Red Sox Minor Lines: Josh Ockimey’s big day

Pawtucket L 1-3

Rusney Castillo, CF: 1-3, 1 BB

Dustin Pedroia, 2B: 0-3

Tzu-Wei Lin, 2B: 0-1

Sam Travis, 1B: 0-4, 3 K

Ivan De Jesus, SS: 2-4, 1 K

Aneury Tavarez, RF: 0-3, 1 BB, 2 K

Cole Sturgeon, LF: 0-3

Justin Haley: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 K (96 pitches)

Ty Buttrey: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K (32 pitches)

Pedroia was back in the lineup for this Thursday morning game, and while he didn’t do much of note on the field, simply being in the lineup was enough. The Red Sox wanted to see him play in back-to-back games, and he did just that. With it, he’s now set to be activated on Friday, and the only question that remains is how room will be made on the active roster. Elsewhere, Travis is struggling with just four hits in his last 14 games and Sturgeon has struggled to get going since his promotion to Pawtucket.

Portland W 12-3

Jeremy Rivera, SS: 3-5, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Chad De La Guerra, 3B: 2-4, 2 BB, 2 R

Jantzen Witte, LF: 1-3, 1 HR, 2 BB, 2 R, 3 RBI

Josh Ockimey, 1B: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 BB, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 K

Tate Matheny, CF: 2-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K

Isaias Lucena, C: 2-3, 2 BB

Teddy Stankiewicz: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 7 K (87 pitches)

Trey Ball: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 0 K (23 pitches)

This was a huge day for the SeaDogs lineup, as well as their starting pitcher, but the real story here was that there was a drone delay in this game! 2018 is wild. On the field, there were some great performances but it was that of Ockimey that stands out to me. We’ve talked plenty about how his in-game power hasn’t shown up as a pro, but it’s starting to creep in a bit. After this big game his Isolated Power is up to .190 and he’s got five homers in 32 games, a 25-homer pace over a 162-game season. Also, every time I find myself completely out on Stankiewicz, he pulls me back in.

Salem L 1-5

Tyler Hill, RF: 1-4, 1 BB

Brett Netzer, 2B: 2-4, 1 2B, 1

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

Roldani Baldwin, DH: 0-4, 2 K

Jake Thompson: 6.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 2 K (93 pitches)

Chatham was back in the field for this game, which is always nice to see. This wasn’t a particularly notable game or anything for him, but I’m becoming more and more confident in the infielder with each passing day. Thompson, meanwhile, has been a rollercoaster all year and is up to a 5.13 ERA on the year with 38 strikeouts and 19 walks in 47 ¹⁄₃ innings. It’s disappointing, though as a recent fourth round pick the expectations this year weren’t huge.

Greenville L 2-4

Marino Campana, RF: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 K

Michael Osinski, 1B: 0-2, 2 BB, 1 K

Charlie Madden, C: 1-2, 1 HR, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI

Greenville’s roster is pretty rough right now with Brannen demoted and Chatham promoted, and it’s even worse when Lorenzo Cedrola isn’t playing. Good game for Madden, though.

Player of the Day: There was no way this was going to go to anyone besides a SeaDogs player, and Portland did have a few options. I’ll go with Ockimey, though, in the rare(ish) case where the best player was actually the best player on the field on a given day. The first baseman is a more exciting prospect than Sam Travis in this writer’s opinion, but the power questions are similar. Perhaps it’s just that he’s younger and I haven’t had enough time to grow cynical about Ockimey’s game, but I’m more confident in his power eventually showing up than I am about Travis’.