Red Sox Minor Lines: Portland gets back in action

Pawtucket L 0-2

Rusney Castillo, CF: 1-4

Ivan De Jesus, SS: 0-4, 1 K

Aneury Tavarez, RF: 0-3, 1 K

Jeremy Barfield, LF: 0-3

Chad De La Guerra, 3B: 1-3, 1 K

Justin Haley: 5 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 5 K (90 pitches)

Williams Jerez: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (29 pitches)

Bobby Poyner: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (8 pitches)

The PawSox offense is struggling, and they lost to their best hitter in Sam Travis to the 10-day minor-league disabled list. The lineup thins out real quick with Travis out, and Dan Butler and Mike Olt were the three/four hitters today. That’s....not super impressive. The pitching is still intriguing, though, and three pitchers who could make a major-league impact pitched and pitched well on Tuesday. There’s not a ton of room for help on the active roster at the moment, but if the Triple-A arms keep throwing like this they’ll get their shot.

Portland G1 L 1-6 (F/8)

Cole Sturgeon, RF: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K

Josh Tobias, 3B: 0-4, 2 K

Josh Ockimey, 1B: 0-3, 2 K

Tate Matheny, CF: 2-3, 1 R, 1 K

Jhon Nuñez, C: 1-2, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K

Danny Mars, LF: 0-2, 1 BB

Dedgar Jimenez: 3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K (52 pitches)

Portland G2 W 6-4

Jeremy Rivera, SS: 2-4

Josh Tobias, 3B: 2-4, 1 2B, 2 R, 2 BB

Cole Sturgeon, RF: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI

Josh Ockimey, 1B: 1-2, 2 BB, 1 RBI

Tate Matheny, CF: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 K

Trevor Kelley: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (11 pitches)

The SeaDogs finally got back on the field after almost a week of unplayable field conditions, and they split the double-header. Jimenez looked good for the short time he was out there, but with the long layoff between his two starts (he last took the mound on April 21) they didn’t want to push him too much. This SeaDogs roster still isn’t very interesting, though Sturgeon just continues to hit and after his game two home run the outfielder is hitting .361/.440/.583 to start the year.

Salem W 5-2

Santiago Espinal, SS: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Brett Netzer, 2B: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K

Roldani Baldwin, C: 2-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 PB

Bobby Dalbec, 3B: 0-4, 2 K

Tyler Hill, RF: 0-4, 2 K

Kyri Washington, DH: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K

Darwinzon Hernandez: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 4 K (90 pitches)

Daniel Gonzalez: 3 IP, 3 H 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K (46 pitches)

Matthew Gorst: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K (37 pitches)

Well, Hernandez was the name to watch heading into this game, but it really wasn’t a super impressive day for the lefty. A strikeout per inning is nice, but the command and efficiency really wasn’t there. He’s allowed to be only okay here and there, though. Gonzalez continues to look good as a multi-inning reliever and he’s now at a 2.11 ERA with 29 strikeouts and two (2!) wals in 21 ¹⁄₃ innings. Offensively, it was a slugfest for Salem and Badwin in particular is encouraging as the catcher has come out of the gate hot after a delayed start to this season due to injury. I continue to be a bit flummoxed as to why he’s not talked about more in a system bereft of really intriguing talent, though it’s hard to be too indignant since I haven’t actually seen him with my eyeballs. I’m just going off box scores.

Greenville L 1-7

Lorenzo Cedrola, RF: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 CS

Cole Brannen, CF: 0-4, 2 K

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

C.J. Chatham, DH: 0-3

Marino Campana, LF: 2-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI

Denyi Reyes: 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 9 K (92 pitches)

Greenville is looking real rough right now and it’s hard to see them recovering all that much. They should be getting better performances from Brannen soon as the 2017 draftee has struggled to get much of anything going in his first full professional season, but there’s just not much talent here. More positively, Reyes has been quietly solid to start 2018 with 37 strikeouts and just three walks in his first 27 ²⁄₃ innings.

Player of the Day: There were a couple pitchers in the mix here, but I’m going to give this one to Roldani Baldwin for his day at the plate. The two passed balls he was charged with are certainly not great, and his defense is the thing I am unsure about, but he had a great day at the plate including his first homer of 2018. The Red Sox don’t really have anything else close to an intriguing catching prospect in their system, so if they are going to develop a major-league contributor at this position Baldwin appears to be the lone option at this point.