Red Sox minor lines: Signs of life for Anthony Ranaudo

Pawtucket W 8-0 (In 5)

Brock Holt: 1-3, BB
Christian Vazquez: 2-4, 2 K
Daniel Nava: 1-3, 2 K
Bryce Brentz: 1-3, HR, 2 K
Garin Cecchini: 0-2, BB
Alex Hassan: 1-3, K

Anthony Ranaudo: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K

If you dismissed Bryce Brentz after his slow start, it might be time to look again. The right fielder is hitting .375/.432/.719 in his last ten games, and has now homered in his last two. If you dismissed Bryce Brentz before this year because enough was enough, well, carry on I suppose.

Hopefully, though, you will not have dismissed Anthony Ranaudo after a rough couple weeks. Two of his last three starts have been quite good.

Portland W 10-2

Mookie Betts: 3-4, HR, CS
Deven Marrero: 2-4, 2B
Travis Shaw: 2-4, HR
Blake Swihart: 1-4, 3B
Henry Ramos: 1-4, 3B, 3 K

Keith Couch: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
Noe Ramirez: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

[Obligatory comment about Mookie Betts being absolutely insane]. [Less-obligatory comment about Blake Swihart having surprising wheels and no fewer than 13 triples in his professional career now.]

[Not-at-all obligatory comment about Keith Couch making a good seventh-inning reliever someday due to his ability to never walk anybody ever.]

Greenville L 3-4 (In 11)

Tzu-Wei Lin: 1-5, 2B, 2 K
Wendell Rijo: 2-4, BB, K
Manuel Margot: 2-3, 2B

Jamie Callahan: 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR

There's no denying that Manuel Margot has some plate discipline issues. Obviously that's not exactly uncommon amongst players who won't be able to buy a beer before 2016, but there's no guarantee it will come along in due time.

So what if it doesn't? Well, then you have an outfielder who can potentially play center, hit for average, and has a surprising amount of pop. He's not exactly David Ortiz at the plate, but the league loves a center fielder who can hit a few homers. Particularly if they can toss in as many stolen bases. There's plenty of value in a jack-of-all-trades.