Red Sox Prospect Watch: Change to top-30 list highlights new week

Cole Sturgeon is batting .378, that’s a very real thing happening right now. The outfielder has a .378/.446/.602 slash line for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs. He leads the team in all those categories. Meanwhile, he leads them in doubles (7) and home runs (5), as well as steals (5). The 26-year-old is only second on the team in RBI (13) and runs scored (13) though.

Tate Matheny‘s strong season continues as well. He holds a .304/.411/.342 slash line, and leads the team with 15 runs scored. Throw in three steals and the 24-year-old is clearly on his way to the best season of his career.

Esteban Quiroz still hasn’t played in a game since April 23, due to injury. He’s still second on the team in homers (4) and RBI (13), as well as fourth in runs scored (11). When he’s healthy keep an eye on him.

Josh Ockimey and Danny Mars are both looking to turn things around.

Ockimey recently had a two-hit day that included a home run and three RBI. In 17 games he holds just a .211 average and two home runs, but already has nine RBI to his credit.

Mars, on the other hand, has had two recent two-hit days and has raised his average to .203. While that’s still low, I’ve mentioned before he can get on a tear. A few multi-hit games suggest that tear could be coming. He also has four steals early on in the season.

Finally, catcher Jhon Nunez appears to be fitting into Double-A life just fine. Getting his first action above Advanced-A, he’s helping the Sea Dogs catchers’ abysmal offensive numbers.

The 23-year-old is 6-for-20 (.300) with four doubles already on the year. He’s scored three runs and driven in three more while stealing one base.

More from Red Sox Prospects

• Predicting top Red Sox outfield prospect Ceddanne Rafaela’s timeline to the majors
• Predicting Red Sox top prospect Marcelo Mayer’s timeline to the majors
• Red Sox risk repeating rookie mistake with Eric Hosmer release
• Red Sox invited group of players you’ve probably never heard of to Spring Training
• Jeter Downs’ official departure will continue to haunt Red Sox

Combined between Advanced-A and Double-A the catcher is already 5-for-5 on stolen base attempts. He had 16 steals in 2013 (his first year in the minors) but has never surpassed five since then. It’s a safe bet to assume Nunez will be passing that mark this year.

It finally happened, Matthew Kent allowed an earned run. The 25-year-old surrendered two earned runs over 2 2/3 innings in his last outing. That ballooned his ERA from 0.00 to 1.29 over 14 innings. Wow, clearly the left-hander lost it. That’s sarcastic in case you couldn’t tell, most pitchers would kill for a 1.29 ERA. Oh, and opponents are hitting .152 against him.

Teddy Stankiewicz continued his trend of lowering his ERA over the week. Allowing three earned runs over five innings, the right-hander’s ERA dropped from 7.45 to 7.03. While that’s still high, it’s a far cry from the 14.04 he held just a few appearances ago.

Jake Cosart joined Kent in the “finally allowed an earned run” group. After 11 straight innings holding a 0.00 ERA to start the year, Cosart surrendered four earned runs over two innings. His ERA stands at 2.77 now, which is still phenomenal. Like Kent, his batting average against is still ridiculously low, at .163.

Travis Lakins, on the other hand, is still boasting a 0.00 ERA. The 23-year-old made his second start of the season after starting the year on the disabled list. In six innings so far, he’s allowed zero earned runs on just five hits.

Finally, Mike Shawaryn is still having an impressive 2018. The 23-year-old starter has a 3.62 ERA over 27 1/3 innings this season.