Red Sox Minor Lines: Sam Travis goes deep, pitching struggles all over

Pawtucket W 9-6

Rusney Castillo, CF: 0-5, 2 K

Aneury Tavarez, RF: 0-4, 1 R, 1 K, 1 SB

Sam Travis, 1B: 2-5, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K

Jeremy Barfield, LF: 0-5, 2 R, 1 K

Ivan De Jesus Jr., 2B: 2-5, 2 R, 1 K

Mike Olt, DH: 4-4, 1 HR, 3 2B, 2 R, 4 RBI

Mike Miller, SS: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI

Kyle Martin: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K (32 pitches)

Robby Scott: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (24 pitches)

A big day for the PawSox offense, a group that has some talent and some experience as pros, but haven’t really been able to put it together much this year. Olt’s game was great and I have a sneaky suspicion we’ll discuss him a bit below, but it’s Travis I want to talk about in this space. He doesn’t really have a path to the majors right now, but he remains the most intriguing position player (and maybe including pitchers too) on this roster. The big question, as always, is whether or not he can show off some of his raw power potential in games. Travis made a mechanical adjustment this winter to get more lift on the ball, though it hadn’t worked until this game. Hopefully he can string together more of these performances and prove his doubters (i.e., me) wrong.

Portland PPD

Salem L 4-9

Brett Netzer, 2B: 1-5, 1 K, 1 E

Bobby Dalbec, 3B: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI

Tyler Hill, RF: 2-4, 1 BB

Roniel Raudes: 3.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 0 K (63 pitches)

You can’t take any early-season results too seriously, but this did feel like a relatively important start to the year for Raudes, who was a little disappointing in 2017 after a breakout 2016. The righty doesn’t have big stuff, as we’ve discussed many times, but he’s gotten love from scouts for his strong command and pitchability. That command hasn’t been there in his first three starts this year, though, as he now has seven walks in 12 innings of work. This is the first time he’s allowed a bunch of runs, but we’re still waiting for the super polished version of Raudes at High-A. On the other side, Dalbec hit his third homer of the year and, perhaps more encouragingly, didn’t strike out in the game.

Greenville L 1-7

Cole Brannen, CF: 0-3, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 SB

Everlouis Lozada, SS: 2-4, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Pedro Castellanos, 1B: 1-4, 2 K

Alex Scherff: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 6 BB, 3 K (84 pitches)

Lukas Young: 1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K (24 pitches)

Not the best start to the year for Scherff, who on the one hand is a high school draftee and a slow start to his professional career is not unexpected. On the other hand, he’s much older than most high school draftees having turned 20 before the season started. Two starts is not nearly enough to panic, of course, but he now has nine walks in his first 9 ¹⁄₃ innings of work and he’s pitched to an 8.68 ERA. The stuff is there with seven strikeouts, but he could use a strong start to boost the confidence a bit. On offense, Brannen already has five stolen bases this year, though he’s also hitting just .128.

Player of the Day: No contest for this today, as Mike Olt is the clear choice. The third baseman is in his second year in the organization. Olt is a former top prospect who had his career derailed by vision problems, and he hasn’t been in the majors since 2015. It seems unlikely that he’ll get back there for the Red Sox, but he has moved up a level after spending all of last year in Portland and at the very least it seems the organization likes him since they brought him back for a second season in the upper levels. It would be nice to see him get another shot somewhere, and although I wouldn’t bet on it he does still have some pop left in that bat.