The trade of Lars Anderson to the Cleveland Indians has opened up some space on Pawtucket's roster, and as such has caused a few promotions to occur with the system's first basemen. Reynaldo Rodriguez is now in Pawtucket in place of Anderson, while High-A Salem's Travis Shaw has been bumped to Double-A Portland to take over for Rodriguez, according to an announcement on his Facebook page.
Rodriguez is something of a non-prospect given he's 26 years old, but he is hitting a respectable .257/.334/.505, and made the Eastern League All-Star team as well. This is also a much better stint than his initial one at Double-A, when Rodriguez managed just a 775 OPS after easily solving Salem as a 25-year-old. The former Yankee and independent leaguer might not see first base every day with Mauro Gomez around, but Gomez is the more intriguing of the two, anyway.
The more significant news is Shaw to Portland, as he crushed High-A Salem in his second year of pro ball, continuing his speedy rise through the Boston system. The timing couldn't be better for Shaw, either, as it's starting to look like Carolina League pitchers are just about done with giving him anything to hit -- his walk rate has spiked to 18 percent since the All-Star break.
The 6-foot-4, 225 pound Shaw isn't considered one of Boston's top prospects, but he's displayed quite the bat at the lower levels, one that needs to be challenged by more advanced pitchers. The 22-year-old gets his first opportunity to answer that challenge with this call-up.
Last, in a bit of news that's less exciting, backstop Blake Swihart has been placed on the minor-league disabled list thanks to a hip flexor. According to Greenville's Eric Jarinko, catcher Leonel Escobar has been activated in Swihart's place.