Red Sox Minor Lines: A sweep, in a bad way

Pawtucket L 4-8

Rusney Castillo, CF: 2-5, 1 R, 1 K

Sam Travis, LF: 2-5, 1 3B, 2 RBI

Bryce Brentz, DH: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Josh Ockimey, 1B: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K

Juan Centeno, C: 3-4

Chandler Shepherd: 5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 5 K (88 pitches)

Travis Lakins: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (18 pitches)

Bobby Poyner: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (11 pitches)

It’s been an absolutely brutal year for Shepherd, who was placed on the 40-man a couple of winters ago ahead of the Rule 5 Draft but has not yet pitched in the big leagues. With Boston’s apparent bullpen issues this year he seemed to have a chance at some point in 2019, but he’s closer to pitching himself off the 40-man than onto the active roster. In this outing he allowed five runs including three homers over the first three inning before getting through two more. He’s now at a 9.88 ERA on the year.

Portland L 3-6

Brett Netzer, 2B: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 E

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

Joey Curletta, 1B: 2-4, 1 K, 1 R

Darwinzon Hernandez, 3 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 6 BB, 4 K (78 pitches)

Hernandez is probably the most exciting pitchers in the system right now, and that we’ve already seen him in the majors has people ready for his future to come now. However, he’s showing with outings like these that his control is still a major issue. The southpaw is never going to be a control artist on the mound, but he can’t have these kind of outings where his walk total doubles his inning total at the end of the night. Overall on the season, Hernandez now has as many walks as innings pitched through five starts.

Salem L 0-1

Jarren Duran, CF: 2-4, 1 K, 1 CS/PO

Marco Hernandez, DH: 0-4, 2 K

Pedro Castellanos, 1B: 0-4, 1 K

Ryan Fitzgerald, SS: 1-3

Daniel Gonzalez: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K (76 pitches)

This was a pitchers duel between Salem and Lynchburg, which is a little jarring considering how well the top half of Salem’s lineup has played this year. Most of their close games are because both offenses are going, but this game was scoreless until Lynchburg scored the night’s only run in the bottom of the eighth. The top four in Salem’s lineup was only 3-15 in this game, and nobody on the team got an extra-base hit. They did get a great start from Gonzalez, though.

Greenville L 3-10

Cole Brannen, CF: 1-5, 1 R

Tyler Espln, RF: 1-4, 1 RBI

Devlin Granberg, DH: 2-3, 2 BB, 1 K

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

Brandon Howlett, 3B: 0-4, 2 K

Alan Marrero, C: 2-4, 1 E

Another rough day to finish off what was a really rough day for the system overall. There wasn’t a lot good going on here, with Casas and Howlett taking a step back after recent hot streaks. On the mound, it was basically a bullpen day with their starter not making it through three. The one strong performer was Granberg, who was able to reach base four times.

Player of the Day: Granberg getting on base four times is great, but this one has to go to Gonzalez. There wasn’t a ton of competition here, of course, but seven shutout innings is seven shutout innings. At 23 years old, Gonzalez has been shuffling around the Red Sox system for a few years now, and he’s made seven starts for Salem this year. He has an impressive 2.50 ERA in that time, though with only 21 strikeouts in 39 ²⁄₃ innings. Prior to this year, he’d been more of a swingman shuffling between the bullpen and rotation.