures out to two in 116 years. It is about time for a third and the 2026 Worcester Red Sox, the hottest team in the International League, seem good enough to take a shot at it.

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A tale of two prospects:

Kristian Campbell’s batting average bottomed out at .209 on June 25. Since then he is 26 for 74 (.351) and is hitting .419 since July 9. Campbell is still striking out about once a game and needs to cut down on that. When he makes contact, Campbell’s average is .390.

Franklin Arias takes a five-game hitting streak into the homestand. Since going 0 for 8 in his first two games, Arias is 7 for 33 (.318) with six RBIs in five games. He also has two authentic leadoff home runs (first batter of the game). The only Worcester batters with more are David Hamilton and Roman Anthony, both later graduating to the major leagues.

They have three apiece.

Arias is the second-youngest player in WooSox history after Anthony, who was 20 years, 91 days old when he debuted. Arias was 20 and 248 days.

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CATCHING UP WITH….

Yu Chang, who turns 31 this month, is home in Taiwan playing in Fubon for the third season. Chang got into 16 games for Worcester in 2023 and is batting .293 with 12 homers and 29 RBIs so far this season.

Ricardo Cubillan spent six seasons in the Boston farm system, played two games in two years, 2021 and 2022, for Worcester and was 0 for 5. He is an international instructor in the Sox player development system.

Pitcher Naoyuki Uwasawa, who spent an uneventful 2024 summer in Worcester (5-4, 7.63) is pitching in his native Japan for Softbank where he has compiled a 5-4 record.

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The WooSox played their 100th game of the season Thursday in Norfolk. They were 53-47 after 100, the fifth time in six seasons they have been in the black after 100 games. Worcester’s best record at the century mark is 54-46, done in both 2021 and 2023. Its worst is 46-54 in 2024. … WooSox hurlers combined to throw 200 pitches in the 9-6 triump at Norfolk on July 31. That is almost never a good sign but — this is the way things are going for them in 2026 — they won anyway. That improved the team’s all-time record to 3-15 when they deliver 200 or more pitches. … Also in that Norfolk series, Tides batter Ryan Noda became the 18th different player who has homered both for, and against, Worcester. Daniel Palka heads up that list with nine home runs off WooSox pitching. Worcester catcher Andrew Knizner is also on that list. He hit one off Jack Anderson in Rochester on April 19, 2025.

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TRIPLE-A TRIVIA

Questions.

1. What WooSox pitcher holds the team record for most grand slams given up in a career?

2. In which two road ballparks, they are tied, have the WooSox won the most games?

Answers below.

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Congratulations to the newest former WooSox player to graduate to the major leagues. He is also the oldest to do that. Right-hander Brian Keller, 32, was one of Worcester’s best pitchers in 2022 with a 6-5 record and 3.27 ERA. Keller led the team in innings pitcher with 113.

He then went to Japan, had arm problems in 2024 and 2025, and signed with the Phillies this winter. Keller is the 59th big league grad produced by the WooSox, 10th this season.

This means that all three Kellers to pitch for Worcester — Brian, Brad and this season’s Kyle — have major league experience. They are not related.

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TRIVIA ANSWERS

1. Reliever A.J. Politi was touched for three grand slams during his time in Worcester, one in 2023 and two only six days apart in 2024.

2. Worcester has won 37 games in both Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, Penn., home of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and what is now named ESL Ballpark in Rochester. That includes games won when it was Innovative Field and Frontier Field.

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The jump from Double-A to Triple-A is rarely seamless, especially for pitchers. There have been some memorably ugly Triple-A debuts by Worcester pitchers through the years, and enough said about that.

John Holobetz provided a notable exception to that in Norfolk on July 30. He went 5 2/3 innings in his first Triple-A start as the WooSox beat the Tide. Holobetz allowed just four hits and a run with no walks and six strikeouts.

There are only a couple of comparable debuts, and by drastically different pitchers. Brayan Bello debuted on May 18, 2022 in a 5-2 win over S-W-B. He worked six innings and allowed six hits and two runs while striking out 10 and has gone on to pitch well in the majors.

In contrast, two months later former first-round draft pick Jay Groome worked six innings in his Triple-A debut and allowed no runs in six innings as Worcester won at Norfolk, 6-2 on July 15. Groome has yet to pitch in the majors and was suspended for gambling.

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Braiden Ward should set a new Boston Triple-A record for stolen bases in a season during the homestand. He arrives back home with 50. David Hamilton set the mark with 57 in 2023. Only two other Boston Triple-A players have stolen as many as 50 in a season. Lee Graham had 51 for Pawtucket in 1983. Dave Mann stole 50 for Minneapolis in 1960, playing in the outfield alongside Carl Yastrzemski. … Vinny Capra has heated up. He is on a nine-game hitting streak that has lifted his average from .254 to .273. Capra has 21 doubles to date which gives him a shot at the team record of 27, set by Ronaldo Hernandez in 2022. Capra’s most impressive number this season? Worcester is 48-32 when he is in the starting lineup, 8-15 when he is not. … Nate Eaton’s home run in Norfolk Saturday was his 20th in a Worcester uniform. He is the 15th WooSox batter to reach that plateau, but just the sixth right-handed hitter.