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A strange sequence of events in the minor league system. All four teams were scheduled to play on both Sunday and Monday, but the lower-level teams were both postponed on Sunday, and the upper-level teams got rained out on Monday. In the end, then, we have one day of games for the price of two.
Pawtucket W 4-3
Jackie Bradley Jr.: 1-3
Blake Swihart: 1-4, K
Travis Shaw: 0-3, BB
Deven Marrero: 1-4, K, SB, E
Sean Coyle: 1-3, BB, 2 K, SB
Matt Barnes: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Mediocrity, thy name is Pawtucket. Or at least it was on Sunday. It's remarkable how every single player of note managed to do something, but not enough to impress, or really even have what could be considered an above-average game.
Portland L 1-5
Carlos Asuaje: 0-4, BB, K
And on the other hand, there's Portland, where the best games are still pretty dull, and the worst ones completely dismal.
Salem L 4-7 (In 11)
Manuel Margot: 2-5, SB
Sam Travis: 0-4
Wendell Rijo: 1-5, HR, 4 K, E
That's one of the stranger performances you'll see out of Wendell Rijo. It's nice to see the power, but striking out in a good third of his at bats is not what you want to see. Much better is Manuel Margot's approach of putting the ball in play just about every time. He's drawn one walk, and produced not a single strikeout in 36 at bats now.
Greenville W 4-3 (In 10)
Nick Longhi: 3-5, 2B, E
Rafael Devers: 1-5, 2 K
Michael Chavis: 2-5, HR, 2 K
Michael Kopech: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
Three homers for Michael Chavis through nine games may not seem that insane. Sure, it's a 50-homer pace over 150 games, but major leaguers get off to hotter starts than that with some regularity, even if they don't sustain it.
Well, there's only one player in the SAL with four homers, and he's a 23-year-old first baseman. In fact, both of the other players with three long balls are at least 22. Michael Chavis, on the other hand, is 19, and fits into that 3B/SS mode. His three-homer starts are supposed to come in the future when he's built some more muscle, and isn't regularly playing against quality opposition for the first time in his life.