Red Sox minor lines: Catching up

It was a rough weekend for the big league Red Sox. Now there's plenty of catching up to do with the kids on the farm system.

Pawtucket W 9-4

Brock Holt: 3-3, 2B, BB
Alex Hassan: 0-3, BB, K
Ryan Lavarnway: 0-3, BB, E
Bryce Brentz: 1-3, BB, 2 K
Garin Cecchini: 1-4, 2B, K
Christian Vazquez: 3-4, 2 2B

Anthony Ranaudo: 4 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, 1 HR
Craig Breslow: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Rich Hill: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
Alex Wilson: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

Pawtucket W 6-4

Brock Holt: 0-5
Alex Hassan: 2-5, 2B, K
Ryan Lavarnway: 0-4, BB, 2 K
Bryce Brentz: 1-4, BB
Garin Cecchini:3-3, BB
Dan Butler: 1-4, 2B, K

Rubby De La Rosa: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
Drake Britton: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Pawtucket L 4-5

Alex Hassan: 1-4, 2B, K
Ryan Lavarnway: 0-3
Bryce Brentz: 0-4
Garin Cecchini: 1-3, BB, K
Christian Vazquez: 2-4,2B

Dalier Hinojosa: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

A few things jump out from Pawtucket's weekend. Let's start with the positives since, y'know, we could use some of those around these parts.

Garin Cecchini is seeing Triple-A pitching for the first time, and his relative inexperience (and questionable glove according to John Farrell) are what's kept him in Pawtucket even with Will Middlebrooks' injury. Still, he doesn't look like the new kid on the block, but a worthy successor to Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. as the wise veteran playing in a too-young body. In that, he provides quite the foil to Middlebrooks himself, who very much looks the part of a greenhorn. Then again, Will has actually been doing it in the majors. Kind of a big difference.

Then there's Christian Vazquez, who even without the bat is starting to look awfully tempting the way A.J. Pierzynski has started the season. With the offense showing up from Day 1, the pressure will only increase.

As for the bad news, yes, Ryan Lavarnway is still hitless. One imagines it's only so long before the Red Sox call on that particular 40-man roster spot.

Portland W 4-1

Mookie Betts: 3-5, 2 2B, CS
Deven Marrero: 1-4, 2B, BB, 2 K
Travis Shaw: 0-2, 2 BB
Henry Ramos: 0-3, BB, K, E
Blake Swihart: 1-4
Sean Coyle: 2-4, HR, K

Keith Couch: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Noe Ramirez: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Portland L 2-3

Mookie Betts: 1-4, 2B, BB, K, SB
Travis Shaw: 2-3, BB, K
Henry Ramos: 0-4, 2 K
Blake Swihart: 2-4, 2B
Sean Coyle: 1-4, K

Portland L 3-4

Mookie Betts: 1-4
Deven Marrero: 1-4, K
Travis Shaw: 0-4, K
Henry Ramos: 1-4

Mookie Betts was unable to maintain his perfect run at the plate, but there's nothing wrong with 5-for-13 (or a combined 9-for-17), particularly when the power continues to flow. Blake Swihart hasn't been quite as impressive as that, but hot starts have not been his forte nearly so much as impressive finishes. That the young catcher is off to one now is encouraging, even if it's not a sure sign that this transition will go more smoothly for him than others.

Salem W 4-0

Austin Maddox: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

Salem W 5-2

Jose Vinicio: 0-2

Justin Haley: 3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 HR

Salem W 3-0

Corey Littrell: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 8 K
Madison Younginer: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Salem is boring, but at least they're boring and winning.

Greenville L 2-7

Tzu-Wei Lin: 0-4, 2 K
Manuel Margo: 0-4
Wendell Rijo: 2-4, 2B, K

Jamie Callahan: 3.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 6 BB, 4 K

Greenville W 8-2

Tzu-Wei Lin: 2-3, BB, K

Pat Light: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 K

Greenville L 5-8

Wendell Rijo: 1-4, K
Manuel Margot: 2-4, 2B

Teddy Stankiewciz: 4 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 2 HR

Pat Light and Teddy Stankiewicz each performed as we might have expected the other to. For light, though, there would be little excuse for anything else. At 23 years of age, he's far too old for his level, and needs to get up to Salem as fast as possible. He can't really afford a standard year-to-year progression at this point.