Red Sox Prospect Watch: Victor Acosta has caught fire in Salem
By Hunter Noll
The Boston Red Sox minor league system has been fun this year, and Victor Acosta is proving just how deep the organization really is.
Before we really get into anything, the Boston Red Sox Short-A season has begun. However, the Lowell Spinners haven’t played enough games to talk about. Therefore, they won’t be getting a slide this week. Instead, I’ll just quickly say here that it’s a really fun lineup.
Antoni Flores, Nicholas Northcut and Nick Decker headline the hitters – Juan Carlos Abreu, Gilberto Jimenez, and Marino Campana deserve a lot of attention as well.
Now let’s take a big jump to the Majors. Marco Hernandez cooled off quite a bit, but then had the biggest hit of his MLB career on Sunday. The infielder smacked a ninth-inning home run to tie the ballgame against the Baltimore Orioles. Boston would go on to win. Hernandez is pushing to stay on the team even when everyone is healthy.
Michael Chavis has sprung back to life recently. He’s back up to a .261 average and now has 12 home runs and 34 RBI to go with it. The young slugger will probably continue to have some up-and-down moments but expect a lot more homers.
Mike Shawaryn has allowed one run in nine innings in the Majors so far. It’s not just pitching out of trouble either, the right-hander has been utterly dominant. Shawaryn has allowed two hits (.069 BAA) and has a 0.67 WHIP. He’s already struck out 14 batters to go with his 1.00 ERA.
The Red Sox have expressed a need for bullpen help quite often this season. Shawaryn’s a starter and will be one as his career progresses. That being said, he could be a legitimate bullpen solution for this season.