Red Sox Prospect From Andrew Benintendi Deal Thriving Since Promotion

It was just a week ago that the Boston Red Sox promoted pitching prospect Grant Gambrell from Double-A Portland to Triple-A Worcester.

And it’s hard to envision his first two starts with the WooSox going any better than they did.

The 25-year-old right-hander has impressed with Worcester, including delivering a terrific performance Thursday night against the Norfolk Tides. Gambrell tossed five innings, allowing two runs on five hits while walking one and recording an eye-popping nine strikeouts. The two runs he yielded came on a homer he surrendered in his final inning of work.

That strong showing comes after he performed well in his Triple-A debut last week. In his first start with Worcester, the 6-foot-4, 225-pounder hurled 5 2/3 scoreless innings while giving up two hits and fanning five Rochester Red Wings batters. He did have control problems by issuing four walks, but he clearly corrected things in latest outing.

It’s been a long journey to this point for Gambrell, who was one of five players the Red Sox acquired in the trade that sent Andrew Benintendi to the Kansas City Royals in February of 2021. He didn’t pitch during the 2020 season with the COVID-19 pandemic canceling minor league baseball and 2022 was a lost campaign as well after having multiple surgeries to remove a benign tumor in his heel.

But back to being healthy, Gambrell has put together a very solid season that could be catching the eyes of the Red Sox brass. He has posted a 9-6 record across Double-A and Triple-A this season with a 3.63 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 134 strikeouts in 126 1/3 innings.