Red Sox Minor Lines: Pay attention to Mike Shawaryn and Denyi Reyes

Pawtucket L 1-7

Tzu-Wei Lin, SS: 1-4, 1 BB, 2 K

Cole Sturgeo, RF: 2-5

Rusney Castillo, CF: 1-5, 1 K

Adam Lind, 1B: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 RBI

Ramon Flores, LF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 K

Williams Jerez: 2.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 K (44 pitches)

Ty Buttrey: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K (38 pitches)

Robby Scott: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K (25 pitches)

It’s obviously not something to worry too much about at the moment, but Lind hasn’t gotten off to the greatest of starts with the Red Sox. The first baseman does have a home run under his belt, but in his first seven games he is hitting just .207/.233/.379. He has time to turn things around, and honestly the hope is that they won’t need him at all, but if Mitch Moreland goes down they could really use last year’s version of Lind.

Portland W 3-2

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

Chad De La Guerra, 2B: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 BB

Tate Matheny, CF: 0-4

Mike Shawaryn: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 8 K (95 pitches)

The Red Sox got some extra rest for some of their top arms throughout the organization of late, and Shawaryn was one of them. In his first start since May 30 — as far as I know it was all about rest, not injury — the righty was great. In fact, he’s been great essentially all year and over his last two starts he has 15 strikeouts and no walks in 13 innings of work. Jalen Beeks has been the system’s best pitcher this year, but Shawaryn is number two despite a 3.41 ERA that doesn’t look that great.

Salem L 3-10

Santiago Espinal, SS: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, K, 1 E

Brett Netzer, 2B: 3-5, 3 RBI, 1 K

Roldani Baldwin, DH: 2-4, 1 K

Bobby Dalbec, 3B: 1-4, 2 K, 1 E

Tyler Hill, RF: 0-4, 1 K

Tanner Houck: 5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 6 K (98 pitches)

It’s really hard to judge Houck right now. Obviously, this season has not been a good one for the 2017 first round pick. That goes without saying. However, it seems as if every start has at least one positive, and in this one it was the strikeouts. This was particularly encouraging after he racked up only three strikeouts in his last three outings combined. Unfortunately, he also allowed 11 baserunners in five innings.

Greenville W 5-1

Lorenzo Cedrola, CF: 1-3, 2 R, 1 K

Victor Acosta, 1B/RF: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 R, 4 RBI

Denyi Reyes: 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K (92 pitches)

We need to start talking about Reyes more, because the young righty has been incredible for the Drive this season. He made the All-Star team, and it was well deserved. Now through ten starts (plus three relief appearances) he has a 2.01 ERA in 71 ²⁄₃ innings with 72 strikeouts and just eight walks. Pitching is kind of crowded at High-A, but the 21-year-old deserves a new challenge.

DSL 1 W 13-11

Gilberto Jimenez, CF: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K

Ceddanne Rafaela, 3B: 2-4, 2 R, 1 RBI

Brandon Rincones, 2B: 2-5, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB, 1 E

Lewis Baez, LF: 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 K

DSL 2 L 9-15

Nelfy Abreu, CF: 3-5, 1 2B, 1 R, 2 RBI

Danny Diaz, 3B: 1-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K

Klieber Rodriguez, C: 2-5, 1 R, 1 E

Ronaldo Pulgar, 2B: 3-5, 2 2B, 3 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB

Johan Martinez: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K

There are a few standouts in the DSL early on in the season. On DSL 1, Jimenez has been a hit machine at the top of the lineup, hitting .407 early on. On DSL 2, Abreu — the third-highest rated Red Sox prospect at the DSL — has a ridiculous .500 OBP to start the year. And on the pitching side Martinez has thrown 9 ¹⁄₃ scoreless innings in relief with 12 strikeouts and two walks.

Player of the Day: This was not a challenging pick, even with Reyes’ good day. Mike Shawaryn, as I said, has been incredible this season and he kept that up on Saturday. I expect he’ll spend most of this season in Portland, particularly because he has been hittable at times this year, but he will be a depth option to watch in 2019.