Red Sox Minor Lines: Danny Diaz homers on DSL Opening Day

Pawtucket L 3-5

Tzu-Wei Lin, SS: 1-5

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

Rusney Castillo, CF: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Adam Lind, DH: 0-4, 1 K

Mike Ohlman, 1B: 2-3, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 K

Chandler Shepherd: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K (89 pitches)

Austin Maddox: 0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 0 K (22 pitches)

Brandon Workman: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (14 pitches)

Robby Scott: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K (24 pitches)

There was a lot going on in this game for Pawtucket, even if they came away with the loss. All four pitchers for the PawSox were interesting, though it was a mixed bag. Shepherd was great, as he’s been pretty much every time out for at least a month. He is looking more and more like legitimate starting pitching depth with every start. On the other end of the spectrum, Maddox has looked awful in his rehab. It never seemed likely that he’d jump right from rehab to the majors, but he’s probably pretty far down the depth chart at the moment. On offense, Lind didn’t have a great Red Sox debut and Castillo went deep for just the second time this year.

Portland W 14-5

Jeremy Rivera: 3-6, 1 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 K, 1 SB

Chad De La Guerra, 3B: 0-4, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI

Jantzen Witte, 1B: 3-6, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 R, 5 RBI, 1 SB

Josh Ockimey, DH: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K

Tate Matheny, CF: 2-5, 2 2B, 1 BB, 2 RBI, 2 K

Nick Lovullo, 2B: 4-5, 1 2B, 3 R, 1 E

Danny Mars, RF: 2-5, 1 HR, 3 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

I don’t really know what to say here besides the fact that it was an incredible, all-around great day for the SeaDogs lineup. De La Guerra and catcher Austin Rei were the only players without hits, and Luke Tendler was the only other who didn’t have multiple hits. Pretty good!

Salem L 5-7

Santiago Espinal, SS: 2-5, 1 R

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

Roldani Baldwin, C: 1-5, 3 K

C.J. Chatham, DH: 1-4, 1 BB, 1 K

Bobby Dalbec, 3B: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI

Jordan Wren, LF: 3-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 CS

Bryan Mata: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 5 K (84 pitches)

I’m never going to be the biggest Dalbec fan out there. Despite how much more it is becoming part of the game, I’m just not wired to trust all-or-nothing guys like this who strikeout at huge rates but also possess huge power. More often than not, it seems, those guys don’t make enough contact for the power to carry over to the highest levels. I’m still not sold on Dalbec, but he has been looking much better in terms of contact of late with just four strikeouts in his last seven games. It’s progress, at least. Mata, meanwhile, still hasn’t looked as dominant as we’d hoped after last season, but he’s been posting solid results of late and is allowing weak contact. The walks are worrisome, though.

Greenville W 13-5

Lorenzo Cedrola, RF: 0-3, 1 R

Frankie Rios, SS/LF: 3-5, 1 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 K, 1 SB

Marino Campana, DH: 2-2, 1 2B, 3 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI

Kervin Suarez, CF: 3-5, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB

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

A rare big day at the plate for the Drive who have certainly been the low point in the Red Sox farm system to date. They have seemingly been trending in the right direction at the plate lately, however, and guys like Rios and Campana in particular are looking good. It’s not crazy to think they could be a lot better in the second half.

DSL 1 L 2-5

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

Carlos Sanchez, DH: 2-4, 2 K

Lewis Baez, LF: 2-4, 1 2B

The Dominican Summer League got underway on Saturday, and the Red Sox have a few interesting players to watch, unlike last year. They have two DSL squads, and the number 2 team is actually seemingly the A-squad. Either way, I won’t pretend like I know a ton about any of these players, so for now I’ll just be highlighting the guys who have good games and see if any start to stand out as the year goes on.

DSL 2 L 2-3

Nelfy Abreu, CF: 0-4, 1 K

Angel Maita, RF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 K, 1 SB

Antoni Flores, SS: 0-4, 1 R

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

Isaias Ozoria: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K

As I mentioned, this certainly seems like the A-team for the Red Sox down in the Domincan, with the three best prospects from last year’s J2 class all on this roster. Diaz is certainly the number one player, and he got off to a helluva start with a home run. It’s also worth noting that he played third base, despite being listed as a shortstop last summer. It was always clear he’d eventually move to the hot corner, so the team wasted no time making that move.

Player of the Day: There are a whole lot of options here, with big days at the plate from just about every level up and down the system. I’m going to give it to Greenville’s Tanner Nishioka, though, for his perfect offensive performance. This is not a top prospect we’re talking about here, and a senior sign pick from last year’s draft has played in just eight games all year. He’s probably not going to have a lot of moments like this, so it’s always nice to highlight these types of players while we can.