Red Sox Minor Lines: Bobby Dalbec is Salem’s homer king

Pawtucket W 6-1

Tzu-Wei Lin, SS: 2-3, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 K, 1 CS

Rusney Castillo, CF: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 K

Brandon Phillips, DH: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Adam Lind, 1B: 1-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 2 K

Sam Travis, LF: 0-4

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

Oscar Hernandez, C: 2-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K

Chandler Shepherd: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 4 K (91 pitches)

Marcus Walden: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K (36 pitches)

With Jalen Beeks being sent to Tampa Bay, Chandler Shepherd is arguably the most exciting starting pitcher in Triple-A. That’s...not great. I believe that Shepherd is a good arm who can carve out a major-league role, but as time goes on I’m not convinced it will come as a starter. He got into a groove in the rotation earlier in the year, but more recently he’s struggled to get very deep into games and while he only allowed one run here he did walk four in five innings. Shepherd has now failed to go beyond five innings in six consecutive starts and over his last three he has nine walks and only six strikeouts in 13 ²⁄₃ innings.

Portland W 5-1

Jeremy Rivera, SS: 0-4, 1 BB, 1 R

Chad De La Guerra, 2B: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K

Michael Chavis, DH: 0-4, 1 K

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

Tate Matheny, CF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K

Austin Rei, C: 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 SB

For the majority of his professional career, Rei has been a big disappointment. When he was selected in the third round back in 2015, he was seen as a potential steal having fallen in the draft largely due to injury. He’s never been able to translate that into professional success, until this ear. Now, Rei isn’t exactly dominating right now but after another two-hit day he is hitting .256/.373/.397, which is good for a catcher. I haven’t seen enough of him to say whether or not the patience that leads to an OBP that is nearly 120 points higher than his AVG will carry over to higher levels, but for an organization with a dearth of catching talent, it’s intriguing.

Salem L 5-6

Tyler Hill, CF: 1-5, 1 RBI

Brett Netzer, 2B: 2-5, 1 R, 3 K

C.J. Chatham, SS: 3-4, 1 R, 1 K

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

Roldani Baldwin, DH: 0-4

Jake Thompson: 6 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 0 BB, 8 K (89 pitches)

Always good to see Dalbec go yard, and with 25 homers he has already set the record for Salem since the Red Sox started playing there. Thompson, meanwhile, missed a bunch of bats which hasn’t been super common for him this year, but he was also very hittable. Baldwin is the guy I want to discuss, however. I was very high on the catcher this year and looked at him as a potential “sleeper” but he’s disappointed. Part of the issue is that he’s been up and down with injury, but he’s struggling at the plate to the tune of a .235/.282/.378 line. There is still power there, it’s just a matter of finding discipline at the plate.

Greenville W 4-2

Marino Campana, RF: 1-3, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 K

Garrett Benge, 1B: 1-2, 2 BB, 2 R, 1 E

Tanner Nishioka, 3B: 3-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 E

Jhonathan Diaz: 5.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K (100 pitches)

Nishioka was red-hot earlier in the year, but even since quieting down he is hitting .298/.372/.472 on the year with Greenville. At 23 years old it’s not a major success story, but he’s opened some eyes this year. Diaz, meanwhile, keeps showing off strikeout stuff with just about a strikeout per inning on the year.

Lowell L 3-9

Jarren Duran, CF: 2-5

Xavier LeGrant, 2B: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI

Devlin Granberg, 1B: 0-4, 1 K

Kole Cottam, C: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI

Tyler Dearden, RF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 E

Austin Glorius: 2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 0 K

Glorius wasn’t perfect in his rehab at the GCL, but for someone with his experience time at the complex will only go so far. It was only a matter of time before he moved up, and apparently that was Friday. He struggled again, unfortunately. Glorius isn’t a huge prospect, of course, but there’s intrigue in that arm and it would be great to see him get back to his peak level.

GCL L 2-12

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

Nicholas Northcut, PH/DH: 0-2, 1 BB

This was not a good game on the complex, but Abreu continues a big year in his third taste of the GCL. He’s now hitting .330/.400/.485 and should probably get a chance up the ladder at some point.

DSL 1 W 1-0

Gilberto Jimenez, CF: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 SB

Leonel Jimenez, DH: 1-2, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 1 SB, 1 CS/PO

Miguel Suero: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K

DSL 2 W 3-2

Nelfy Abreu, CF: 0-4, 1 R, 1 K

Oscar Rangel, C: 2-3, 1 3B, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI

Kleiber Rodriguez, 1B: 2-4, 1 RBI

Brayan Bello: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

We’ve talked about him a few times this year, but I have been really impressed (based entirely on box scores, of course) by Bello. He now has ten starts under his belt and has pitched to a 1.71 ERA with 45 strikeouts and 47 ¹⁄₃ innings. He’s also thrown at leas six innings in two of his last three outings, which you just don’t see much at this level.

Player of the Day: For as good of a day this was, there really weren’t too many performances that stood out. I’m going to give this to Oscar Rangel in the DSL and move on with my day.