Red Sox Minor Lines: Tyler Esplin ending the season on a hot streak

Pawtucket L 4-5 (F/11)

Tzu-Wei Lin, SS: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 R

Michael Chavis, 1B: 0-3, 2 K

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

Josh Ockimey, DH: 0-5, 3 K

Bryce Brentz, LF: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K

Mike Shawaryn: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 3 K (76 pitches)

Jenrry Mejia: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (14 pitches)

Trevor Kelley: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (25 pitches)

Hector Velázquez: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K (31 pitches)

Colten Brewer: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K (11 pitches)

The PawSox dramatically pushed this game into extras thanks a solo homer from Brentz to start the top of the ninth, but they couldn’t pull out the victory. Dalbec had a nice game including his second homer in as many days, but the starter is the story here. Shawaryn has been pitching out of the bullpen basically all season. That changed the last time through the Pawtucket rotation, and he’s slowly been stretching himself back out. Over his last three outings he’s gone from three to four to five innings, and his pitch counts have gone from 44 to 64 to 76. We all know about the issues with the big-league rotation right now, so look for Shawaryn to take some starts in September.

Portland L 4-5

Jarren Duran, CF: 0-5, 4 K

Marcus Wilson, RF: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 K, 1 SB

Tommy Joseph, DH: 2-4, 1 BB, 1 R

Joey Curletta, 1B: 0-4, 1 BB, 1 R, 3 K

Denyi Reyes: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 2 K (76 pitches)

Durbin Feltman: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (11 pitches)

The Sea Dogs were able to come back and fight after falling behind 4-0, and Wilson’s homer in the ninth made things very interesting, but it was too little too late. Wilson had himself a very nice game, and while he’s probably a longshot to be protected from or drafted in the Rule 5 Draft this winter, the outfielder has a chance to serve as a depth piece at some point in 2020 if things go well and a need arises. On the pitching side, Reyes is hitting a wall after a long run of consistency through the summer. He may be in danger of losing his 40-man spot this winter.

Salem W 3-2

Ryan Fitzgerald, SS: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K

Devlin Granberg, LF: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Kole Cottam, C: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K

Tanner Nishioka, DH: 2-3, 1 R

Andrew Politi: 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K (57 pitches)

Logan Browning: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (4 pitches)

In terms of prospect talk, there wasn’t a ton going on in this game with each of the three notable Salem hitters having basically identical lines. In terms of exciting baseball, though, this was a hell of a game. With things knotted at one heading into the ninth, Myrtle Beach got a two-out single followed by a double to take the 2-1 lead, and personal favorite Browning came in to get the last out and strand a runner at second. That was big, because Salem came back with those three notable prospects mentioned above. Each of Fitzgerald, Granberg and Cottam doubled in the bottom of the ninth to let two runs cross the plate, with Cottam’s serving as the walk-off. Baseball is fun no matter the level.

Greenville L 6-7

Brandon Howlett, 3B: 0-1, 2 BB, 1 R

Tyler Esplin, RF: 2-5, 1 R, 1 RBI

Triston Casas, 1B: 1-5, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

Jordan Wren, DH: 4-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB

This was another really exciting game, with Greenville trailing 7-3 heading into the bottom of the ninth — after allowing three in the top of the inning — only to come up one run short of pushing this thing into extras. Esplin was part of that ninth, and he got a base hit to give him yet another multi-hit game. Going back to August 4, the outfielder now has ten of those in a span of 16 games, which is just bananas. In that time his batting average has jumped from .233 to .258 and his OPS from .646 to .714. This is exactly how you want a young prospect to finish off a summer.

Lowell L 2-10

Gilberto Jimenez, CF: 1-5, 2 K, 1 SB

Cameron Cannon, SS: 0-4, 1 K

Nick Decker, RF: 0-4, 2 K

Stephen Scott, LF: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 K

Nicholas Northcut, 3B: 0-2, 1 BB, 1 K

Jonathan Diaz, C: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 R, 1 RBI

Diaz kind of gets overshadowed in this Spinners lineup, as he is not on the tier of prospect as most of the rest of the lineup. He did have some quiet hype coming into the New York Penn League season, though, and he’s somewhat quietly had a solid year. He’s not dominating by any means, but the catcher is showing power, particularly doubles and triples power, and has a .768 OPS in his age-19 season. Don’t expect him near the top of prospect lists next year, but he’s a guy to watch as a sleeper in 2020.