Red Sox Minor Lines: The system gets swept

Pawtucket G1 L 3-4

Mike Miller, 2B: 2-4, 1 2B

Eduardo Núñez, 3B: 0-4, 1 K, 1 E

Rusney Castillo, CF: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 R

Josh Ockimey, 1B: 1-3, 1 R, 1 K

Sam Travis, DH: 0-2, 1 BB

Bryce Brentz, LF: 0-2, 1 RBI, 1 K

Bobby Poyner: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 1 K (36 pitches)

Pawtucket G2 L 3-4

Mike Miller, 2B: 2-4, 1 R, 1 E

Rusney Castillo, CF: 1-2, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI

Josh Ockimey, DH: 0-3, 1 K

Sam Travis, 1B: 0-2, 1 BB, 1 K

Bryce Brentz, LF: 1-3, 1 K

Gorkys Hernández, RF: 0-3, 1 K

Domingo Tapia: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K (49 pitches)

Josh Taylor: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (14 pitches)

It was a tough couple of games for the Paw Sox for their doubleheader in Buffalo, losing both games by the same score and one run each. Núñez continued his rehab and played in the first game, going 0-4 for the second straight day while throwing a fielding error on top of that. Not great! Castillo did hit his fourth homer of the year, which at the time gave the PawSox a 3-0 lead in that second game. Obviously, that wouldn’t last. Taylor has also earned a shoutout in Pawtucket’s bullpen. The southpaw now has a 1.69 ERA over nine appearances and 10 ²⁄₃ innings with 16 strikeouts and six walks. He could very well be the next guy to get the call up to the majors.

Portland L 0-4

Marcus Wilson, CF: 0-4, 3 K

Brett Netzer, 2B: 0-4, 3 K

C.J. Chatham, SS: 0-4, 1 K

Bobby Dalbec, 3B: 0-3, 1 BB, 2 K

Aneury Tavárez, LF: 2-3, 1 K

Dedgar Jimenez: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K (84 pitches)

Daniel McGrath: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (14 pitches)

Yikes. This was a rough one for the Sea Dogs with Jimenez and McGrath each putting up solid lines but it wouldn’t matter with the offense no-showing. Portland’s hitters struck out 14 times while walking just once, with the top five hitters in the order going a combined 0-19 with 11 strikeouts and a walk. Dalbec in particular stands out to me as he is going through a rough season. The top prospect is now hitting .197/.361/.318, showing good patience but not much else. The power will hopefully improve as the weather does — it has been decidedly not spring-like up north over the last month — but right now he’s not providing much beyond the walks.

Salem L 2-3 (F/10)

Jarren Duran, CF: 2-5, 1 R, 2 K, 2 SB

Marco Hernandez, 2B: 1-5, 1 K, 1 2B

Pedro Castellanos, 1B: 2-4, 2 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI

Ryan Fitzgerald, SS: 0-5, 2 K

Joseph Monge, DH: 2-4, 1 K

Joan Martinez: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K (30 pitches)

Another frustrating game for what is shaping up to be a really frustrating day for Red Sox minor leaguers. Like Portland, the Salem lineup struggled with contact striking out 13 times on the day with just two walks. They did manage nine hits included Hernandez’ first double of 2019 as well as Castellanos smacking two. The latter has been an extra-base machine of late. In the bullpen, Martinez has been pitching well of late, throwing at least two innings in six of his seven appearances so far this year and pitching to a 2.87 ERA over 15 ²⁄₃ innings with 24 strikeouts and five walks. Martinez was a little disappointing in 2018 as he was gaining some helium heading into the year. He’s starting to make up for that this year.

Greenville L 4-5

Cole Brannen, CF: 1-3, 2 K

Tyler Esplin, RF: 0-4, 1 RBI, 1 K

Triston Casas, 1B: 0-4, 1 K

Brandon Howlett, 3B: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Grant Williams, SS: 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 CS

Yorvin Pantoja: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K (33 pitches)

Aaaaand the Red Sox system gets swept on Tuesday. This game was close throughout, but ultimately a three-run seventh inning for Hickory was the difference as Greenville couldn’t recover over the last third of the game. One positive here, though, was Howlett hitting his first homer of the year and also drawing a walk. As we’ve talked about multiple times this year, it’s been a rough start for the 2018 breakout, but he’s slowly turning it around. He now has hits in eight of his last nine games, though only one of those was a multi-hit game.

Player of the Day: It’s always tough to try and pick a standout on days like this, but I’m going to go with Pedro Castellanos. He didn’t have a typical Player of the Day performance, but he was very good and has been very good in general of late. We still aren’t seeing the in-game power from him, though playing in Salem is part of that. He does have nine doubles in 23 games, though, with two in each of his last two games and three multi-double games over the last week.