A no-no, more debuts, and bad weather are featured in this week's Boston Red Sox prospect watch
The Boston Red Sox finished the week strong and find themselves firmly in the wild-card race. They continue to get big contributions from some of the younger talent.
Meanwhile, the minor league teams continue to impress. We saw a big debut in Greenville with Luis Perales. I was there for it, but then I wasn't. He was scheduled to pitch while I was there, and the game was rained out. Fluor Field is an amazing stadium, and I love the atmosphere. I have beef with the weather, though.
Remember when people were pretending that Triston Casas was a bust because he struggled in the first month of the season? That was adorable. The left-handed hitting first baseman is mashing and suddenly has a .247/.351/.465 slash line with 14 doubles, two triples, and 14 home runs. He's driven in 36 runs and scored 43 more.
Jarren Duran is slashing .317/.367/.514 with 29 doubles, two triples, and six home runs. The left-handed hitting outfielder has driven in 34 runs, scored 37 more, and stolen 19 bases (in 20 attempts). Duran has silenced all the doubters at this point.
Masataka Yoshida is slashing .315/.376/.494 with 22 doubles, three triples, and 11 home runs. The left-handed hitting outfielder has driven in 51 runs, scored 52 more, and is 8-for-8 in stolen base attempts.
Connor Wong has been on a tear and has his slash line up to .249/.308/.410 with 19 doubles and six home runs. The right-handed hitting catcher has driven in 23 runs, scored 36 more, and stolen four bases.
Chris Murphy allowed one run over 8 1/3 innings in two appearances this week. The left-handed reliever has a 1.80 ERA, .198 BAA, and 1.16 WHIP in 25 innings. He's struck out 26 batters and walked 11. Murph also picked up his first MLB win this week.
Brandon Walter tossed a scoreless inning this week. The lefty reliever has a 3.07 ERA, .283 BAA, and 1.43 WHIP in 14 2/3 innings. He's struck out nine batters and walked four.
Brayan Bello had his first rough start in a long time this week. The right-handed pitcher still has a 3.60 ERA, .248 BAA, and 1.22 WHIP in 90 innings. He's struck out 78 batters compared to 24 walks.