Red Sox Prospect Watch: Matheny, Moncada are All-Stars

The Prospect Watch this week will look at some All-Star players as well as some guys making their first appearance in this weekly column.

The top Red Sox talent at the A level was voted to the Carolina League All-Star team, which is little surprise to those following these young talents. The names Moncada and Benintendi are ones you will be seeing a lot of on their way up to their eventual place in Fenway Park. Even if either of them are traded away for some reason, they will both find their way there eventually.

At Triple-A, we will continue to check-in on those guys that can help the big league club, whether it is a guy trying to get back there or a guy trying to make the most of his first chance in the bigs.

At Double-A we will take a look at the guys that are on the cusp of being high on the Red Sox radar. Absent mind-blowing statistics, guys don’t jump from Double-A straight to the majors, but it is not unheard of. If it typically worked, it might be done more but usually the increase in competition is way too much for guys that young. Some guys at Double-A are on their way up, some on their way down and out of professional baseball, and others just hanging on until they can figure out what to do to be on their way back up again.

Next week, we will start to look at what the Short Season Lowell Spinners will look like this season. Let’s take a trip around the Red Sox minor league affiliates.

Next: Triple-A Pawtucket

Triple-A Pawtucket

William Cuevas is showing that he should  be part of the Red Sox fifth starter competition.  Over his last four starts, the righthander has given up just five runs over 24.2 innings (1.82 ERA).  His last start was par for the recent course, one run on four hits over eight innings, walking two and striking out five batters.  For the season, Cuevas’ ERA is 2.74, allowing just a .220 batting average over 62.1 innings.

Roenis Elias made news this week with a complete game win, allowing just one run on six hits, walking two and striking out eight while throwing 108 pitches.  Over his last four starts, Elias’ ERA is 2.48 over 29 innings, walking eight and striking out 33.  His ERA for the season is down to 4.00 ERA, allowing 56 hits over 54 innings, walking 27 and striking out 53.

Kyle Martin hit a bump on the road this week while trying to get to the bigs.  His 1.2 inning stint on June 4 when he walked four and hit a batter while allowing four runs on four hits was easily his worst of the season.  He was given a breather, collecting himself to pitch a scoreless inning on Thursday night, allowing no runs on a hit.  That terrible outing caused his ERA to balloon above four, now standing at 4.03 over 29 innings.

Pat Light continued his strong season, pitching his fifth straight scoreless appearance since allowing his last run on May 17.  The hard throwing righty might be concentrating on getting outs over strikeouts, averaging just 14 pitches per inning over his last six frames of work.  Light’s 2.66 ERA for the season, allowing just a .187 average over 20.1 innings, striking out 23 is certainly getting noticed as a potential option for the big club.

Next: Double-A Portland

Double-A Portland

Williams Jerez is becoming a multiple inning reliever this season, going at least two innings in 13 of 18 appearances this year.  He is learning efficiency as he has kept his pitch count below 35 in all but five of his outings this season.  While his .306 batting average allowed and 1.50 WHIP are not great, he has limited the damage to allowing just a 3.58 ERA on the season, walking 12 and striking out 27 over 32.2 innings of work.

Chandler Shepherd is on a great run of work, pushing for a possible promotion to Triple-A.  The 2014 13th rounder out of Kentucky, pitched two perfect innings this week, striking out two batters on just 21 pitches total.  Over 26.1 innings this year, he has allowed just 14 hits (.157 BAA), walking nine and striking out 33 batters.

Justin Haley is getting down to business after a terrible one out, four walk disaster on May 18.  Over his past three starts, he has allowed just two earned runs on 12 hits over 19 innings (0.95 ERA).  If you could take out that one start, his ERA would stand at 1.60 for the other 10 starts this season.  After last season’s 5.15 ERA, Haley has righted the ship as he tries to ascend the ladder to the big leagues.

Ryan Court is not a household name but is putting up stats like one.  The former Arizona Diamondbacks farmhand is hammering a .327/.415/.439 batting line with a homer and 14 RBI.  The 28 year old first baseman Court was released by Arizona in 2014, playing independent ball last season.  You can read more about him here

Next: High-A Salem

Low-A Greenville

Anderson Espinoza returned to Earth in his start this week, after two scoreless outings.  Four innings pitched, three earned runs allowed on eight hits with two walks and just one strikeout.  When he is shutting people down you forget that he is 18 years old and is going to have his struggles.  His 3.70 ERA with 50 strikeouts in 44.2 innings tells you things are just going up from here.

Tate Matheny was one of five Greenville players to be named to the South Atlantic League All-Star team. Matheny was nine for 18 over his last five games with a homer and a double and two RBI. In 26 June at-bats, he has a .385/.448/.692 batting line, richly deserving his All-Star selection.

Roniel Raudes was also named to the South Atlantic League All-Star team. This week’s start was his typical solid effort, 5.1 innings, allowing one earned run on five hits with a walk and five strikeouts. Raudes ERA stands at 3.04 for the season with 45 strikeouts in 47.1 innings.

Next: David Ortiz returns to Minnesota for final time

Jose Almonte came down a little bit in his start this week. Five innings, two earned runs on five hits, three walks and two strikeouts. His 2.42 ERA over five starts with just 20 hits allowed in 26.2 innings will have no one complaining he isn’t doing well enough.