WooSox are 'getting a strike thrower' in Brian Van Belle
Worcester has been involved in 48 player transactions over the last 18 days. They have welcomed 14 new players in those 18 days. This past weekend of July 1 & 2 was the first time in a month that the WooSox went back-to-back days without making a player move.
One of the latest moves happened on Friday, when starting pitcher Brian Van Belle earned a promotion to Worcester.
Van Belle was a very solid starter in Portland’s rotation this season. The right-hander was 6-3 with a 3.00 ERA over 14 games this year. He is coming off a strong month of June where he went 4-0 and posted a 1.50 ERA over the four starts. He struck out 24 batters and only gave up 5 walks in the month.
“We are getting a big time strike thrower” WooSox manager Chad Tracy said of Van Belle. “We are getting a guy who has gone deep into games in Portland. He might have a slight transition period, but he has kept his walks down recently in Portland so we will see. He is not someone who will blow high 90’s by guys. He is a lot like Kyle Barraclough that finds other ways to get swings and misses.”
It’s fair to assume he might need time to adjust from the jump to Triple-A, similar to what we have seen Shane Drohan have to go through this season.
“I just told him to be himself” Tracy added. “He is here for a reason, he needs to continue doing what he is doing until they prove otherwise and we will make adjustments.”
The Worcester rotation was in desperate need of some help after losing Brandon Walter and Chris Murphy to promotions and Bryan Mata to the IL for some time now. The Florida native is joining the likes of Drohan and Rio Gomez who have been called up to join the starting rotation for the WooSox this season.
Van Belle will get the start on Saturday against Syracuse for his Triple-A debut.
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