Red Sox Minor Lines: The lower levels get rained out

Pawtucket W 5-1

Tzu-Wei Lin, 2B: 2-2, 1 BB, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI

Cole Sturgeon, RF: 2-5, 1 2B, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 K, 1 SB

Aneury Tavarez, DH: 1-5, 2 K, 1 SB

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

Justin Haley: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K (102 pitches)

Kyle Martin: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (18 pitches)

Seeing Lin go deep — and it came in the first at bat of the game — is a rare feat and always fun. However, the infielder and top major-league depth option on the PawSox also left after just two at bats for reasons I can’t seem to find. I’d assume it was an injury since there weren’t any injuries in yesterday’s major-league game that would have required pulling Lin in case they needed to recall him. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious. Meanwhile, Haley had a great outing and continues to be a really underrated emergency depth option. The Red Sox have a lot of issues with their farm system, but upper-level back-end starting pitching depth is one of the few strengths.

Portland L 2-11

Jeremy Rivera, SS: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 R

Chad De La Guerra, 2B: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 SB

Jantzen Witte, LF: 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 K

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

Tate Matheny, CF: 0-4, 2 K

Teddy Stankiewicz: 5 IP, 11 H, 7 R, 2 BB, 2 K (93 pitches)

I was starting to get intrigued by Staniewicz’ recent performance as he has been looking like a solid option — mostly in a piggy-back role — over his last few outings, so he was due for a day like this. I won’t hold this one against the righty too much, however, as he was going up against a loaded New Hampshire lineup that features Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, among other big-time prospects. It might just be the best minor-league lineup in all of baseball. Meanwhile, Ockimey continues his torrid pace of late. The first baseman is up to a .197 Isolated Power on the year and he’s increased his OPS by 125 points in just ten days. This is very encouraging in a system that has seen most of its top prospects trend in the wrong direction of late.

Salem G1 PPD

Salem G2 PPD

Greenville PPD

Player of the Day: With all of the rain in the lower levers there aren’t a ton of options here, but Justin Haley is definitely worthy winner today. The righty, as I said above, is an underrated depth option in the system. If you’ll recall, he actually spent a good chunk of last season in the majors after being selected by the Twins in the Rule 5 draft. The only reason they didn’t keep him is because they unexpectedly stayed in contention all year and made a move at the trade deadline and needed the roster space. Still, Haley held his own in Minnesota and while his ceiling is not all that impressive he has the skills to be a back-end starter in this league if things go correctly.