Red Sox Prospect Watch: Michael Chavis moves up to Triple-A
The Boston Red Sox minors received more shake-ups as Michael Chavis was promoted to Triple-A. Tearing through the minors, could he see the Majors this year?
There are quite a few returns coming in the near future for the Boston Red Sox. Christian Vazquez and Eduardo Rodriguez were actually battery-mates during a rehab assignment together on Monday. There’s optimism surrounding Chris Sale, and both Steven Wright and Rafael Devers are on rehab assignments as well.
Last week I also talked about Chandler Shepherd possibly making his MLB debut and joining the cavalry to help the Red Sox. Another name has jumped into the mix though, as Michael Chavis was promoted to Triple-A.
The call-up came after Chavis slashed .303/.388/.508 in 33 games for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs. He had seven doubles and six home runs in that time while driving in 17 runs and scoring 23 more.
The 23-year-old has been absolutely fantastic this season and could bring a lot of value to the Red Sox in September. Chavis has played a little first base, but his main position is third base. That’s a spot that’s been tough of Boston this year.
A call-up to the Majors isn’t definite, but now that he’s in Triple-A it’s much more realistic.
Right now, there really aren’t any prospects in the Majors. September arrives on Saturday though and with it 40-man rosters. The Red Sox will be able to bring in a lot of minor league talent to help them down the stretch and keep their players fresh. Now the question seems to be if there will be any “surprises” like Chavis.
I know I spent a lot of time talking about Chavis in the last slide, but I managed to never even mention his Triple-A numbers. So far, the third baseman has destroyed Triple-A pitching. Even after a 0-for-4 on Tuesday, he’s slashing .429/.455/.857 with six RBI and eight runs scored. Chavis has three doubles and two home runs in 21 at-bats.
Rusney Castillo‘s still leading Pawtucket in nearly every offensive category. He was also selected to the 2018 International League All-Star team. Triple-A isn’t for him, but the Red Sox don’t exactly have a spot for him at the moment.
Tzu-Wei Lin is hitting .315 and is currently on a five-game hitting streak. The shortstop will be back with the Red Sox in September and could be a factor down the stretch.
Sam Travis will also be with the Red Sox in September. He’s put together a solid season despite that abysmal start. The first baseman is in the midst of a slump at the moment though and will need to straighten it out before he rejoins Boston. Still, a .251 average is fantastic considering where it was heading into July.
Josh Ockimey is up to .243 in Triple-A after a solid week that saw him crank two more home runs. The first baseman now has five homers and 14 RBI for Pawtucket. Overall this season he has 20 homers and 70 RBI. That’s a new career-best for blasts in a season, while the RBI are just four off his career-high.
Christian Vazquez went 0-for-3 in his first game with Pawtucket after going 1-for-2 with three RBI in his only game for Portland.
Steven Wright threw two scoreless innings in a rehab start, allowing no hits and one walk while striking out one.
Shepherd has earned a chance to prove himself in the Majors. The 26-year-old has played the entire year in Triple-A and has a 3.93 ERA over a career-high 123 2/3 innings to show for it. His numbers aren’t dominant, but they’re more-than-serviceable and deserve a look at the MLB level.
Mike Shawaryn was roughed up in his start this week, giving up 10 hits and six earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. He was doing so good in Triple-A though that despite the bad start and limited innings so far, his numbers aren’t miserable. The right-hander has a 4.32 ERA in 25 innings, while opponents are hitting .245 against him.
Travis Lakins threw four more scoreless innings this week and now has a 2.08 ERA over 13 Triple-A innings. He also has a .208 batting average against, and 14 strikeouts in that time. It seems unlikely that the reliever will join the team in September, but he would deserve a chance if given one.
Esteban Quiroz is back! I was actually at the first game that he returned to, and he wasted no time reinserting himself into the offense. Quiroz had two RBI in his return.
Then in his second game (I was again present), Quiroz launched a three-run home run. I’m not exaggerating when I say the Reading stadium made a collective disappointed (except me) “aawwweee” grunt immediately when the ball left his bat, that was followed by silence. He followed that up by stealing a hit and RBI away with a diving stop later in the game.
If not for the injury that took most of his season, I truly believe Quiroz could’ve made a push to get to the Majors. The Red Sox have had problems at second base this year and there’s plenty of talent with Quiroz. In all four games since his return, he’s registered at least one hit and one RBI (he also has two home runs).
On the year, Quiroz is slashing .304/.407/.638 with 21 RBI and 16 runs scored. He’s hit five doubles and six home runs as well and has done all this in 19 games.
Bobby Dalbec is down to .256 but the power isn’t going anywhere. He now has eight doubles and six home runs in Double-A and had a home run robbed from him this week. On the year, Dalbec has 35 doubles and 32 home runs, as well as 104 RBI and 70 runs scored. The bat is legit.
Austin Rei has been slumping slightly at the plate and is down to .246 on the year. He still has a fantastic .355 OBP though, as well as a career-high in triples (2) and home runs (7).
Danny Mars raised his batting average one point to .255 this week, and boy was it an unlucky one for him. The switch-hitter was consistently putting the barrel on the ball only to have it find a glove.
Danny Mars is having all kinds of bad luck on hard-hit balls at the plate today:
— Hunter Noll (@Hunter_Noll) August 26, 2018
Warning Track flyout
Deep Center flyout
Robbed of a gapper
0-for-3
It wasn’t just that game either, Mars has been doing nothing but making solid contact lately. Sooner-or-later it’s going to start paying off.
The average is low for Mars but plenty has gone right this year. His 21 doubles tie a career-high, and his 44 walks have shattered his previous mark of 36. The 60 runs he’s scored are two away from his career-best 62 he set last season, and 19-for-24 on steal attempts is solid.
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Eduardo Rodriguez has made two rehab starts in Double-A and went a combined eight shutout innings. The lefty allowed three hits and four walks while striking out 14. It appears he’s ready for the Majors again, and is lined up to start for Boston on Saturday.
Dedgar Jimenez has been d-e-a-l-i-n-g lately. Baby Bartolo is down to a 4.59 ERA for Portland. Over the last two months, he’s looked like the 2017 version, and that’s dangerous. I’m still incredibly high on the 22-year-old left-hander.
Matthew Kent doesn’t get talked about enough. That’s partially my fault, but let’s not point fingers. The left-hander has a 3.15 ERA and has been fantastic all season. A .244 BAA isn’t superb, but it’s leaps-and-bounds better than previous seasons. Clear steps of improvement have been made in almost every category and that’s extremely encouraging for the 25-year-old.
Teddy Stankiewicz didn’t have his best start of the year this week, but surprise-surprise, he went five innings again. That’s 22 straight Double-A outings that saw Stank go five-or-more innings. His 4.65 ERA isn’t good, but it’s not miserable considering everything else. Take away a few implosion starts and the right-hander would be having a superb season.
Like Stankiewicz, Kyle Hart has had a few “implosion” starts. Without those, his numbers would be ridiculous because his 3.60 ERA is still great. At the moment, Hart is on a month-long run that has really shown the potential he has. It will be exciting to see where he starts in 2019. If he’s in Triple-A, it will be a new step and we’ll be able to see how he takes the new challenge. If Hart remains in Double-A it will be his first time getting a second-year at a level. Then it will be interesting to see how much he improves.
Darwinzon Hernandez has made the jump to Double-A. The 21-year-old is being used as a bullpen arm, and so far has gone three innings, allowing earned one run. The lefty already has four strikeouts as well. This bodes well for his 2019 prospects, as this would make you believe he’ll be starting the year in Portland.
Denyi Reyes was named the South Atlantic League’s 2018 Most Outstanding Pitcher this week. That was due to his ridiculous numbers with the Greenville Drive. Now he’s with the Salem Red Sox, and while his stat line doesn’t look like a video game, he’s more than holding his own.
Reyes has now thrown 28 1/3 innings with Salem. That’s not exactly a large sample size, but it’s starting to creep out of “small sample size” territory. In that time, he’s amassed a 2.54 ERA and 1.16 WHIP. The right-hander has struck out 19 compared to five walks. In total, he’s walked 18 batters in 152 innings in 2018.
Durbin Feltman allowed a pair of runs this week and still has a 2.79 ERA. Admittedly, it’s a little surprising he’s still in Advanced-A, as I thought he’d be in Double-A by now. but the reliever is still putting up solid numbers. He now has 31 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings combined between three levels.
I’ve run out of things to say about C.J. Chatham. He’s just really good, okay. The shortstop is hitting .324 with Salem, and I’ll say it again – a healthy C.J. Chatham is an elite prospect – not just for the Red Sox, but in all of baseball. His offensive game has very few holes in it, and it shows by the stats. Accompanying the average are 17 extra-base hits and 10 steals in 88 games. He’s also driven in 43 runs and scored 40 more.
On Tuesday, Michael Osinski launched Advanced-A home run number one. It’s his third of the year when counting his Full-A stats. The corner infielder now has a .296 average between the two leagues. He’s also hit 17 extra-base hits and stolen eight bags while driving in 46 runs and scoring 44 more.
Brett Netzer has 31 doubles on the season, shattering the 10 he had last year. He’s also scored and driven in 50 runs each and has a .276 average. Overall, it’s been an incredibly strong season for the second baseman, with the only weakness being home run power (2) and steals (3-for-11). Even that base running got a boost on Tuesday though as he stole two bags.
Tyler Hill hasn’t had any problems with steals this year as he leads the team with 27. The outfielder is actually having an all-around solid season on offense. He’s slashing .249/.348/.307 with 18 doubles and has 34 RBI and 66 runs scored. The 22-year-old has plenty of time to improve at the plate while his baserunning keeps him in the spotlight.
I’m waiting for MiLB to make a rule that Jarren Duran needs to bat with his eyes closed. This is getting ridiculous. Now 24 games into his time with Greenville, Duran is hitting .373. This isn’t just bloop hits either, as he has nine doubles and one triple, as well as one home run.
In 61 games combined between Short-A and Full-A, the 21-year-old’s stat line is nuts. The left-handed hitter is hitting .358 with three home runs and 14 doubles, as well as 11 triples. He’s driven in 31 runs and scored 45 more while stealing 22 bases.
A few weeks ago I made a (semi) joke that Reyes deserved AL Cy Young consideration. Duran should get some AL MVP votes at this point.
Garrett Benge isn’t one to be overshadowed much though. The 22-year-old is slashing .330/.472/.460 in 100 at-bats for Greenville. He’s hit seven doubles and two home runs while driving in 12 runs and scoring 18 more. The corner infielder has shown incredible patience at the plate, walking 27 times compared to 18 strikeouts.
Pedro Castellanos still has just that one home run. He’s hitting .305 with 19 doubles and three triples though. The 20-year-old also has 32 RBI and 38 runs scored, and it’s easy to say his first full season in Full-A has been a success.
Marino Campana has no home runs and one RBI over his last 10 games. He’s still the team leader in both categories by a large margin. Campana is hitting .249 with 16 home runs and 69 RBI. He’s also hit 19 doubles and seven triples and has 54 runs scored. The 20-year-old is having a strong first season in Full-A, showing a dangerous bat.
Alex Scherff has now pitched twice since returning from injury. This time around, he went four innings without allowing an earned run. So far, Scherff has thrown eight innings since his return. In that time, the 20-year-old has allowed one earned run on five hits and two walks while striking out eight.
The right-hander has lowered his ERA from 6.32 to 5.56 due to those starts and is really helping to make a lost season into a positive. Even if his numbers don’t end up looking pretty, this superb ending will be the story and something clear for him to build on.
Jhonathan Diaz has been nothing short of fantastic all season long for Greenville. In 146 innings the left-hander has 141 strikeouts compared to 38 walks. He’s also posted a 3.14 ERA and 1.08 WHIP, while opponents are hitting .225 against the 21-year-old. Diaz has really helped his prospect stock with the Red Sox this season and should start next year in Advanced-A.
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Eduard Bazardo wasn’t messing around in Short-A and appears to be doing the same in Full-A. The 22-year-old has a 2.45 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in 22 innings while striking out 21 and walking two. Bazardo has yet to have a bad start and could climb up the Red Sox prospect ranks if this keeps up.