Red Sox Minor Lines: Bryan Mata makes his 2018 debut

Pawtucket W 3-1

Rusney Castillo: 1-3, 1 RBI

Aneury Tavarez: 1-3, 1 R, 1 K

Ivan De Jesus Jr.: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K

Sam Travis: 1-4, 2 RBI

Chad De La Guerra: 1-4, 1 R, 1 K

William Cuevas: 6.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, 83 P

Williams Jerez: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 16 P

Roenis Elias: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 21 P

A strong day on the mound for the PawSox — who were playing as Osos Polares — with Cuevas being particularly strong in the start. He’s likely no more than an organizational arm who could be called up in emergency situations, but if he keeps pitching like this he’ll get a better chance somewhere. Jerez has more of a chance to make an impact, and he’s been impressive extremely early in the year. The offense still hasn’t done much for the Triple-A club, but it’s early and very, very cold.

Portland W 7-5 (F/13)

Cole Sturgeon: 2-6, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 1 K

Danny Mars: 0-7, 1 R, 3 K, 1 SB

Josh Tobias: 1-6, 2 R, 2 K

Esteban Quiroz: 1-3, 2 BB, 2 R, 1 K

Tate Matheny: 3-5, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 SB

Austin Rei: 0-5, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 4 K

Jake Cosart: 3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 48 P

The SeaDogs got their first win of the year on Tuesday and the offense put up some runs, though a lot of that had to do with drawing a lot of walks and it’s hard to know from the box score how much of that was good plate discipline and how much was just awful control from the opponents. Still, getting on base is never bad. Matheny in particular had a big game as he looks to carve out a role as a potential bench player at the highest level. One good game will not make that happen, but it’s a start. Also, nice to see Cosart go out there for multiple innings, and even nicer to see a lack of walks.

Salem W 3-1

Santiago Espinal: 2-4, 2 2B, 2 R, 1 K

Brett Netzer: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI

Bobby Dalbec: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 1 K

Kyri Washington: 0-3, 1 K

Tyler Hill: 0-3, 1 K

Bryan Mata: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K, 80 P

Daniel Gonzalez: 4 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 61 P

Espinal is a 23-year-old in High-A who put up an OPS below .700 in Low-A last year, so he’s not a super high-profile prospect. Still, a good game is a good game and he was the key to the offense in this win for Salem. The focus was on the pitching, though. Mata was solid in his debut and did a great job of limiting damage, though the control and efficiency seemed a bit off. Of course, that’s not a major surprise for an 18-year-old in his season debut. In the bullpen, Gonzalez was outstanding for his second straight piggy-back appearance, though he gave up a few more hits this time around. Still, something tells me we might see his name more than we thought in 2018.

Greenville L 4-5

Kervin Suarez: 1-5, 2 R, 1 K, 1 E

C.J. Chatham: 2-4, 2 RBI, 1 K

Pedro Castellanos: 0-5, 2 K

Jhonathan Diaz: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 96 P

Lukas Young: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 15 P

Chatham hasn’t really had a true monster game just yet, but he’s off to a strong start in a big year for his development as he looks to stay healthy and make his way quickly up the ladder after a lost 2017. The bat-to-ball skills have been tremendous through his first six games and his batting average is up to .426, though the walks and extra-bases haven’t really come along just yet. Young was the team’s 21st round pick last year, and after striking out 34 batters in 30 innings in his pro debut he now has five strikeouts in his first two innings of 2018. Pretty good!

Player of the Game: This one was tough as there were a few reasonable options on the table, but I’m going to go ahead and give it to William Cuevas today, just barely eeking out ahead of Santiago Espinal and Tate Matheny. The PawSox won a close, low-scoring game and when you start that kind of game and toss 6 ¹⁄₃ shutout innings, you’ll get noticed. Still, it was a nice day for a few low-level prospects in the Red Sox system.