Michael Chavis promoted to Double-A Portland

We have finally gotten the news we’ve been waiting for on the farm, or at least part of it. Michael Chavis, the former first-round pick who is enjoying a massive breakout in 2017, has been promoted to Double-A Portland.

This is obviously a big deal, as Chavis has been great against High-A pitching and it’s looked for some time now that he was too good for that level. The Red Sox have a history of waiting until after the minor-league All-Star game before making such a promotion. The Carolina League played their All-Star game earlier this week — and Chavis won the MVP because of course he did — and unsurprisingly the organization didn’t wait long to promote him. In 250 plate appearances with Salem, the third baseman/designated hitter slashed .318/.388/.641 with 17 home runs.

Joining Chavis in Double-A Portland will be Chad De La Guerra. He is a much less exciting infielder, but he’s also performed very well for Salem this season. He also received 250 plate appearances at High-A and he hit .294/.368/.463. The 24-year-old has spent most of the season at shortstop, although he’s also played a little second base. De La Guerra was the organization’s 17th round pick back in 2015.

There is plenty of speculation that Rafael Devers will also be promoted soon, and possibly as early as today. The SeaDogs will have to make a couple of moves to make room for Chavis and De La Guerra, and having Devers be one of them makes plenty of sense. Nothing has been announced or reported as of this writing, but we’ll keep you updated.

UPDATE: It appears Devers will be staying in Portland for now. Presumably, he and Chavis will rotate between third base and designated hitter.