Red Sox Minor Lines: New roles in Portland

Pawtucket SUSP

Portland L 8-10

Jeremy Rivera, SS: 2-5, 2 2 2B, 2 R

C.J. Chatham, 2B: 1-5, 1 2B, 2 K

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

Joey Curletta, 1B: 1-5, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 K

Jhon Nunez, C: 2-5, 1 R, 1 K

Brett Netzer, LF: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K

Jerry Downs, DH: 2-5, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI, 2 K

Tanner Houck: 0.1 IP, 3 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 1 K (27 pitches)

Durbin Feltman: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (10 pitches)

This was a day of new positions and new roles for the Sea Dogs, with three notable players finding themselves in a different spot than usual. Netzer made his first career start in left field, which makes sense. He’s not a future everyday player, so he might as well become as versatile as possible. Chatham, meanwhile, moved to the other side of second base for the first time ever. This is not a case of Chatham not being good enough to play at shortstop. However, he’s a potential Pawtucket call-up at some point soon, which puts him at the doorstep of the majors. Xander Bogaerts obviously has shortstop locked down in Boston, so if Chatham is going to play there he’s going to need different position. It also doesn’t hurt trade value to have more versatility.

The biggest change here, though, was Houck in the bullpen. By all accounts the Red Sox still see the former first round pick as a starter long-term, but they believe he can help in relief this year and are starting to work him there now. The early returns were, uh, pretty rough! It’s only one game, of course, but Houck was absolutely shelled. I’m not reading much into these results, and think he could be a solid weapon against righties as soon as some point in August, or perhaps even late-July if he really takes off.

Salem L 2-6 (F/10)

Pedro Castellanos, 1B: 2-5, 1 2B

Ryan Fitzgerald, SS: 1-5, 1 R, 2 K

Marcus Wilson, DH: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 SB

Jhonathan Diaz: 5.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (100 pitches)

Joan Martinez: 1 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 0 K (46 pitches)

Salem was actually winning this game 2-1 heading into the ninth, then Martinez happened. The right-handed reliever has actually been mostly stellar this year, but he was absolutely brutal on Saturday. This blowup pushed his ERA from 1.98 up to 3.18, and his five walks was actually 50 percent of his season total heading into this game. Not great!

Greenville L 1-7

Cole Brannen, CF: 2-4, 1 BB, 1 K

Tyler Esplin, RF: 1-4, 1 BB, 1 R

Triston Casas, 3B: 1-4, 1 BB, 1 K

Not much to say about this one, as Greenville was just straight-up dominated in this game. Casas did get on base a couple times, and more notably he played third base. The organization has mostly acknowledged that he’s a future first baseman, but they are still giving him some games at the hot corner from time to time. Speaking of third base, Brandon Howlett has missed the last three games. Not sure what’s going on there, but it’s something to watch.

Lowell PPD

GCL G1 L 1-3

Dominic D’Alessandro, DH: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Danny Diaz, 3B: 0-3

Matthew Lugo, SS: 0-2, 2 BB

GCL G2 W 7-1

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

Dominic D’Alessandro, 1B: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 4 RBI, 1 K

Nilo Rijo, 3B: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 2 K, 1 CS, 1 E

Felix Cepeda: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 7 K

The GCL squad had to finish up Friday’s game before playing Saturday’s, and D’Alessandro was the standout of these games. We’ve talked about him before, though, and he’s simply at a level for which he is too polished. That’s not to downplay his production — he has a 1.188 OPS, which is pretty good! — but rather to say it’s probably not the sign of future top prospect status.

DSL 1 L 2-3

Brainer Bonaci, 3B/SS: 2-4, 1 CS

Eduardo Lopez, CF: 0-4

Wilker Vargas, 2B/3B: 2-3, 1 R, 1 SB

Wiikelman Gonzalez: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K

DSL 2 W 12-4

Elio Prado, RF: 2-4, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Bryan Gonzalez, DH: 1-5, 1 R, 1 K

Jose Navas, C: 5-5, 1 2B, 2 R, 4 RBI

Wilmer Perez, 1B: 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Efren Diaz: 4 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K