Red Sox Minor Lines: Dustin Pedroia suffers another setback

Pawtucket G1 W 6-1

Mike Miller, SS: 3-4, 1 R, 1 RBI

Jantzen Witte, 3B: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K

Rusney Castillo, RF: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 2 K

Sam Travis, 1B: 1-4, 1 R, 1 K

Josh Ockimey, DH: 1-4, 1 K

Marco Hernandez, 2B: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 R

Bryce Brentz, LF: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Gorkys Hernández, CF: 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Teddy Stankiewicz: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K (89 pitches)

Josh Taylor: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (11 pitches)

Pawtucket G2 W 6-1

Rusney Castillo, CF: 0-4

Sam Travis, LF: 1-4, 1 R

Josh Ockimey, 1B: 1-2, 2 BB, 2 R

Marco Hernandez, DH: 3-4, 1 2B, 2 R

Juan Centeno, C: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 R, 4 RBI

Cole Sturgeon, RF: 2-3, 1 K

It’s been a really rough go of late for the PawSox, but they snapped out of it with a doubleheader on Friday with both games finishing with the same 6-1 score in favor of Pawtucket. It was the offense standing out the most in both games, with a few different guys standing out in different games. Marco Hernandez was probably the biggest standout here just a couple days after leaving early. He played the very next day so apparently if he was hurt it wasn’t serious, and he smacked a couple of doubles and got on base four times in the two games on Friday. His recovery from two major shoulder surgeries has been impressive and much quicker than I would have ever expected.

Portland W 1-0

Brock Holt, SS: 0-2, 1 BB

Dustin Pedroia, 2B: 0-2, 1 K

Bobby Dalbec, 3B/1B 0-2, 1 K

Denyi Reyes: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K (93 pitches)

This was an extremely quick game with Portland grabbing a single run in the fifth representing the only action on a night in which the two teams combined for five hits. There were a couple of rehabbing major leaguers here, with the biggest news being Pedroia suffering another setback. Hopefully he’ll be able to bounce back quickly from this one, though we don’t know enough yet. In more positive news, Reyes had his best start of the year while setting a career-high in strikeouts. After a huge breakout season in 2018 the righty had been struggling to adjust to Double-A competition. This was only one start, but he has been better of late in general and now has allowed one or zero runs in three of his last four outings.

Salem W 8-6

Jarren Duran, CF: 4-4, 1BB, 2 R

Ryan Fitzgerald, SS: 1-3, 2 BB, 2 R, 1 K, 1 E

Pedro Castellanos, 1B: 1-3, 2 RBI, 1 E

Marcus Wilson, RF: 3-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 R, 3 RBI

I mean, what can you even say about Duran at this point. He had his version of a slump recently in which he recorded only one hit in five straight games and in seven of nine. Yes, that was a slump for him. Now he has two straight multi-hit games and a hit streak of 16. On the year, he’s hitting .422/.482/.566. I mean, come on. He’s not much longer for Salem. Meanwhile, Wilson struggled mightily in Portland after coming over from Arizona in the Blake Swihart deal, but he’s starting to find his swing here.

Greenville L 2-6

Cole Brannen, CF: 1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI

Tyler Esplin, RF: 0-4, 2 K

Triston Casas, 1B: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 RBI

Brandon Howlett, 3B: 1-4, 2 K

Tyler Dearden, LF: 1-3

Alex Scherff: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 3 K (96 pitches)

Scherff was one of the most impressive players in the system early in this season as he came into the year with a little bit of helium and with some expectations now that he was healthy and with a new pitch in tow. He’s fallen off of late, though, with his ERA rising from 1.89 after his fourth start to 5.18 today. The biggest difference has been the hittability. Scherff allowed just one homer in his first six outings, but he’s allowed five over his last three. It’s time for another adjustment from Scherff, which in the long-run can be a positive as long as the adjustment actually gets made.

Player of the Day: There were a lot of options in what was a rare good day for the farm, with Duran being the most tempting. However, I’m going to go up to Portland for this one and give it to Denyi Reyes. It’s been a tough year for the righty who has struggled after being added to the 40-man this past winter. As I said, he’s struggled for most of this year but hopefully this start is a launching point for the rest of 2019.