Red Sox Prospect Watch: Two players traded away weaken ranks
By Hunter Noll
Tzu-Wei Lin is back in Triple-A as mentioned above – and he’s coming for Rusney Castillo. Lin’s average has sky-rocketed up to .304 on the year for Pawtucket. He’s not just hitting singles either, with 13 doubles and four home runs already on the season. The left-handed hitter has added 15 RBI and 19 runs scored, as well as two steals to the totals.
Sure, you could point to Lin’s career numbers in the Majors and say he doesn’t have the bat to stick around. He’s clearly figuring something out in Pawtucket right now though. I’m not saying he’ll be a .300 hitter in the Majors, but the bat is improving rapidly.
Speaking of Castillo, he’s still good. The outfielder still leads the team in nearly every category thanks to his .306 batting average with 20 doubles. Every run production category is led by the 30-year-old as well, as he has 38 runs scored and 36 runs driven in, as well as seven steals.
Sam Travis recently broke a 20-game homerless streak to hit number five on the year. His overall numbers are still pretty miserable (highlighted by a .220 average and 19 RBI), but he’s shown signs of breaking out at a few points this year.
Jalen Beeks took a beating in his last start (five earned runs over 2 1/3 innings) but still holds a 2.91 ERA and 1.09 WHIP on the season. His 102 strikeouts over 77 1/3 innings in Pawtucket might be the most impressive number of the season. Still, the left-hander will need to churn out some stronger outings if he wants to make his way back to Boston this season.
Trevor Kelley has arrived in Triple-A and now has two flawless innings under his belt. The 24-year-old struck out two batters in the process and is making his way towards the majors. It’s been a pretty impressive rise for the 36th round pick from 2015 so far.
Ty Buttrey has given up an earned run in each of his last two outings. For a reliever that usually spells trouble for their ERA. For Buttrey however, it just means it’s risen to a 2.11 – still fantastic. The 25-year-old has 58 strikeouts over 38 1/3 innings and opponents are hitting .209 against him. I’m still waiting for Buttrey to get his chance this season, especially with all the cries for the Red Sox to get bullpen help.