Red Sox minor lines: Conspicuous absences

Pawtucket W 3-0

Marco Hernandez: 2-3, BB, K
Sam Travis: 0-4, K
Blake Swihart: 1-4
Rusney Castillo: 3-4, 2B, K

Henry Owens: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 5 BB, 5 K
Noe Ramirez: 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

Owens will be Owens. I wish this weren't seemingly the new normal for the man, but...we're more than a month in, and he can't stop walking people. Sure, he got away without any runs this time, but we saw him pull the Matsuzaka act in the majors, and we know how unlikely he is to make it really work there with any consistency.

Portland L 1-8

Ty Buttrey: 4.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 HR
Williams Jerez: 2.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Jerez isn't really doing any better in his second exposure to Double-A ball than in his first. A walk rate over four-per-nine, and not enough strikeouts to make up for that. It's pretty much the same we saw out of him in the second half of 2015, but with slightly worse results. This isn't the worst news, honestly, given how quickly Jerez had moved up the ranks after switching to the mound. But it's not ideal.

Salem W 4-3

Yoan Moncada: 2-4, 2B
Mauricio Dubon: 0-3
Nick Longhi: 1-2, 3B
Rafael Devers: 0-3

Yankory Pimentel: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

No Benintendi? After a day off? Could it be? A promotion?!

Apparently not. Alas.

Greenville L 6-7

Kyri Washington: 2-5, 2B, 3 K
Austin Rei: 0-5
Luis Alexander Basabe: 1-4, 3B, 2 K

Anderson Espinoza: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
Austin Glorius: 3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

Also missing: Josh Ockimey, who I just said yesterday could use a new challenge. There's no word on whether he's headed up to Salem or not, so we'll just have to wait and see.

And yes, bad day for Anderson Espinoza. Unlike Benintendi and Moncada, the Red Sox seem to have found a good level for him to be challenged at, though given how high his highs have been in Greenville, it's arguably less about him getting to the point where he can handle the South Atlantic League, and more just about establishing consistency, since on any given night he can clearly be capable of dominance.