Minor League Game Thread

Plympton91

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Oct 19, 2008
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Great call on Hill being a breakout candidate. I'm glad to see him heating up as he appears to have some legit talent.

Along the same lines, I'm starting to follow Trenton Kemp. Young high school
Draftee in 2014, always a good walk rate, he he a very under the radar big improvement in power last year even as he cut his K rate significantly in the second half at Greenville. Still a little young for Salem this year as he doesn't turn 22 until September. And, he's off to a very nice start in his first 44 at bats.

And Jamie Callahan continues to take to the bullpen like a fish to water. 2 scoreless since his promotion to Pawtucket. Hopefully he continues to develop into a reliable set up man and prevents another disastrous trade for a middle reliever.

They need a couple hits on players like Callahan, Hill and Kemp to replenish the second tier of prospects they lost in all these deals.
 

Byrdbrain

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Travis is now officially red hot.
Today: 5 for 6 with 2 doubles
Last 4 games: 11 for 19 with 4 XBH
 

Plympton91

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It's almost time to start getting really excited about Chavis.

Ockimey also continuing to succeed this year rather than drop off a table.

And Danny Mars in AA continues to be an heir apparent to Daniel Nava.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Dec 22, 2002
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It's almost time to start getting really excited about Chavis.

Ockimey also continuing to succeed this year rather than drop off a table.

And Danny Mars in AA continues to be an heir apparent to Daniel Nava.
I'd hold off on Ockimey. Last year through 204 PA, he was slashing .315/.456/.568 with 42bb/48k and a .400 BAbip.
This year, through 161 PA, he is slashing .313/.416/.484 with 25bb/39k and a BAbip of .396.

I can see Chavis getting promoted to Portland soon but I think Ockimey spends the year in Salem and will have some growing pains.

Chavis' .336/.419/.655 in 129 PA with 14bb/25k comes with a .375 BAbip. The strikeouts are incredibly encouraging as is the power. He already has 1 more double and the same amount of HRs as he did last season in 210 less PA. 20xbh in 129 PA vs 22 xbh (3 triples) in 329 PA.
 

Byrdbrain

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He was OPSing 765 before today, you would think that along with plus defense and a decent arm would make him interesting to someone.
Then you look at his contract which has more than $40M still left on it and realize no one is going to pay that for a decent hitting good fielding outfielder.
It's hard to feel sorry for a guy who has made and will continue to make that much money but with a reasonable contract he'd be in the majors now.
 

Plympton91

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Apparently the major league team used up nearly all of today's allotment of hits for the organization :)

Shaun Anderson with a nice bounce back start in Salem. Hopefully he can continue to build prospect cred.

Anybody found any news on Groome? I guess at this point they may just restart him at Lowell in a couple weeks.
 

Cesar Crespo

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He needs to move up soon, even if it's just to DH most of the time, until Devers moves to AAA
They could try him or Devers at 1b too if they were both in Portland. It may be worth trying anyway if Chavis is actually the real deal. It would go a long way in restoring the system too because he's currently playing like a top 10-15 prospect and has the pedigree. This year, 23 of his 33 games have been at DH though so maybe they aren't high on his defense or he has a nagging injury.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Ockimey with his 5th HR of the year. Chavis is 3/5. Trenton Kemp is 2/5 and hitting .391 over 71 PA.
 
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Heating up in the bullpen

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Nov 24, 2007
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Salem at the moment has 4 players in the Carolina League top 20 for OPS:
1. Chavis 1.182
6. De La Guerra .915
8. Ockimey .906
20. Matheny .808
(One other team has 3 - though that team, Fredericksburg, holds the #21 and #22 spots for 5 in the top 22.)
Gotta get up to Roanoke to visit the FIL and bring the boys to a Salem Red Sox game.
 

Cesar Crespo

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19 year old OF Lorenzo Cedrola hitting .314/.364/.549 with a BAbip of .333 over the last 15 games, 55 PA. Up to .276/.319/.409 for the year with a .327 BAbip in 135 PA. ++ Speed, projects to be a good defensive CF, decent contact skills. His walk rate could use some work but he also doesn't strike out. He has a habit of getting hit by pitches too. Power has always been the question mark but he's still growing into his body so maybe it will improve some.

He also turned 19 in January, so he's relatively young for the league. As Redsox fans, we've been spoiled with 18 year olds in Greenville and 20 year olds in Portland so we lose perspective sometimes. He's currently ranked 37th by Soxprospects.com but I see him finishing in the top 20 by season's end, with an outside chance at top 10. That's not really saying much though, the system is shallow and the difference between prospect 11 and 40 is matter of opinion (it's not that extreme, but there's a lot of filler on the list. Real prospects should be able to rise up the Redsox rankings fast).

I'll probably make a more detailed list of risers, fallers and flatliners in June but early season risers so far are Michael Chavis, Josh Ockimey, Travis Lakins , Shaun Anderson, Michael Shawaryn, Jalen Beeks, and Darwinzon Hernandez. It's a list dominated by pitchers. One could make an argument for Rafael Devers and Sam Travis as risers too but I think it was expected. With every day that passes, Michael Chavis is looking even more legit and like a top 20 prospect in all of baseball. Ockimey went through a mini slump but is starting to hit again. Lakins, Beeks and Darwinzon have all seen spikes in their K% while Anderson made quick work of Greenville and Michael Shawaryn is striking out 36% of the batters he faced while only waking 5.2%.

Tyler Hill, Lorenzo Cedrola, Roldani Baldwin and Trenton Kemp are all worth keeping an eye on. Tzu Wei Lin is having a monster year in Portland and is still age appropriate but I'd guess he would have to keep hitting for another 200+ PA before people take it seriously. Hill and Lorenzo are showing improved power and better baserunning, Baldwin is tapping into his power potential and Kemp is hitting .400/.452/.600 in 73 PA at Salem and is age appropriate at 21. He's coming off a decent 2016 where he grew into some power but struck out way too often. With 123ks in 349 PA last year, he only has 14 in 73 PA this season.

While Bobby Dalbec, Roniel Raudes, Jake Cosart (2.96 era, 15.1ip, 6h, 23bb/16k, weird line), Nick Longhi, Trey Ball, CJ Chatham (injures), arguably Jay Groome (injuries), and Blake Swihart (if he counts) could be labeled as fallers. Dalbec hasn't played since 5/10, has an ISO of .096 and a strike out rate of 35.8%. Trey Ball and Raudes have been ineffective, although Ball is arguably having his best year ever. His K rate is up and his bb rate is down. Groome and Chatham have rarely played. Cosart has been way too wild, Swihart looks lost and has been injured while Longhi continues to be a noodle bat.

Honorable mentions to Ty Buttrey and Jamie Callahan as well. MRs are hard to judge given the sample sizes and volatility of MR. Brian Johnson is also having a decent year but he's Brian Johnson.
 

foulkehampshire

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Feb 25, 2007
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Another HR from Chavis today, #11.

I'd like to see him get another few months in Salem, but he's definitely hitting his way towards a promotion to Portland by the end of the year. I did not think he had this kind of power in him.
 

Koufax

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Michael Sharawyn strikes out 11 tonight for Greenville. He has been dominant in his last eight starts, with an ERA of 1.99, 67 strikeouts and only 8 walks.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Getting to the point where you have to promote him. He's currently hitting .366 to go with all that power.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Devers hit his 8th HR of the year. Castillo hit his 7th and is currently 3/4.
Owens 6ip, 4h, 1er, 4bb/7k.
 

Cesar Crespo

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He was put on the DL on 5/15 with a sore wrist, retroactive to 5/11. I haven't seen any updates since.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Tyler Hill goes 4/4, 2 doubles, 3 bb, 1 hbp in the double header, reaching base in all 8 of his PA. He was caught stealing once too.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Dec 22, 2002
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another 3/4 game for Tyler Hill with a SB. He's now at .278/.368/.432 for the year and 19/23 sb. He's hot.
 

Quintanariffic

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Can't be a surprise. That's what I figured when I saw the completely out of character statistical meltdown after a hot start, followed by unspecified hand/wrist injury.
 

Byrdbrain

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Jalen Beeks promoted to the PawSox, he's had a solid year so far in Portland with a 2.19 era and 58K/22BB in 49.1 Innings.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Dec 22, 2002
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Lorenzo Cedrola has an 11 game hitting streak and Josh Ockimey is currently at 17. Cedrola turned 19 in January and slashed .322/.358/.500 in May. We are spoiled with 18 year olds in Greenville lately, but 19 is still young.
 

3_games_down

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Brian Johnson just left the game on what looked to be a left knee injury. Slipped and fell on his plant leg. Walked off under his own power. Getting pretty thin on the farm.
 

steveluck7

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May 10, 2007
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Brian Johnson just left the game on what looked to be a left knee injury. Slipped and fell on his plant leg. Walked off under his own power. Getting pretty thin on the farm.
Really stinks for him if it's anything lingering. He was the likely call up to fill in for e-rod when that spot came around again