Red Sox Minor Lines: Tyler Thornburg starts his rehab

Pawtucket L 1-5

Rusney Castillo, CF: 2-4, 1 RBI

Ivan De Jesus Jr., 2B: 1-4

Jeremy Barfield, DH: 0-4, 1 K

Chandler Shepherd: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 4 K (88 pitches)

Ty Buttrey: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K (39 pitches)

Robby Scott: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (10 pitches)

Tyler Thornburg: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (16 pitches)

The headline here is obviously that Thornburg made his first appearance in affiliated ball since 2016 with the Brewers, and he looked damn good doing it. He did allow a single, but three strikeouts in four batters while reportedly hitting 95 mph consistently with his fastball is a helluva good sign. It will take more than one outing like this for me to be more confident about his return from TOS surgery, but it’s hard to not at least be a little encouraged by this. Maybe he can be the missing piece at the end of this bullpen. Elsewhere, Castillo continued his solid start to the year while Shepherd is struggling to transition to his new role in the rotation.

Portland PPD