Red Sox Minor Lines: Jarren Duran debuts in Portland

Pawtucket W 7-5

Gorkys Hernández, CF: 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI

Chad De La Guerra, SS: 2-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 CS

Josh Ockimey, 1B: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Rusney Castillo, RF: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI

Bryce Brentz, DH: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K

Josh Tobias, 2B: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 R, 1 RBI

Brian Johnson: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K (48 pitches)

Kyle Hart: 6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 4 K (101 pitches)

Brian Johnson was back on the mound for another rehab appearance, and once again he didn’t look all that great. Granted, he only allowed a couple of hits and one run, though he did walk two while only striking out one. Johnson is obviously never the most overpowering guy, but his rehab performances haven’t really stood out and the Red Sox will have to make a decision with him relatively soon. Hart, meanwhile, took a big step back from his electric Triple-A debut, though it’s hard to know exactly how to judge it since he was a bit out of his element coming out of the bullpen for this start. None of that really mattered, though, because Gorkys Hernández led a huge day for the lineup to pick up the win.

Portland W 5-2

Jarren Duran, CF: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 R

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

Joey Curletta, 1B: 1-2, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 K

Brett Netzer, 2B: 0-3, 1 BB

Tate Matheny, RF: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 K

Durbin Feltman: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K (29 pitches)

It was Jarren Duran day up in Portland with the outfield prospect making his Double-A debut on Tuesday. There wasn’t anything particularly special about the debut, though he did get on base in half of his plate appearances. The big swing of the day came from Curletta, who has sort of gone unnoticed since being claimed off waivers but is obviously a guy to watch since he’s on the 40-man. Out of the bullpen, Feltman continues to disappoint. He hasn’t dominated like we’d hoped and even in a scoreless outing he allowed three baserunners and needed 29 pitches to get through a single inning. He’ll need to really turn it on sometime soon.

Salem L 3-5

Tanner Nishioka, 2B: 3-4, 1 RBI

Ryan Fitzgerald, SS: 0-4, 2 K

Pedro Castellanos, 1B: 0-4, 2 K

Jagger Rusconi, DH: 2-4, 2 R, 1 K

Rio Gomez: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K (36 pitches)

Eduard Bazardo: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (9 pitches)

There’s really not much to say about Salem right now in this post-Duran world, particularly with Fitzgerald and Castellanos both struggling. The High-A bullpen might be the most intriguing part of that roster right now, with both Gomez and Bazardo putting up strong years that could see them in Portland by the end of the season.

Greenville L 3-6

Tyler Esplin, RF: 1-5

Devlin Granberg, 1B: 0-4, 1 R, 2 K

Jordan Wren, LF: 3-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 SB

Triston Casas, DH: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 2 K

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

Brayan Bello: 5 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 2 K (90 pitches)

They only scored three runs so it doesn’t look all that impressive, but Greenville had a solid little day at the plate on Tuesday with Casas and Howlett each having a couple of hits including a double and in total getting on base five times in eight plate appearances. Wren also had a big game in the middle of that lineup. Unfortunately, the pitching couldn’t keep up as Bello continues to struggle mightily after a blistering start. After beginning the year with a 1.89 ERA through four starts he’s pitched to a 13.50 ERA since. He’s allowed four our more runs in five of six starts over that stretch, with four of those starts including at least seven runs.

DSL 1 L 1-2

Albert Feliz, DH: 2-4

Nixson Munoz: 3 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K

DSL 2 W 15-11

Denny Daza, SS: 2-6, 1 R, 1 K

Elio Prado, LF: 3-5, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 R, 6 RBI, 1 BB

Bryan Gonzalez, RF: 2-6, 1 R, 1 RBI, 3 K

Noelberth Romero, 3B: 2-3, 1 3B, 3 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB, 1 E

It was a pair of polar opposite games down in the DSL, with three runs total being scored in one and 26 in the other. The second game was obviously much more interesting for our purposes, with Gonzalez continuing to be a guy to watch with his third straight multi-hit game. Prado was the real standout here, though, with Romero also looking good and getting on base a whopping five times.

Player of the Day: This came down to a few different options, but at the end of the day Gorkys Hernández hit two homers and that’s always worthy of this fake award. The veteran outfielder hasn’t been as impressive in Triple-A as we had expected this year, but he’s still the top depth option if someone does go down with an injury.