Brendan Cellucci: A potential bounce-back candidate for Portland
Brendan Cellucci has had his fair share of ups and downs in the Red Sox minor leagues. In his first nine appearances in High-A Greenville, Cellucci carried an 11.70 ERA. On May 11, Greenville decided to try something new with the tall lefty and decided for him to be an opener. The opener strategy has been seen quite a few times by the Tampa Bay Rays in the majors and seemed to work well for Cellucci once Greenville moved him into the role.
In the 10 starts after the switch, Cellucci posted a 1.83 ERA and in 19 innings of work. His strikeout rate nearly doubled, and his walk rate decreased. His BAA went down almost .200 points after the switch. Things really started to turn around which led to his eventual promotion to Portland.
Cellucci got the chance to appear in two games and put up two scoreless innings in Portland to end the season. As it currently stands, there are three lefties projected to start the year in Portland. Cellucci has the chance to start the year in the bullpen and see if he can continue his hot stretch that he ended 2022 with. His success will rely on throwing enough strikes, which is something he has struggled with during his young career. The Red Sox drafted Cellucci in the 12th round out of Tulane where he was primarily used as a reliever, eventually settling in the closer role late in his sophomore season. Portland would greatly benefit from a resurgence in Cellucci to fill in the backend of their bullpen.
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