Red Sox minor lines: Rusney Castillo resurgent

Pawtucket W 3-1 (In 10)

Deven Marrero: 0-5, 2 K
Rusney Castillo: 2-3, 2 BB, K, SB
Blake Swihart: 1-5, K, SB
Sam Travis: 2-4, BB
Sean Coyle: 1-3, K

Henry Owens: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 K
Edwin Escobar: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Henry Owens walks a lot of guys, and it's not clear that's really headed in the right direction. But if he's going to be a high-walk guy, the way to do that is by striking out a bunch too. And to his credit, he's got 23 in his first 18 innings on the year.

And nobody look now, but Rusney Castillo is looking very good down in the minors. For all that he disappointed in 2015, we have to remember how hard of a time he had getting out of the gates and establishing momentum given the injuries. If he can stay healthy, and put together a good month or two in Pawtucket, when the time comes that the Red Sox need another outfielder, his return to Boston might well be an opportunity to re-establish himself as a long-term starter for the Red Sox.

Portland L 5-7

Wendell Rijo: 1-4, 2B, BB, K

Luis Ysla: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Salem W 6-4

Yoan Moncada: 2-3, 2 BB, K, 2 SB, E
Mauricio Dubon: 1-3, 2B, 2 BB
Andrew Benintendi: 1-4, BB, SB
Nick Longhi: 2-5, 2B
Rafael Devers: 1-5, 3 K

12 stolen bases for Yoan Moncada now, which is in no small part due to having so many damn opportunities with his .480 OBP. We're still waiting on his first homer of the season, but he could go ahead and skip that part entirely this year if he's gonna keep hitting, walking, and running like this.

Greenville W 13-2

Michael Chavis: 3-5, HR, K
Josh Ockimey: 0-5, 2 K
Luis Alexander Basabe: 3-5, K
Kyri Washington: 3-5, HR, K

Anderson Espinoza: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K

I feel like I should temper the Michael Chavis hype. I feel like I should...but I'm pretty much getting pulled into it myself. Yeah, he's only got one walk, but who cares? He's not striking out at an egregious rate, he's hitting well, and now he's adding the long ball to the mix. This is kind of the guy we expected last year, and if it's one season late, so be it. We'll still take it from the first-round pick.

Need even less convincing on Anderson Espinoza, of course. He's bordering on overpowering against Low-A competition and, at this pace, will find his way to Salem by mid-season. Only the overwhelming results from the likes of Moncada and Benintendi will keep Boston's four big prospects from sharing a team for some period of time.