Red Sox Minor Lines: Jay Groome returns

Pawtucket W 4-2

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

Rusney Castillo, RF: 0-4

Bobby Dalbec, DH: 1-4, 1 K

Tzu-Wei Lin, SS: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K

Josh Ockimey, 1B: 0-2, 2 BB, 2 K

Gorkys Hernández, CF: 2-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Óscar Hernández, C: 2-4, 1 RBI

Kyle Hart: 7.1 P, 6 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K (101 pitches)

Trevor Kelley: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K (8 pitches)

Although he didn’t pick up the win in this one, Hart had himself another solid game on Wednesday and to me is one of the most interesting names to watch for in September. Obviously, the lefty is not close to a top prospect in the baseball world and his ceiling is that of a number four starter in all likelihood. Still, he is Rule 5 eligible this winter and the team is desperate for some viable starting pitching depth that can be stashed in Triple-A. I think it would be smart to give him a few starts next month to see if he can be a guy who can handle the sixth or seventh starter role in 2020.

Portland CANC

Salem G1 L 2-11

Ryan Fitzgerald, SS: 0-2, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 K

Devlin Granberg, LF: 0-3, 1 K

Keith Curcio, CF: 2-3, 1 R

Logan Browning: 2.2 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 1 K (47 pitches)

Salem G2 W 3-1

Devlin Granberg, DH: 0-3, 3 L

Kole Cottam, 2B: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 R, 2 K

Ryan Fitzgerald, 2B/PH: 2-3, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI

Andrew Politi: 4 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (51 pitches)

If you’ve been following along all year, you’ve likely heard me gush about Browning’s numbers in Greenville and wonder why we don’t hear more about him from a scouting perspective. Well, we might be getting our answer in Salem. The southpaw is struggling in his first taste of High-A, and after this latest tough outing he has a 5.40 ERA over 8 ¹⁄₃ innings with just four strikeouts and six walks. He had 11 walks (and 75 strikeouts) in 57 ¹⁄₃ innings in Greenville.

Greenville W 5-4

Brandon Howlett, 3B: 0-4, 2 K

Triston Casas, DH: 2-3, 2 2B, 1 BB, 1 R

Tyler Dearden, LF: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI

Samuel Miranda, C: 3-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 R

Chase Shugart: 6 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 5 K (82 pitches)

We haven’t talked about Casas for a little while, which is not because he’s been dethroned as the top prospect in the organization. That is far from the case (at least in mine and most others’ opinions). He’s just been chugging along all season, and continued so on Wednesday with two more extra-base hits. His line is up to .249/.344/.463 on the year.

GCL G1 L 2-5

Bramdon Perez, RF: 3-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI

Roldani Baldwin, C: 0-2, 1 K

Dominic D’Alessandro, 1B: 1-4, 1 RBI

Matthew Lugo, SS: 0-3, 1 K

Jay Groome: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

GCL G2 W 2-0

Matthew Lugo, DH: 0-2, 1 BB, 1 K

Leon Paulino, RF: 2-3, 1 R, 1 K

Casey Sutherland: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K

We generally don’t do write-ups of the lower levels here due to a lack of information from these levels, but today is notable for obvious reasons. Groome was back on the mound for the first time since his Tommy John surgery. Obviously we can’t take anything away from his performance himself since it was just one inning, but him being back on the mound is huge. The rest of the year will simply be a tuneup for the southpaw in order to get him fully ready for a potential comeback year in 2020. In lesser comeback news, Baldwin also returned from injury for his first game of 2019.

DSL 1 G1 L 2-3 (F/12)

Eduardo Vaughan, RF: 1-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 2 K

Eduardo Lopez, PH/DH: 0-1, 1 K

DSL 1 G2 W 10-2

Eduardo Lopez, CF: 1-2, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB, 1 E

Nelfy Abreu, RF: 2-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 K

Eddinson Paulino, DH: 2-4, 1 3B, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB

DSL 2 L 4-8

Frank Astacio, SS: 3-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Bryan Gonzalez, CF: 0-5, 2 K

Dany Diaz, 3B: 1-4, 2 K

Luis Mota, 2B: 2-4, 1 R, 2 K