Pawtucket L 4-13
Tony Renda, LF: 1-5, 1 E
Brandon Phillips, DH: 4-5, 1 2B
Rusney Castillo, CF: 0-5
Sam Travis, 1B: 0-4
Michael Chavis, 3B: 3-4, 2 2B, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 K
Mike Miller, SS: 3-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI
Mike Shawaryn: 3.1 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 0 K (63 pitches)
Austin Maddox: 0 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 0 K (17 pitches)
Travis Lakins: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (24 pitches)
It was a good news/bad news kind of day for Pawtucket on Saturday. The good news is they got big days from Chavis and Phillips. Chavis in particular was exciting given it was his first game at Triple-A. He is showing that he is very clearly the top prospect in the system and he should be on most, of not all, top 100 lists this winter. On the flip side, Shawaryn had a rough start and reminded us that he’s not quite ready for the show. Also, Maddox got back to Triple-A for the first time in his injury recovery and was awful. Lakins did get out of the jam, though.
Portland L 4-5 (F/10)
Jeremy Rivera, SS: 2-3, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 CS, 1 E
Esteban Quiroz, 2B: 1-5, 2 RBI, 1 K
Luke Tendler, DH: 2-5
Chris Madera, CF: 2-5, 1 R
Deiner Lopez, 1B: 2-4, 1 2B
Portland lost Chavis off their roster, but they did Quiroz back. If you’ll recall, there was some mild excitement about the infielder this spring after he was signed out of the Mexican League, but he got hurt early in the year. This was his first game back, and the 26-year-old can gain a little momentum and put himself on the map to serve as major-league depth in 2019.
Salem L 2-8
Tyler Hill, RF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Brett Netzer, 2B: 0-3, 1 BB, 3 K
C.J. Chatham, DH: 0-4, 1 K
Kutter Crawford: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 4 K (84 pitches)
Crawford has had a breakout season and the former Florida Gulf Coast hurler has looked much better than a typical 16th round pick, but in four starts since being promoted to Salem, he has not looked the same. To be fair, this was his first truly bad start and the first time he allowed more than five starts as well as his first time not striking out a batter per inning. Still, he has been more hittable in High-A and that caught up to him in this start.
Greenville L 1-2 (F/10)
Jarren Duran, RF: 0-4, 2 K
Pedro Castellanos, 1B: 1-3, 1 2B
Alex Scherff: 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K (60 pitches)
Zach Schellenger: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K (32 pitches)
The Drive lost this game, but the pitching was solid on Friday. Scherff continues to finish his year out on the right foot, and in two starts with Greenville since returning from injury he has allowed just one run over eight innings. He’ll be among the more exciting arms to watch next year. I’ve made no secret about my intrigue about Schellenger, but while he tossed a couple scoreless innings he did get a blown save by allowing an inherited run to score.
Lowell L 2-8
Devlin Granberg, LF: 2-3, 1 BB
Tyler Esplin, RF: 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 E
There’s not much to say here, except that Granberg just keeps hitting and it’s kind of unfair that he’s still in Lowell. He’s hitting .310/.395/.841.
GCL L 1-7
Nicholas Northcut, PH/DH: 0-1, 1 K
Elih Marrero, C: 2-3, 1 RBI, 1 K
Marrero was an eighth round pick this past summer, and while he’s a college player in the GCL (and thus expected to perform) it’s often easier said than done. He’s hit for virtually no power, but he boasts a .390 OBP which is more than enough given his position.
DSL 1 L 5-6
Wilker Vargas, 2B: 2-5, 1 RBI
Breiner Licona, 1B: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R
DSL 2 L 1-10
Nelfy Abreu, CF: 0-4, 1 K
Ronaldo Pulgar, 3B: 0-2, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 K, 2 E
I have nothing.
Player of the Day: This was an abysmal day for the Red Sox farm system, but they did have one very bright spot with Chavis’ big day in his Triple-A debut. Like I said above, despite some recent helium for someone like Bobby Dalbec and even Tanner Houck, it’s Chavis who is clearly the top guy in this system. He could very well be traded this winter, but keep in mind he’s a near-ready, top-100-quality bat. Those don’t grow on trees, even if his position is still in question.