Red Sox Minor Lines: Drew Pomeranz makes a rehab start

Pawtucket W 4-3

Rusney Castillo: 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Tzu-Wei Lin: 2-4, 1 K

Ivan De Jesus Jr.: 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 K

Sam Travis: 2-4

Ramon Flores: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI

Jeremy Barfield: 0-3, 1 BB, 2 K

Aneury Tavarez: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K

Drew Pomeranz: 4.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 6 BB, 1 K

Brandon Workman: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Williams Jerez: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

The big story here was Pomeranz making his first rehab appearance, and he certainly wasn’t as sharp as he could have been. It’s clear that he has a little rust after not really having a spring training, and six walks in just 4 ¹⁄₃ innings against Triple-A competition is not ideal to say the least. I’d venture a guess that he’ll get another rehab start. Elsewhere, a nice home run from Flores, a late-spring trade acquisition from the Diamondbacks, and a strong appearance from Jerez, who could be sneaky left-handed relief depth this year.

Portland L 3-4

Cole Sturgeon: 2-4, 2 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Josh Tobias: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI

Esteban Quiroz: 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 K

Tate Matheny: 0-4, 2 K

Mike Shawaryn: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 3 K

Shawaryn, a 2016 draft pick who showed some intriguing flashes in his first full season last year, made his debut at Double-A on Sunday and he was....alright. The efficiency wasn’t quite there as he threw 87 pitches without getting out of the fifth, but that’s not a major concern in the first start of the year in a cold game in upstate New York. The righty also gave up a home run and a double and his strikeout numbers weren’t gaudy after he struck out over ten batters per nine innings at both Low- and High-A last year. On the other hand, not walking anyone is a great sign. It probably wasn’t exactly the debut Shawaryn was envisioning, but it’ll do for now.

Salem G1 L 0-1 (F/8)

Brett Netzer: 0-4

Bobby Dalbec: 0-3, 1 K

Tyler Hill: 1-3, 1 K

Darwinzon Hernandez: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K

Salem G2 W 2-1 (F/8)

Brett Netzer: 1-4, 1 R, 1 K

Bobby Dalbec: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 K, 1 SB

Kyri Washington: 1-2, 1 BB, 1 K

Tyler Hill: 0-2, 1 BB

Hildemaro Requena: 4 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Algenis Martinez: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K

Salem had a doubleheader after Saturday’s game was rained out, and both games went into extras. (For those unaware, minor-league doubleheaders feature two seven-inning games.) The headliner here was Hernandez, who is the trendy pick as the highest riser in the organization this season. The lefty debuted a new slider at the end of 2017 and if he can utilize that to its potential this year it could be a special season. He had some command issues in this game, but the strikeout stuff was clearly there and judging by the box score his opponents struggled to square him up. All in all, it was a strong start.

Greenville G1 L 7-8 (F/8)

Kervin Suarez: 2-3, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 K, 2 SB

Cole Brannen: 1-5, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

C.J. Chatham: 2-5, 1 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 K

Pedro Castellanos: 1-4, 1 R

Everlouis Lozada: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 3 RBI, 1 K

Greenville G2 L 3-10

Everlouis Lozada: 2-4, 2 K

Cole Brannen: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 K, 1 SB

C.J. Chatham: 1-4, 1 K, 1 E

Pedro Castellanos: 2-4, 1 3B, 1 R, 2 RBI

Nick Duron: 3 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 3 K

Brannen hasn’t really been lights out or anything to start the year — he’s only hitting .222 — but he’s still been impressive with some extra-base hits, some walks and some damage on the base paths. He’s probably the most interesting player on this roster, so it’s nice he’s at least made some noise. Chatham is also an interesting name to watch after his lost 2017, and he had a strong game one before struggling a bit in the second half of the doubleheader. Suarez has had a really impressive start to his year and entered the year as Sox Prospects’ number 28 prospect in the system. The true standout today, though, was Lozada, who reached base five times between the two games.

Player of the Day: There were a couple options here, so we’ll go with perhaps the most interesting non-Pomeranz player to appear in a game today and give the nod to Darwinzon Hernandez. Three walks in five innings is not what we’re looking for from him, but it was his first start of the year and he didn’t allow a run while striking out more than a batter per inning. That Salem rotation is going to be a blast to watch with plenty of competition, and while Hernandez is the third-ranked pitcher in the group it wouldn’t be all that shocking if he had the best year. This was a step in the right direction.