Red Sox Minor Lines: Triston Casas exits early

Pawtucket W 3-2

Rusney Castillo, CF: 2-4, 1 R, 1 K

Ivan De Jesus, 2B: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K

Adam Lind, 1B: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI

Sam Travis, LF: 0-4, 1 K

Ty Buttrey: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (17 pitches)

Lind got off to a bit of a quiet start when he first signed with the organization and started in Pawtucket, but he’s been getting hot of late. He now has two consecutive games with a home run and has at least one hit in eight of his last nine games. Unfortunately for him, there’s really no spot on the major-league roster right now, though if there were an injury to someone like Mitch Moreland or even J.D. Martinez, Lind would almost certainly be the call. Also, a periodic shoutout to Rusney Castillo, who is hitting pretty well again (.785 OPS) but has no real shot at a call-up.

Portland W 8-6

Jeremy Rivera, SS: 2-5, 1 R

Chad De La Guerra, 2B: 2-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI

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

Tate Matheny, CF: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 4 RBI, 2 K

Jordan Betts, DH: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K

Danny Mars, RF: 2-3, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB

Dedgar Jimenez: 5 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 5 K (105 pitches)

Have yourself a day, De La Guerra. With this multi-homer day, the infielder has improved his slash-line to .269/.366/.467 since joining the SeaDogs in 42 games. He’s been particularly hot over the last couple of days with three consecutive two-hit games, three homers in his last two games and five extra-base hits in his last three starts. Matheny, meanwhile, hit his first homer of the year on Monday and it was a big grand slam.

Greenville W 8-3

Lorenzo Cedrola, CF: 3-4, 1 2B, 3 R, 1 RBI

Ryan Fitzgerald, SS: 2-4, 1 R, 2 RBI

Pedro Castellanos, 1B: 0-4, 1 RBI

Tanner Nishioka, 3B: 2-4, 1 BB, 1 R

Jordan Wren, LF: 2-5, 1 2B, 2 K, 1 SB

Samuel Miranda, C: 2-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Kutter Crawford: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 K (85 pitches)

It was another strong day on the mound for Crawford, who did allow seven baserunners in the game but only one of the six hits allowed went for extra-bases. It’s hard to tell this from the box score, but there’s a chance bad luck and/or bad defense played a role here. Either way, he only allowed a couple of runs and struck out a batter per inning. Kutter back! At the plate, Cedrola had a big day and Nishioka continues to swing a hot bat.

Lowell W 11-2

Jarren Duran, 2B: 2-6, 1 R, 3 RBI, 3 K, 1 SB

Cole Brannen, CF 2-5, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Kole Cottam, C: 1-6, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI

Devlin Granberg, 1B: 2-4, 1 2B, 2 R, 2 K, 1 E

Tyler Esplin, LF: 0-3, 2 K

Tyler Dearden, RF: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Ramfis Berroa, DH: 3-5, 1 R, 2 RBI

Eduard Bazardo: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K (68 pitches)

I said when he was drafted that Duran sounded like my kind of player as a speedy infielder who gets hits even if there’s not a ton of power. I was always going to keep a close eye on him, and he’s rewarding that so far. After this game he’s up to a .911 OPS to start his professional career (albeit in seven games). This game also featured the first career home run for Cottam, Boston’s fourth-round pick in this year’s draft. On the mound, Bazardo is in his first full season in the States and the 22-year-old is off to a good start with a 3.60 ERA with 23 strikeouts and four walks in 15 innings.

GCL L 0-3

Triston Casas, 3B: 0-1, 1 BB, 1 E

Nicholas Northcut, DH: 0-4, 1 K

Yasel Santana: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K

Casas returned from a trip to Boston and Fenway to play his first professional game at third base, and it didn’t go so well. Not only did he make an error, but he injured his thumb and had to exit early. The good news is that it doesn’t appear to be overly serious.

DSL 1 W 6-4

Ceddanne Rafaela, 3B: 1-3, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 RBI, 1 SB

Denny Diaz, SS: 3-5, 2 R

DSL 2 W 8-1

Nelfy Abreu, CF: 1-4, 1 R, 2 K

Angel Maita, RF: 2-3, 1 3B, 1 BB, 2 R

Danny Diaz, 3B: 2-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Kleiber Rodriguez, 1B: 1-3, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 RBI

Luis Hernandez, SS: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Irvin Villarroel: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 K

It was a good day down in the Dominican, with some of the bigger names playing well. Rafaela has been great all year and it wouldn’t be surprising at this point if he got a late-season look at the GCL, though at just 17-years-old it’s far from a guarantee. On the DSL 2 roster, Diaz is starting to do more than just hit home runs, not that hitting home runs was really a bad thing.

Player of the Day: It was a rare big day on the farm and there are plenty of strong performances from which to choose, but Chad De La Guerra hit two dingers and that’s good enough for me. The infielder started to get some buzz last year and got to show off in the Arizona Fall League, but the start to his 2018 was rough in Pawtucket. He’s turned things around lately and is probably first in line for a jump to Triple-A if/when a spot opens up. As for his major-league future, he’s not likely more than a bench piece and more likely a Quad-A piece, but I suspect he’ll be back in the depth conversation in 2019.