Red Sox Double-A (Portland)
Brainer Bonaci was promoted to Double-A and looked phenomenal in his first week with Portland. The switch-hitting shortstop went 7-for-20 (.350) with two doubles and one home run. He drove in one run, scored five more, and stole one base. Bonaci walked more times (4) than he struck out (3). Portland Bones is fun.
Nathan Hickey crushed a pair of home runs this week. The left-handed hitting catcher is slashing .278/.367/.537 with 17 doubles, one triple, and 18 home runs between High-A and Double-A. He's driven in 48 runs, scored 49 more, and stolen three bases. Hickey's bat will force its way to the Majors potentially as early as next season.
Blaze Jordan keeps driving in runs. The right-handed hitting corner infielder is slashing .302/.359/.501 with 26 doubles, one triple, and 16 home runs between High-A and Double-A. He's driven in 74 runs, scored 57 more, and stolen two bases.
Elih Marrero is slashing .255/.377/.333 with eight doubles. The switch-hitting catcher has driven in nine runs, scored 15 more, and stolen eight bases. I sound like a broken record, but the defense is fantastic. If he can produce like that at the plate, Marrero deserves more attention.
Matthew Lugo returned earlier this month, and he's healthy again. The right-handed hitting third baseman is on a five-game hitting streak. In that time, Lugo has drastically risen his slash line from .232/.289/.370 to the current .246/.299/.384. Lugo has 21 doubles, one triple, and three home runs. He's driven in 31 runs, scored 39 more, and stolen six bases.
Nick Yorke had a six-game hitting streak snapped on Sunday. The right-handed hitting second baseman is slashing .269/.346/.446 with 16 doubles, five triples, and 12 home runs. He's driven in 47 runs, scored 58 more, and stolen eight bases.
Chase Meidroth had a strong week that included two multi-hit games. The right-handed hitting infielder is slashing .269/.401/.385 with 13 doubles, one triple, and seven home runs between High-A and Double-A. He's driven in 44 runs, scored 58 more, and stolen 11 bases. Meidroth had just 68 ABs in Single-A and 74 ABs in High-A before being promoted to Double-A, so the production dip shouldn't shock anyone. Double-A is a massive jump.
Isaac Coffey allowed two runs (only one earned) on two hits over six innings in his lone start this week. The right-handed pitcher struck out four batters compared to just one walk. Coffey has a 2.89 ERA, .215 BAA, and 1.07 WHIP between High-A and Double-A. He's struck out 133 batters compared to 26 walks in 99 2/3 innings. Most impressive is the fact that Coffey's numbers are nearly identical between High-A and Double-A.
Wikelman Gonzalez made two starts this week. The right-handed pitcher allowed four runs (three earned) over 9 2/3 innings. He surrendered nine hits and six walks, but did strike out 16 batters. Gonzalez has a 2.03 ERA, .161 BAA, and 1.13 WHIP in 26 2/3 innings in Double-A. He's struck out 39 batters compared to 15 walks at the level.
Luis Guerrero had two dominant outings this week. The righty reliever tossed two shutout innings on two seperate occassions. He didn't allow a hit in either, and only one walk compared to six strikeouts combined. Guerrero has a 1.67 ERA, .144 BAA, and 1.19 WHIP in 43 innings. He's struck out 47 batters compared to 30 walks.
Christopher Troye had another shutout inning this week, striking out two more batters. The right-handed reliever has a 3.19 ERA, .182 BAA, and 1.34 WHIP between High-A and Double-A. He's struck out 67 batters compared to 24 walks in 36 2/3 innings. It took a few outings, but Troye has begun to really dominate in Double-A.