Red Sox Minor Lines: The GCL season opens up

Pawtucket L 6-10

Gorkys Hernández, CF: 2-5, 2 K

Chad De La Guerra, 3B: 1-4, 1 BB, 3 K

Steve Pearce, DH: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 2 K

Sam Travis, 1B: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI

Rusney Castillo, RF: 2-5, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Bryce Brentz, LF: 1-5, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K

Chris Owings, SS: 3-5, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K

Darwinzon Hernandez: 3 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 BB, 4 K (81 pitches)

Tyler Thornburg: 1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 0 BB, 1 K (21 pitches)

Bobby Poyner: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (31 pitches)

Trevor Kelley: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (7 pitches)

It was a rough day for the pitching staff in Pawtucket, and really for Hernandez and Thornburg specifically. For the former, it was a little surprising he was promoted to Pawtucket given the control issues he was still showing in Portland, and those have carried over to Triple-A as well. He now has 12 walks in eight innings of work in his two starts since being promoted. As for Thornburg, well, there’s no way he can be activated off the injured list at this point. He still has time in his rehab, but he doesn’t appear close to ready after six rehab appearances. My guess is he’ll be placed back on the IL to restart his clock, but a simple DFA is also an option. On a more positive note, the Triple-A vets in Travis, Castillo and Brentz did all go deep.

Portland W 8-4

Jarren Duran, CF: 2-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 CS

C.J. Chatham, SS: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 E

Bobby Dalbec, 3B: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K

Joey Curletta, 1B: 0-4, 1 K, 1 E

Jeremy Rivera, DH: 2-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 RBI

The Sea Dogs did most of their damage in a big six-run fifth inning that was highlighted with a big bases clearing double from Luke Tendler, but before that they did get a solo shot from Chatham in the fourth. The shortstop and former second round pick has had a solid year in Double-A and is hitting .318 after another multi-hit game. However, he’s never been able to show any power and this was actually his first homer of the year. Nobody expects him to ever develop into a legitimate slugger, but if he could grow into even below-average power that could hit 10-15 homers a year with the juiced ball, he would be a really intriguing shortstop.

Salem L 2-3 (F/7)

Ryan FItzgerald, SS: 2-3, 1 BB, 2 R

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

Marcus Wilson, DH: 0-2, 1 RBI, 2 K

Edgar Corcino, RF: 3-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI

Enmanuel De Jesus: 7 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K (97 pitches)

Weather got in the way of this one and ended it prematurely, failing to give Salem a chance to finish their comeback in the game. It was the pitching that stood out here, though, as De Jesus didn’t allow an earned run and ended up tossing a complete game in the shortened contest with a whopping ten strikeouts. Don’t feel too bad for him, though, as his throwing error led to the three-run inning for Fayetteville in the that third.

Greenville SUSP

GCL W 5-4

Angel Maita, CF: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K

Ceddanne Rafaela, SS: 1-5, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K

Danny Diaz, 3B: 2-3, 1 2B

Trey Ball, LF: 1-3, 1 R, 1 BB

Andre Colon, 2B: 1-2, 2 BB

Zach Schneider: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (10 pitches)

Monday was the start of the GCL season, though the 2019 draft class wasn’t really a part of the action quite yet. Right now, it’s mostly DSL guys with Diaz being the most high-profile player. He probably could have gone to Lowell but the Spinners corner infield spots are a little crowded so him at the GCL allows everyone to get more playing time. Ball is the other interesting name, as the former number seven overall pick is converting to the outfield this season. Schneider, meanwhile, wasn’t a 2019 draftee but he was signed immediately after the draft following a solid career as Florida Atlantic’s closer. His professional debut was very impressive and according to the GCL box scores all ten pitches he threw were strikes. I’m honestly not sure how accurate those numbers are, though.

DSL 1 L 5-6

Alex Zapete, 3B: 3-5, 1 2B, 2 R, 1 CS

Brainer Bonaci, SS: 2-5, 1 K, 1 E

Eduardo Lopez, CF: 1-3, 1 3B, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Erick Flores, C: 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 SB

DSL 2 W 4-2

Bryan Gonzalez, DH: 0-2, 1 K

Emerson Ortiz: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K (15 pitches)

Lopez was the headliner from last summer’s international amateur signing class, but he’s gotten off to a bit of a slow start in the DSL this year. He is drawing a ton of walks with a .356 OBP to go with his .230 batting average, but the most amazing part of his season is his triples. He now has five on the year — more than a third of his hit total — and over a 150-game sample he’d finish with about 48 triples at this pace. That’s absurd.

Player of the Day: I think this one has to go to a losing pitcher, as Enmanuel De Jesus was on another level on Monday. As I said above, his throwing error was led to the three runs and that’s obviously not great, but ten strikeouts and one walk in seven innings with no earned runs is clearly impressive. De Jesus throws from the left side and has always had some intriguing potential, but the ceiling likely isn’t huge. Still, with starts like this you see why some still see a major-league future even if it’s not the most likely outcome.