Red Sox Minor Lines: Another strong start for Chandler Shepherd

Pawtucket W 5-1

Tzu-Wei Lin, 3B: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R

Cole Sturgeon, RF: 1-4, 1 E

Rusney Castillo, CF: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI

Adam Lind, DH: 0-4

Mike Ohlam, 1B: 2-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 RBI

Chandler Shepherd: 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (97 pitches)

Ty Buttrey: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (29 pitches)

On the same night Jalen Beeks struggled in his major-league debut, Shepherd looked good yet again on the Triple-A mound. After a rough start to his first season as a starter, the righty has been outstanding for over a month now, and it’s entirely possible he could get the next spot start if one turns out to be needed. Beeks showed us that big Triple-A stats don’t translate into guaranteed MLB success — not that we should be writing off Beeks — but Shepherd has earned a chance after being added to the 40-man roster this past winter.

Portland L 5-7

Jeremy Rivera, SS: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 1 CS, 1 E

Josh Ockimey, 1B: 2-5

Tate Matheny, CF: 0-4, 1 K

Luke Tendler, DH: 2-4, 1 K

Danny Mars, RF: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI

Trey Ball: 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (31 pitches)

Mars has been one of the more disappointing players in Portland this season, even if the expectations weren’t huge and the ceiling isn’t very high. He was never going to hit for much power, but what the outfielder has been able to do throughout his professional career is hit for average. This season, his average is down to .233 thanks to a major drop in BABIP. That could be bad luck, but Fangraphs has his line drive rate down significantly. Hopefully, this multi-hit game can turn things around.

Salem W 7-3

Santiago Espinal, SS/3B: 2-5, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI

Brett Netzer, 2B: 2-5, 2 R, 1 K

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

Bobby Dalbec, 3B/SS: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R

Roldani Baldwin, C: 2-5, 3 RBI, 2 K, 1 PB

Tyler Hil, LF: 0-5, 1 E

Trenton Kemp, RF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K

Bryan Mata: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K (83 pitches)

Jake Cosart: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (14 pitches)

Some quick hits on this game. Espinal continues to kill High-A pitching and blow by everyone’s expectations. Another game without a strikeout for Dalbec. Netzer has been quietly solid this year, at least in terms of batting average. Mata had another solid day, but one in which his peripherals leave something to be desired. Cosart had a great game in his second appearance since his demotion.

Greenville W 5-4

Lorenzo Cedrola, LF: 1-4, 2 R, 1 K, 1 SB

Victor Acosta, RF: 3-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 SB, 1 CS

Alex Scherff: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K (88 pitches)

There’s some good and some bad with Scherff’s outing, but it’s definitely more good than bad. The bad is that he didn’t make it super deep into the game, and he allowed eight baserunners. Of course, he’s a high school prospect in his first full season, so light workloads are expected. He’s also in front of a Low-A defense, and only one of the five hits he allowed went for extra bases. The good is that he only allowed the one earned run and that he had a big strikeout total. He’s certainly trending in the right direction, a development this farm system really needed.

DSL 1 L 3-20

Luis Mota, 3B: 2-2, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 E

DSL 2 L 3-8

Angel Maita, RF: 2-5, 1 R, 1 K, 1 SB

Antoni Flores, SS: 1-4, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 CS, 1 E

Danny Diaz, 3B: 0-4, 1 K

Yikes. Let’s have a better day down in the Dominican on Friday, yeah?

Player of the Day: I’m going to give this one to Shepherd, who as I discussed above could get the next chance in the majors if/when a spot in the rotation opens up.