Red Sox Minor Lines: Triston Casas stays cookin’

Pawtucket L 3-7

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

Josh Ockimey, DH: 0-3, 1 RBI, 2 K

Marco Hernandez, 2B: 1-3, 1 BB

Bryce Brentz, LF: 0-3, 1 R, 1 K

It was a rough and fairly uneventful day for Pawtucket, who did have a couple of brief leads after the top of the fourth and fifth inning before a six-run fifth from Rochester quickly changed that. We haven’t talked a whole lot about Travis this year, mostly because he basically is what he is at this point. That said, he is having a solid year, albeit still lacking the power we’d like to see from his position. His .361 OBP is nice to see, but ultimately he’s still a corner player who is getting by with a .123 Isolated Power. That’s with Triple-A starting to use MLB’s juiced ball this year, too. I’ve obviously never been the highest on Travis so take my opinion for whatever it’s worth, but with Chavis on the roster as a right-handed option I’d rather see Ockimey on the 40-man at this point than Travis.

Portland W 7-3

Brett Netzer, 2B: 2-4, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 K

Bobby Dalbec, 1B: 2-5, 1 RBI

Tate Matheny, CF: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 K

Dedgar Jimenez: 6 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K (93 pitches)

Durbin Feltman: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K (14 pitches)

This was a really exciting game on a beautiful day in Portland, with Jimenez stealing the show early on with six shutout innings. The Sea Dogs had a 3-0 lead heading into the seventh, but their bullpen then faltered culminating in a home run allowed by Feltman in the ninth to tie this game up. Feltman has had a disappointing year, now up to a 6.38 ERA over 18 ¹⁄₃ innings with 19 strikeouts and 14 walks with three homers allowed. The talent is there, but he’s yet to harness it in the high minors. Fortunately, Portland was still able to get the win thanks to a walk-off grand slam from Matheny.

Salem L 1-6

Marcus Wilson, CF: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Ryan Fitzgerald, SS: 3-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI

Pedro Castellanos, DH: 1-4

Victor Acosta, RF: 2-4

Eduard Bazardo: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (31 pitches)

No offense to the rest of this Salem roster, but things are less exciting in High-A when Jarren Duran gets the day off. Fitzgerald did have himself a nice game and Bazardo continues to shine out of Salem’s bullpen, but overall they never really threatened for a lead in this game. Castellanos in particular has been disappointing of late. The first base prospect got off to a hot start, but he has just one multi-hit game since May 13 and in that time his OPS has fallen from .740 to 679.

Greenville W 6-4

Tyler Esplin, RF: 1-5, 1 2B

Devlin Granberg: 0-4, 1 BB, 1 CS

Jordan Wren, LF: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB

Triston Casas, DH: 1-2, 1 HR, 2 BB, 3 R, 2 RBI, 1 K

Brandon Howlett, 3B: 0-4, 1 K, 1 E

Alan Marrero, C: 2-3, 2 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Chase Shugart: 5.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K (77 pitches)

Logan Browning: 3.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (49 pitches)

Casas is really starting to roll after taking a few weeks to adjust to professional ball, and we’re beginning to see why the Red Sox were so excited about this kid after making him a first round selection last summer. This was his eighth homer of the year, and with his latest big day the 19-year-old is now hitting .270/.349/.503 on the year. Meanwhile, Shugart was a 12th round pick last year who has impressed some scouts but hasn’t been able to pitch much as a pro. He was handed a 50-game suspension before this season started after testing positive for a drug of abuse, and Monday was his first start of the year. Things got off to a good start, and he’ll be a name to watch as the year goes on.

Player of the Day: Part of me really wants to give this to Matheny because his home run was a walk-off grand slam, but I don’t think I can snub Triston Casas like that. As I said above, Casas has been a totally different guy in May. At the end of April he was hitting just .208/.284/.364. In May, before even taking this latest game into account, the first round pick is hitting .325/.394/.600. It’s going to be fun to watch him grow, though since he’s so young I wouldn’t expect him to fly too quickly through the system.