Red Sox Prospect Watch: Thad Ward inserts himself into conversations

The Boston Red Sox have one of the hottest pitching prospects in baseball right now thanks to the incredible play of Thad Ward.

Michael Chavis is not the only Boston Red Sox prospect in the Majors anymore. Travis Lakins has joined him and is trying to make his case for staying long-term.

Lakins has a 4.50 ERA over six innings (three appearances). While the ERA isn’t great, it’s a short sample size. The three runs he’s allowed all came in longer appearances (2 1/3 and 2 2/3 innings). Both of those appearances saw Lakins allow his runs at the tail end, meaning fatigue could have easily been setting in.

So far, he’s looked solid overall on the mound and it would be great to see him get a longer look.

As for Chavis, he’s still extremely inserted in the Rookie of the Year campaign. In fact, it’s hard to not place him at the top of the list right now. The infielder is hitting .280 with 10 home runs and 26 RBI. His “slumps” are getting shorter, showing a fast maturing bat.

Prospect status will be gone for Chavis this time next week. It will be quicker than that even. The 23-year-old is just five at-bats away from shedding the “prospect” label (130 ABs is one of the criteria and he’s at 125). It should be noted he’ll still get mentioned quite often in these articles this season.

However, what’s exciting about that is when it happens, there will be a new player added to the top-30 prospect list for the Boston Red Sox. That’s like an early Christmas gift for me. It’s great to see who is valued as the next prospect up.

The most likely candidates will be players who have flirted with the list in the past (like Jhon Nunez). Nunez is definitely a solid candidate, but I refuse to rule out someone like Dedgar Jimenez, Kyle Hart or Thad Ward.

Triple-A (Pawtucket Red Sox)

Teddy Stankiewicz had another fantastic start in Triple-A. He’s down to a 3.38 ERA after giving up just one run in six innings. The 25-year-old probably wasn’t considered one of the “next men up” heading into the season – but he’s certainly making a case. This could be the year we see Stankiewicz make his Major League debut.

The fact that we haven’t seen a debut for Mike Shawaryn yet is a little surprising. At the moment though, he’s struggling with some command issues. Shawaryn’s ERA is still solid at 3.72 but he’s walked 16 batters over his last three starts (13 2/3 innings). He only had 12 walks in the 42 innings prior to that.

This should be looked at as a simple hiccup for the right-hander. Walks have never been a major issue for him throughout an entire season.

Trevor Kelley has been awesome lately – or even more so than usual. The strikeouts have been rolling in and he’s surrendering a lot fewer hits recently. He’s down to a 1.21 ERA and .226 BAA and now has 23 strikeouts over 22 1/3 innings. Kelley is a very viable bullpen option for this year and definitely deserves to make his MLB debut soon.

Adam Lau is now in Triple-A after tearing through Double-A for a while (1.83 ERA over 19 2/3 innings). Through four innings so far with Pawtucket, the left-hander has a 2.25 ERA and .167 BAA.

Josh Ockimey continues to be a force offensively. His .234 average isn’t going to turn heads – the .402 OBP (38 walks) just might though. The first baseman has seven doubles and two triples – to go along with a mammoth 12 home runs. He’s driven in 27 runs and scored 30 more, really going on a tear in the run producing category lately.

Sam Travis is going through some ups-and-downs at the moment. He’s still absolutely enjoying his best season in a few years though. Travis has a .258/.361/.381 slash line that includes eight doubles and one triple, as well as three home runs. He’s scored 23 runs and driven in 20 more, stealing three bases as well.

Double-A (Portland Sea Dogs)

This is your last chance to jump on the Baby Bartolo hype-train before it officially leaves the station. Dedgar Jimenez is now down to a 3.55 ERA after a lights-out start on Memorial Day. The left-hander threw six shutout innings and made opposing batters look down-right silly on multiple occasions. This was his best start of the year and he now has a 2.14 ERA after imploding in his first two outings (eight earned runs in 3 2/3 innings).

Jimenez is still just 23 and should absolutely be on the radar of anyone that cares about prospects. He just seems to get it on the mound.

Denyi Reyes is also piggybacking off his own best start of the year. The 22-year-old allowed just three hits and no walks in six shutout innings, striking out eight. He still has a 4.79 ERA but is clearly trending in the right direction. Reyes was one of the best pitchers in all of MiLB last season. Don’t discredit him simply because he had a bad month at a new level to start the year.

Kyle Hart has gone seven innings in each of his last three starts. The left-hander has a 2.91 ERA on the year, to go with a .199 BAA and 1.01 WHIP. He’s struck out 60 batters in 55 2/3 innings and has yet to have a “bad start” in 2019.

Jake Cosart is now in Double-A after looking fantastic in Advanced-A all year (1.83 ERA in 19 2/3 innings and yes that’s exactly what Adam Lau was doing in Double-A before moving to Triple-A). Cosart has a 0.00 ERA and three strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings so far in Portland. He also has a 0.86 WHIP and .000 BAA. There’s a reason the 25-year-old was once considered one of the Red Sox best pitching prospects.

C.J. Chatham is hitting .314 and I feel like no one is talking about him. The shortstop simply hits. He has 16 RBI and 15 runs on the year, stealing four bases as well.

Other than lacking in the home run power department (and even that could come around to see him hit 15-plus yearly) – there’s nothing Chatham can’t do. He’s a solid defender with good speed and a great bat for contact. The Red Sox might not have a place for him at this moment, but a debut this year still isn’t out of the question.

Bobby Dalbec is slashing .240/.364/.461 to this point in the year. The third baseman has eight doubles and eight home runs, as well as one triple. He’s driven in 26 runs and scored 20 more – stealing one base. Dalbec’s been hot-and-cold this year but has flashed his power a solid amount. He’s one of the few prospects that you truly believe could give you a three-homer night at any moment.

Jhon Nunez is hitting .284 and already closing in on some career-bests. He has two home runs (one off of his career-high) and six doubles (three off his career-best). The catcher also has one triple (two off his career-high) and with seven RBI and 10 runs scored is at a decent pace in both categories.

Advanced-A (Salem Red Sox)

The Salem Red Sox have the most exciting lineup in the Boston Red Sox minor league system. It all starts with Jarren Duran. He’s now played 45 games this year and has a .403 batting average. It’s not all singles either, as Duran has two home runs and three triples, as well as 13 doubles. He’s scored 45 runs and stolen 18 bases – making this one of the more ridiculous seasons that I’ve seen in a while.

Ryan Fitzgerald is one of the players capitalizing on Duran getting on base by driving him in. The shortstop is hitting .337 with 13 doubles and four triples. He’s second on the team with 35 RBI and has a solid 21 runs scored and eight steals as well.

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• Jeter Downs’ official departure will continue to haunt Red Sox

Pedro Castellanos leads the team with 36 RBI. The first baseman is hitting .277 and has 11 doubles and one home run as well. He’s still just 21 and showing some solid growth at the plate. Once he gets a little more patient (only nine walks this season), Castellanos will be virtually unstoppable at the plate.

Victor Acosta is one of the most over-shadowed players in the Red Sox minors. He’s slashing .292/370/.350 with 17 RBI and 15 runs scored. Usually, those would be great numbers, but there are so many standouts on the Salem roster that he simply seems like another guy. That’s upsetting because Acosta’s a great all-around bat.

Marcus Wilson is with Salem now and seems to be enjoying it. The 22-year-old outfielder is hitting .313 with three doubles and one home run in nine games. He’s driven in seven runs and scored four more. It’s great to see him looking more comfortable in the system a month after the Blake Swihart trade.

Eduard Bazardo is having such a ridiculous season that he gave up one run in 4 1/3 innings this week and raised his ERA pretty significantly. He now has a 1.06 ERA as opposed to the 0.91 he had last week. In 34 innings, the right-hander has 41 strikeouts compared to seven walks. He has a 0.82 WHIP and .171 BAA and opponents have still yet to hit a home run off of him.

Rio Gomez joined Advanced-A and gave up two runs in two innings in his first outing (9.00 ERA). His only other appearance so far saw him go 2 2/3 innings without giving another run, lowering that ERA to 3.86. Gomez was untouchable in Full-A and it’s good to see the 24-year-old getting a chance in Advanced-A.

Kris Jackson is also in Salem at the moment. He had a 2.00 ERA over nine innings in Full-A and now has one shutout inning under his belt in Advanced-A. The 23-year-old has a lot of talent and could definitely turn into a steal as a 28th-round draft pick from the 2018 Draft.

Enmanuel De Jesus struggled in his last start but still has a 3.83 ERA this year. The 22-year-old has seen a lot more positives in 2019 than he has negatives. In fact, his first start of the week saw him go six innings without allowing an earned run. The left-hander will need to limit the walks (18 in 44 2/3 innings) if he wants the positives to continue outweighing the negatives.