Gage Ziehl keeps giving the Red Sox reasons to believe the arm is real.
The right-hander, now at Double-A Portland, turned in a sharp outing on Sunday, opening with three perfect innings and finishing with five scoreless frames overall. He punched out eight and never let the game get away from him.
The breaking ball was the separator. It came with heavy downward tilt, and after a strong June, Ziehl answered a rough previous start by stacking up zeroes again.
Ziehl’s path to Boston’s system has already included plenty of movement. The Red Sox targeted him this offseason, sending Jordan Hicks to the Chicago White Sox to bring him in. Before that, he had already been traded once last season at the deadline, when the New York Yankees dealt him to the White Sox for Austin Slater.
For now, Ziehl is probably hoping the next move is upward - first to Worcester, and maybe eventually to Boston. He worked as a closer for much of his college career with the Miami Hurricanes, so a bullpen role remains on the table, but clubs usually give starters every chance to stay in the rotation.
If he keeps stacking outings like this, those chances should keep coming.
Boston’s big-league club is rolling, which only raises the value of depth in the system. Ziehl may not reach the majors this season, but if openings appear ahead of him, a trip to Triple-A could come sooner rather than later. And if that happens, Worcester could even give him a chance to pitch back home when the club visits Triple-A Rochester.
No matter where the road goes next, the message from Sunday was clear: Ziehl was locked in, and the Red Sox have to be thrilled with that.
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