Boston Red Sox of the American League East and Major League Baseball: Andrew Benintendi (OF)

He’s here! It’s happening! He got his first start on Wednesday night, going 2 for 3 with a strikeout and two singles! Everybody go pick him up in your fantasy keeper leagues! Exclamation points! Okay. Now that we got that out of the way we can return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Triple-A Pawtucket: Christian Vazquez (C)

The funny thing about the Sox farm system and current roster is that it’s hard to find space for a player from Triple-A to come up to the big league club and garner significant playing time down the stretch. Obviously, September 1 will bring call-ups as the roster expands to 40 players, but the point remains: barring significant injuries, this roster is pretty set. Especially considering the deadline addition of Fernando Abad, the return of Craig Kimbrel and potential return of Koji Uehara (please come back, Koj), the bullpen is almost entirely established. And at least one or two guys will be down on playing time if and when Blake Swihart and Chris Young return to what is already a very crowded outfield following the addition of Benintendi.

One player who seems likely to be an exception and receive playing time is catcher Christian Vazquez. Vazquez demotion Triple-A was a casualty of the options attached to his contract, and, more notably, a casualty of Sandy León turning into Ted Williams. While Vazquez’s defense insulates him and continues to make him valuable at least to some degree, his bat hasn’t caught up to his glove. And when Ryan Hanigan returned from injury, the Sox had little choice but to option Vazquez to Pawtucket.

So, with all that said, let’s check in on his time in Rhode Island. At the plate, Christian Vazquez has, well, continued to be Christian Vazquez. Since being sent down in early July, the catcher has played in 17 games and staggered to a rough .203/.257/.297 slash line. He’s driven in five and managed just four extra-base hits.

Vazquez’s moneymaker always has been and will continue to be his abilities crouching behind the plate rather than standing at it. And, on that front, his arm is healthier than it has his whole career after recovering from Tommy John surgery that cost him all of 2015.

“I’m 100 percent. My arm is back, it’s healthy,” he said. “I’m working hard and I’m in the best shape of my career. Every day, I need to get better and I’m working to get better. But physically, I’m 100 percent.”

He’s not blowing smoke, either. Down at Pawtucket, he’s thrown out six out of nine would-be base stealers, according to John Wagner of MiLB.com.

So, while his bat continues to lag well behind a level that would make him a truly viable everyday catcher, it’s clear that Vazquez can still catch. Considering Sandy Leon’s somehow-still-above-1.000 OPS, how far that gets Vazquez this year remains to be seen. It seems likely that, at the very least, he’ll be at Fenway in September and get some playing time behind the dish. Given the comfort he seemed to have catching the knuckleball, maybe he returns to the role of catching Steven Wright for a month. Who knows.

It’s starting to look like we know exactly what he is, and unless snap throws down to first base are your favorite plays in baseball, Christian Vazquez is at least a little disappointing.

Obligatory (but quick) update on Yoan Moncada:

In his last 11 games, Moncada has hit baseballs at a more human clip. He’s batting just .217 with 18 strikeouts in 46 at-bats. Then he morphed back into the baseball alien that he is and fell a homer short of the cycle and scored four runs (!) in his most recent contest on Sunday. With Hanley Ramirez getting tests done on his wrist, we can theorize whether a Ramirez injury would mean a Moncada call-up. It doesn’t seem too likely, but there’s a chance we see Yoan at Fenway sooner than we thought.

The Rest of Double-A Portland: Luis Ysla (LHP)

With Benintendi gone, only two Red Sox top-20 prospects left in Portland are Moncada and shortstop Mauricio Dubon. Now, my colleague Cam Ellis stole Dubon for last week’s edition of Fenway’s Future, so in the interest of diversifying the piece, we’re looking into six-foot-one lefty reliever Ysla. The excellent SoxProspects.com lists Ysla as the team’s No. 23 prospect and third best at Double-A. He throws a hard fastball in the mid-90s, and uses it to rack up a hefty strikeout rate, sending 49 hitters back to the dugout in 46.2 innings.

While he projects pretty well and is highly regarded, Ysla has had some trouble this season, working to a 4.05 ERA and 1.46 WHIP in his 32 outings. He got roughed up in a July 26 appearance, allowing three runs in one inning of work. That said, in his past six appearances, Ysla has only allowed runs in that single one. Hopefully by the time we next check in on Ysla I’ll have figured out how to correctly pronounce his name.

High-A Salem: Trey Ball (LHP)

The Red Sox took Trey Ball with the seventh overall pick in the 2013 draft. Trey Ball might not be good.

The lefty has a 4.06 ERA and 1.62 WHIP on the season in Salem. Apologies in advance for this terrible pun, but Ball has thrown more than his fair share of balls: he’s issued 53 walks in 84.1 innings.

The month of July, to put it kindly, was not a good one for Ball. In six starts, Ball has allowed four or more runs in five of them, working to an ERA of 8.17. Walks have continued to be an issue, as he’s surrendered 24 of them in 25.1 July innings.

Finally, everybody can breathe a little easier now. We made it through the August 1 trade deadline without Dave Dombrowski throwing a Cuban Kitchen Sink offer for Chris Sale or any other front-line starter. Yoan Moncada and Andrew Benintendi are still Red Sox prospects. Unless you’re not a weirdly big fan of Pat Light, you’d agree that the team’s farm system made it through the last two weeks of July effectively unscathed.

If you need me, I’ll be in my happy place imagining a Red Sox lineup that includes a Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Yoan Moncada, Andrew Benintendi and Dustin Pedroia.

Photo by Bob DeChiara/USA Today Sports Images

Triple-A Pawtucket: Brian Johnson (LHP)

Brian Johnson has been on the Fenway’s Future radar for the last couple of seasons. The big lefty is expected to provide the pitching depth the Red Sox will need over the course of another long season. Johnson did not earn a spot in the big league rotation in the spring, as he was limited by a sprained toe that forced him to miss a couple of weeks. The toe injury was costly, but the decision to start Johnson in Pawtucket is understandable given that he is also working his way back from a nerve-related elbow injury that abruptly ended his 2015 season. He was able to avoid surgery on his elbow but the Red Sox are still treating him carefully as they know the sort of asset he can be.

After missing time this spring, Johnson is still getting stretched out, so his starts have been shorter than is typical for an effective starter at the Triple-A level. Regardless, his two outings (4.0 and 5.1 innings, respectively) have been solid. He has allowed only three runs, given up 10 hits, struck out nine opponents and walked three (2.89 RA9, 3.66 FIP). While only two starts, these results suggest the effectiveness he showed at Pawtucket in 2015 remains, and now he needs to continue working up the necessary arm strength to remain effective deeper into games.

If Johnson continues to pitch as effectively as he has in the early going and shows that his elbow and toe issues are behind him, he could be pitching in Boston soon. Johnson and teammate Henry Owens have put themselves in a position to be the first ones called upon when a spot opens in the Red Sox rotation.

Quick updates on Rusney Castillo (OF) and Blake Swihart (C, OF)

Through Monday’s games, Castillo has started four times, once at each of the outfield spots (and another in left field), posted a .375/.524/.438 line in 19 plate appearances, and has stolen three bases without getting caught. Simply put, things are looking much better for Rusney.

Swihart has started two games, both at catcher, and posted a .200/.200/.300 line in 10 PA. On the defensive side of things he has erased two of the four would-be base stealers who tested him.

Double-A Portland: Luis Ysla (LHP)

Last week, I noted that an area in which the Red Sox are thin is left-handed relief arms. With this in mind I suggested this could help Williams Jerez get on the fast track to the major league bullpen. The same is true for Jerez’s teammate, Luis Ysla. The Red Sox acquired Ysla from the San Francisco Giants late last season in exchange for Alejandro De Aza. Ysla pitched well in each of his first two season in the Giants system (172.1 innings, 3.13 RA9, 167:58 SO:BB) earning All-Star honors in both seasons. A promotion to High-A and move to the bullpen for the 2015 season affected his performance significantly. In 84.2 innings he allowed 60 runs! He did strike out more than one batter per inning (101) but still walked too many (43).

Despite the shaky results at High-A last season, the Red Sox have started Ysla at Double-A. Ysla throws hard, reportedly hitting 97mph this spring, and from his roots as a starter has a slider and changeup that can be effective. In four outings this year, Ysla has posted three scoreless appearances around one rough one in which he allowed all three of the runs he has surrendered this year; two coming on a home run to Colorado Rockies’  prospect David Dahl. Ysla is still doing his strike out thing this year, locking up four Ks in his five innings pitched, but has two walks, which is something he will need to focus on reducing if he is to earn another promotion.

High-A Salem: Nick Longhi (1B)

Nick Longhi, just 20-years old, is considered a tremendous hitter, perhaps one of the best in the Red Sox system, who reportedly possesses great power that has yet to show up in games, but is there. After posting a solid slash line at Low-A in 2015, he started the 2016 season on a tear. In his first three games he had a .417/.462/.500 line, but since then his output has declined considerably. Over his next eight games he has hit a measly .188/.229/.281. His primary issue thus far has been in the strikeout department. Longhi is striking out almost 10 percent more than he did at the lower levels, which is an indication that he is having trouble adjusting to the effectiveness of the pitching at the High-A level. It is still early – he only has 43 PA – so he still has plenty of opportunity to show that he can get back to performing more like he has in the past.

Quick updates on the Big-Three:

Yoan Moncada has a .333/.444/.528 line in his 46 PA, with seven steals (three times caught stealing).

Andrew Benintendi is hitting .326/.396/.651 in his 48 PA, with four doubles and five triples.

Rafael Devers has struggled to a .143/.268/.314 line in his 41 PA, but he has walked more times (6) than he has struck out (5), and is the only one of these three with a home run.

These guys are good.

Low-A Greenville: Roniel Raudes (RHP) and Jake Cosart (RHP)

Roniel Raudes is an exciting player who, at 18-years old, is really young for the Low-A level. However, Raudes does have 18-year old company on the Drive, as Red Sox’s top-pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza is also on the team. Despite being relatively unheralded, it is Raudes who has limited opponents to the greatest extent through two turns of the rotation. In his two starts (10 innings), Raudes has allowed only one run, given up seven hits, walked one and struck out nine. That is an excellent pitching line for this young man. Thus far, he is taking the challenge of the assignment to Low-A in stride. Raudes could be on the verge of a breakout this year, and could see a corresponding jump up the prospect rankings.

Coming out of the bullpen behind Raudes is 22-year old, righty Jake Cosart. Cosart is a converted outfielder and converted starter. In 2015, Cosart struggled as a starting pitcher while with short season Lowell (5.45 RA9, 5.15 FIP in 33.0 innings). Given his ability to throw hard – fastball typically sits in the mid-90s – the Red Sox decided to move him to the bullpen this spring and thus far the results have been better. Ten of the 28 batters he has faced have been retired by way of the strikeout, but he has had control issues, leading to four walks; one in each of his appearances. Cosart has been dominant in three of his four outings. In his three good outings (5.0 innings) he has allowed no runs and allowed only one hit. In the bad one he gave up four hits and two runs in just 1.1 innings. The conversion to life as a reliever is likely still a work in progress for Cosart, but the 3-good-to-1-bad outing ratio is a solid development in the early going.

Photo by Kelly O’Connor/www.sittingstill.smugmug.com