Triple-A (Pawtucket Red Sox)
Here comes that big shake-up I was talking about. The Red Sox number two prospect is now in Triple-A. Bobby Dalbec got the call-up this week and has now played two games with Pawtucket. In that time, he’s 3-for-8 with a run scored.
Now the question is what was the purpose? Was this just because the Red Sox felt he needed the new challenge? Or do they plan on starting him in Triple-A next year and wanted to give him the rest of this season to adjust? Or could they be considering calling him up this year and wanted to ease him in? We’ll have to wait and see. Either way, it’s exciting that he’s so close to the Majors now.
Josh Ockimey is finding his stroke again, collecting a hit in 7-of-his-last-8 games. That stretch has risen his average from .188 to .204. He’s also had four home runs in his last six games, two in his last two. The left-handed hitter now has a career-high 21 home runs. He’s done that in 19 less games than it took him to hit 20 homers last season.
Chad De La Guerra is slashing .298/.371/.563 with 16 doubles and 13 home runs. It took him 102 games to hit a career-high 16 homers last year. Now he’s hit those 13 in 58 games. The 26-year-old deserves a shot in the Majors but probably won’t get one this year (outside of a September call-up).
Marco Hernandez is hitting .333 proving there’s absolutely no reason for him to be in the minors.
Chris Owings is hitting .329 with nine homers and 29 RBI in 39 games for Triple-A. Once again he’s proving that this was a very savvy pick up by Boston.
Cole Sturgeon is sneaky good depth for the Red Sox outfield. He plays very good defense and is hitting .285 thanks to a very hot stretch recently.
Tanner Houck had two appearances this week. He combined to go three shutout innings, allowing no hits and two walks, while striking out two as well. The right-hander should be given a chance in the Majors, especially with how bad the bullpen has been for the Red Sox recently.
Trevor Kelley has a 1.38 ERA and 0.98 WHIP. That’s all you need to know.
Kyle Hart has a 3.53 ERA after his third straight strong start. This time he went 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs and striking out seven. His 21 strikeouts in the last three starts (18 innings) represent a great trend for him as well.
Teddy Stankiewicz bounced back with a great start this week – going seven innings, allowing two runs and striking out eight. The right-handed pitcher now has a 4.45 ERA, a big improvement over last season.