Red Sox Minor Lines: Tanner Houck stays hot

Portland W 6-0

Jeremy Rivera, SS: 2-5, 1 CS

Jantzen Witte, 3B: 3-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 R, 4 RBI, 1 K, 1 E

Josh Ockimey, 1B: 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 K

Johnny Bladel, LF: 1-2, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 SB

Austin Rei, DH: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K

Dedgar Jimenez: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K (104 pitches)

It’s been a really up-and-down season for Jimenez, who was one of the more quietly intriguing upper-level pitchers heading into the year. The large righty had a shockingly strong season between Salem and Portland a year ago, and with another strong year in 2018 he would be fully on the map. He’s certainly shown some flashes, but his control and command hasn’t been as on point. Jimenez is on a hot streak right now, though, with two straight outings in which he hasn’t allowed a run. A strong finish to the year would be nice to see from Jimenez.

Salem W 3-1

C.J. Chatham, SS: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI

Roldani Baldwin, C: 1-4, 1 K

Bobby Dalbec, DH: 0-3, 1 RBI, 2 K

Jerry Downs, 1B: 1-2, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Tanner Houck: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 8 K (78 pitches)

Joan Martinez: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K (29 pitches)

Don’t look now, but it really looks like Houck is turning into something legit now that the team is letting him get back to his college style. It’s true that this style the relies heavily on the two-seamer and a more violent delivery will be more likely to land him in the bullpen, but it’s clear that the other style wasn’t taking. Now, Houck has four consecutive outings of at least six innings (he had two in his first 15) and he’s allowed six earned runs over that span for a 2.16 ERA with 24 strikeouts and five walks in 25 innings of work. This is the Houck they were hoping for.

Greenville L 1-6

Garrett Benge, 3B: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 BB

Durbin Feltman: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K (25 pitches)

Feltman may be hitting a bit of a walk, or maybe he’s just going in a cold streak. Either way, he has two rough outings in his last three and that could be enough to prevent him from making the majors this year. Granted, I was always among those who felt that was far-fetched to begin with, but if he was going to be on that path you’d like him to move quickly. This is not the same as me saying I’m worried about two bad outings at all, but the Red Sox should not rush the 2018 draftee. He can make an impact in 2019, and that should be the focus at this point.

GCL W 7-1

Juan Carlos Abreu, LF: 1-4, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB, 1 PO

Josh Tobias, 2B: 1-2, 1 2B, 1 K

Nicholas Northcut, DH: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K

Ricardo Cubillan, SS: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI

Caleb Ramsey, CF: 0-2, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Austin Glorius: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K

Yusniel Padron-Artilles: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K

Northcut struggled a bit as he tried to get his career off the ground, but he’s starting to get into a groove now. The 11th round pick who was actually a top-three talent from this draft class has been red hot since the start of July. It’s only a 12-game sample, but in it he is hitting .405/.500/.571. Reading into GCL performance is generally a mistake, but Northcut is someone about whom to be excited.

DSL 1 W 3-1

Leonel Jimenez, DH: 0-2, 1 BB, 1 R

Emerson Ortiz: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K

DSL 2 SUSP

One of those days in which I have nothing on the DSL.

Player of the Day: It’s very obviously Tanner Houck this time around. One could argue that he is the biggest key to the Red Sox farm system right now, at least to the extent any one player can determine the direction of a farm. Bryan Mata and Darwinzon Hernandez, among others, could be included here, but Houck is a first-round talent with a huge gap between his realistic ceiling and floor. Right now, he’s trending closer to the ceiling, which is huge.