Red Sox Minor Lines: Bryan Mata leaves early

Pawtucket L 4-6 (F/10)

Tzu-Wei Lin, SS: 2-5, 2 K

Rusney Castillo, CF: 1-3, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 K, 1 SB

Sam Travis, DH: 1-4, 2 RBI, 1 K

Mike Miller, 2B: 3-4, 1 R, 1 SB

Aneury Tavarez, RF: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI

Bobby Poyner: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (18 pitches)

Robby Scott: 1 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K (12 pitches)

We haven’t seen a ton of Poyner since his stint in the majors to start the year, but he is still a piece that can have an impact on the major-league roster later in the season if the need arises. He’s been on a nice run with the PawSox, particularly in a short three-outing stint since his last appearance in the majors. What’s most impressive, however, is how often he’s recorded more than three outs. Twice in those three appearances he’s done so, and he’s pitched multiple innings in six of his last seven outings.

Portland L 1-8

Jeremy Rivera, SS: 3-3, 1 2B

Michael Chavis, 3B: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 E

Josh Ockimey, 1B: 0-4, 1 K

Chavis obviously hasn’t been able to play much this year, largely due to his 80-game suspension to start the season but also because of a 10-day injury absence shortly following his return. He’s certainly struggling a bit with swing and miss, but that has subsided of late and he’s hitting the ball with authority. He now has an extra-base hit in each of his three games since returning from his injury. If he can keep that up, his stock should rise back up to something close to its preseason level by the time the offseason rolls around.

Salem L 4-5

Brett Netzer, 2B: 0-4

C.J. Chatham, SS: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 CS/PO

Bobby Dalbec, 3B: 0-4, 1 K

Roldani Baldwin, C: 1-3, 2 R, 1 PB

Michael Osinski, RF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI

Victor Acosta, LF: 3-4, 1 R, 1 K

Jordan Procyshen, DH: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 RBI, 1 K

Bryan Mata: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K (24 pitches)

There was some eyebrow-raising when Mata left this game early — remember, he was scratched right before his last scheduled start — with it being so close to the trade deadline. He’s still obviously a candidate to be dealt, but that wasn’t the case here. Instead, he was removed due to tightness in his back. Mata still has some very real potential despite a disappointing year, so hopefully this isn’t too much of a setback.

Greenville L 2-5

Ryan Fitzgerald, SS: 3-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI

Garrett Benge, 3B: 2-4

Pedro Castellanos, 1B: 1-3

Durbin Feltman: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (14 pitches)

Feltman made his sixth Low-A appearance on Thursday, and while his numbers are a bit inconsistent as many people have pointed out to me the damage hasn’t been as bad as the box score may suggest. In the other outings, like this one, he’s been purely dominant. I still maintain that he won’t really push for a major-league impact until spring training next year, but with 13 strikeouts and just one walk in six innings with Greenville, I’m ready to see him move up the ladder.

Lowell L 2-5

Jarren Duran, CF: 1-4

Devlin Granberg, RF: 1-4, 1 R, 2 K

Jake Romanski, C: 0-2, 1 K

Kole Cottam, DH: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K

Tyler Dearden, LF: 1-4, 2 K

Romanski is not a top prospect and likely not someone we’ll spotlight very much this year, but he’s worth mentioning here. For those unfamiliar, in the past he’s been viewed as a potential backup catcher but he was suspended for 100 days to start this year after his second failed PED test. This was his first game back, and after a handful of games in Lowell it will be interesting to see at which level the Red Sox place him.

GCL W 9-6

Juan Carlos Abreu, LF: 2-4, 1 BB, 1 R

Josh Tobias, DH: 1-3, 1 R, 1 K

Nicholas Northcut, 3B: 1-5, 1 2B, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 K,1 E

Lane Milligan, CF: 4-5, 1 2B, 3 R

Ricardo Cubillan, SS: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 BB, 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 K

Ivan Houellemont, 2B: 2-4, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 1 K

Jose Gonzalez: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 8 K

Northcut didn’t have a great game, but with another double under his belt he is continuing to show an ability to hit the ball hard against GCL competition. It’s encouraging after a slow start. Gonzalez, meanwhile, is not a big name and also didn’t have a great game in terms of runs allowed, but striking out two batters per inning is always going to merit a mention. He now has a 1.36 ERA over 33 innings.

Player of the Day: There were a few standout performances despite the poor win-loss record on the day, but I’ll give this one to Ryan Fitzgerald. We’ve discussed him before, but in case you’re unfamiliar the infielder was a signing out of Indy Ball and he’s been really impressive in his first taste of affiliated ball. After another big day the 24-year-old is hitting .295/.352/.477 on the year.