Cup of Coffee: Garcia homers for first time in 2025; Gartrell continues rehab in FCL
5/27 Cup of Coffee: The FCL Red Sox were the only one of Boston's affiliates in action on Monday. Behind a two-run homer from Johanfran Garcia (pictured) and solid pitching from three righties, they defeated the FCL Braves, 5-1, at JetBlue Park to improve to 6-10 on the season.
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Joey Gartrell continued his rehab assignment and made his first start for the FCL Red Sox. The 21-year-old righty scattered two hits and one walk while striking out a pair over two scoreless innings. Fellow rehabber Calvin Bickerstaff took over in the third and allowed one earned run on one hit, one walk, and one strikeout across two innings to pick up the first win of his professional career. Jesus Travieso then spun three shutout frames to end it and lock down his first pro save.
Johanfran Garcia, another rehabber, put his power on display with a two-run shot in the third inning for his lone hit of the contest and his first home run of the season. Like Garcia, Jhoan Peguero and D'Angelo Ortiz each went 1 for 3, with the former scoring on the latter's second-inning RBI single. Yohander Linarez scored two runs, stole two bases, and drew one walk. Ilan Fernandez scored one run, stole one base, and drew one walk. Gerardo Rodriguez drove in one run on a sacrifice fly.
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Player of the Day: Johanfran Garcia gets the nod, as he homered for the first time since undergoing season-ending knee surgery last May. It has been a lengthy road back for the 20-year-old backstop, who began the season on the 60-day injured list so that he could continue rehabbing. Since starting a rehab assignment in the FCL on May 20, he has gone 6 for 14 (.429) with one double, one home run, six RBIs, and three runs scored. He is currently ranked as the No. 31 prospect in the organization.
Photo Credit: Johanfran Garcia by Kelly O'Connor