Red Sox Prospect Watch: Marcus Wilson catching fire in Salem
By Hunter Noll
The Boston Red Sox have to be happy with the return on the Blake Swihart trade at the moment, as Marcus Wilson is lighting up Advanced-A.
The Boston Red Sox are still at a frustrating point in their season. While things are definitely looking better, the team is still struggling to really find it’s footing.
However, that doesn’t mean they don’t have some great things going for them at the moment. A lot of those happen to be with the younger players on the roster.
Michael Chavis has a bit of a strikeout problem (86 in 227 at-bats) but his .260 average with 13 home runs and 38 RBI are working well. The rookie has played every position in the infield except shortstop for Boston and has looked decent at each. Chavis appears to be here to stay.
Marco Hernandez seems to be pretty clutch. Last week he had that game-tying home run in the top of the ninth. On Monday, he had a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth. Hernandez is hitting .241 with a homer and five RBI so far. His bat is better than some might give him credit for – expect to see the numbers go up if he’s given more time.
Mike Shawaryn finally had a bad outing, giving up three runs in 1 1/3 innings. The pitcher still has a 3.18 ERA on the year though. Most impressively, he’s doing this in relief despite being a starter in the minors. You’d have to imagine that makes this a little more difficult for the righty as he’s entering in different situations.
Josh Taylor has a 5.06 ERA on the year but has looked fantastic recently. The lefty allowed four runs in one inning on June 8 that ballooned his ERA to 10.80. Since then he’s made four appearances – accumulating 5 2/3 innings. In that time, he hasn’t allowed a run. In fact, he’s given up just one hit and one walk, striking out 10.