The performance of the pitching depth has been the most surprising, as Johnson and Hector Velazquez have combined to allow just two runs in 11.2 innings pitched. They’ve taken care of business where business needed to happen: in Florida, against both the Rays and the Marlins. Granted, we’re not talking turn-of-the-decade-Yankees juggernauts here, but outings like that are always very positive, especially in an environment where baseballs are being launched into the stands more than ever. Eduardo Rodriguez came back a little earlier than expected and had middling results for the first game, and with Drew Pomeranz still about a week away from returning, we’ll be seeing a little more of Johnson, with Velazquez in the bullpen for now.

On the position player side, that depth is about to get tested. Eduardo Nunez is a bench guy already playing due to Dustin Pedroia recovering from knee surgery, but as far as bench players getting a lot of playing time, he’s really the only one. That’s about to change, thanks to the weird, freak injury Xander Bogaerts suffered on Sunday. At first glance, it seemed like a rolled ankle or something just as innocuous, but it was a fair bit worse than that:

Red Sox announce Xander Bogaerts to DL with “small crack” in talus bone

— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) April 9, 2018

Well, that’s a bummer. Thankfully, it’s looking like two weeks until Bogaerts returns. I really feel like crediting the Red Sox for actually letting Bogaerts heal up this time, but that seems like the sort of thing they should do in the first place, not let them play for three months with a bad wrist.

And so the Sox look for a stand-in. Deven Marrero is long gone, as he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks towards the end of Spring Training. Tzu-Wei Lin was called up to take Bogaerts’ roster spot, and he can play both middle infield positions, but he’ll probably take a backseat at shortstop to Eduardo Nunez, while he and Brock Holt trade off at second base. No one else can readily play shortstop for the Red Sox at the moment, and you can’t really count on Marco Hernandez showing up anytime soon, as he’s on the 60-day disabled list, and won’t appear in game action until the end of May. Mitch Moreland is strictly a first baseman, and Blake Swihart is a catcher with corner infield experience in a pinch. There’s not much past Nunez, Lin, and Holt for middle infielders, unless you want to go deep into the minors.

The quality of the middle infielders is just alright. I’d like to be higher on these guys, but we’ve seen their shortcomings. Nunez is fine, Holt is an uninspiring player nowadays, and there’s a pretty wide range of outcomes for Lin should he play a lot over the next couple weeks. I’d honestly like to see more Lin and less Holt, but I’ve been very down on Holt for a long while — with good reason! — so I feel that’s more of a personal preference. Either way, there’s going to be a lot of shuffling around second base.

The Bogaerts injury really forces them to dig deep for infielders, and it’s not like this is a common occurrence.

Injuries like this are really testing the Red Sox early on. It’s not a test to see if they can keep up their winning ways or production — they have above-average regulars at nearly every position. The Bogaerts injury really forces them to dig deep for infielders, and it’s not like this is a common occurrence. Bogaerts is a pretty healthy player, as he’s played 144 games or more in every season since he took hold of a starting job in 2014, so it’s not as if the Sox were lax in looking for a backup here. Bogaerts doesn’t often go down like this, and if it wasn’t already obvious, the “Bogaerts is soft!” complaint doesn’t really hold up.

The Red Sox were more prepared to cover for Pedroia’s absence instead, but with Bogaerts’ injury, it forces them to spread that depth thin across two positions, and potentially field someone like Holt for a not-inconsequential amount of time. That’s a sub-par outcome, for reasons including his poor production in the last two years. But this is what happens when depth is needed, especially for someone that really never needs a break — you’re forced to use guys who aren’t always cut out to be starters at certain positions. It’s times like this when you miss Marrero’s defense, even if that meant biting the bullet when it came to his offense.

This could all just be handwringing. It’s only two weeks or so! The Nunez-Holt-Lin hydra could perform spectacularly and emulate Johnson’s and Velazquez’s starts to the season. That is also possible! All of these players have had very notable runs of success before, for example: Brock Holt, 2015 American League All-Star. Personally, I’d fall on the pessimist side of things here, if only because I keep low expectations in general.

But this is why depth exists. None of them are supposed to be as good as the starter, or else they’d be, y’know, starting. The Red Sox are a stacked team with a lot of good players, and having one of the starting nine be “just alright” won’t trip them up, but it’s probably going to be a bit bland without Bogaerts out there. At least he’ll be back soon, and we can worry no more.

Photo by Greg M. Cooper — USA TODAY Sports

Presenting the full list 2017 Roster Recaps, listed with the authors that wrote them. An asterisk denotes a player who has, as of March 13th, dearly departed the Red Sox. We’ll miss them all terribly.

Catchers

• Sandy Leon (Cam Ellis)
• Blake Swihart (Jake Devereaux)
• Christian Vazquez (Brett Cowett)

Infielders

• Xander Bogaerts (Chris Teeter)
• Chase d’Arnaud* (Matt Kory)
• Rafael Devers (Kory)
• Marco Hernandez (Cowett)
• Brock Holt (Devereaux)
• Tzu-Wei Lin (Cowett)
• Deven Marrero (Cowett)
• Mitch Moreland (Cowett)
• Eduardo Nunez (Teeter)
• Dustin Pedroia (Kory)
• Hanley Ramirez (Devereaux)
• Josh Rutledge* (Cowett)
• Pablo Sandoval* (Cowett)
• Sam Travis (Teeter)

Outfielders

• Andrew Benintendi (Ellis)
• Mookie Betts (Kory)
• Jackie Bradley Jr. (Cowett)
• Rajai Davis* (Daniel Poarch)
• Steve Selsky (Ellis)
• Chris Young* (Cowett)

Pitchers

• Fernando Abad* (Ellis)
• Matt Barnes (Cowett)
• Blaine Boyer* (Cowett)
• Roenis Elias (Poarch)
• Doug Fister* (Kory)
• Heath Hembree (Kory)
• Brian Johnson (Teeter)
• Joe Kelly (Ellis)
• Kyle Kendrick* (Poarch)
• Craig Kimbrel (Cowett)
• Austin Maddox (Ellis)
• Kyle Martin (Poarch)
• Drew Pomeranz (Ellis)
• Rick Porcello (Teeter)
• David Price (Ellis)
• Noe Ramirez* (Poarch)
• Addison Reed* (Ellis)
• Eduardo Rodriguez (Cowett)
• Robbie Ross* (Cowett)
• Chris Sale (Cowett)
• Robby Scott (Cowett)
• Carson Smith (Teeter)
• Ben Taylor (Cowett)
• Hector Velazquez (Devereaux)
• Brandon Workman (Ellis)
• Steven Wright (Kory)

Header photo by Winslow Townson — USA TODAY Sports

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and — oh god, we haven’t done Deven Marrero yet. The 49th man. And now the clouds are coming back and the birds have gone silent. Just one more, I thought to myself. Just one more.

Deven Marrero with a glove is silk. He’s one of those players that will make even the toughest of plays seem routine, like he had been preparing his whole life for that one hard-hit grounder to go that far to his right. There’s a subtle pleasure in watching a great fielder do great fielding things, and if that’s your drug, Marrero is your fix. Inject it into our veins.

Deven Marrero with a bat? Well, if you can imagine what a disgusted recoil sounds like, that’s pretty much all you need to know.

What Went Right

The Red Sox, in their pre-Devers days, had a bit of crisis with finding a third baseman that could actually produce any kind of value. Pablo Sandoval, Josh Rutledge, and Marco Hernandez all tried their best, but due to injuries, ineffectiveness, or a combination of the two, none of them could produce. That’s where Marrero comes in. If their third baseman wasn’t going to get hits, it might as well take them away, and oh boy can Marrero do that.

Marrero’s defensive prowess got him 364 innings at third base, along with 106.2 innings at other positions in the infield. That includes 2.2 innings at first base, which he can now field, apparently. It’s only a matter of time until the Red Sox will only require a pitcher, a catcher, and Deven Marrero in the field.

We know how horrifying his hitting is, but he did have one bright spot.

That’s a two-homer game. Against Jose Quintana. Baseball is simply magical.

What Went Wrong

188 plate appearances might be good for Marrero on a personal level, but that was a canary in a coal mine for the Red Sox. If someone with Marrero’s offensive prowess was getting that much playing time in the majors, something — more specifically, third base — was very wrong. Marrero slashed .211/.259/.333 with a 32.4 percent strikeout rate, which looks as awful as it is. That comes out to a .215 TAv. He did hit four home runs, which technically counts as a power surge, if you’re looking for the thinnest silver lining possible.

Even his time at third base didn’t last very long, all things considered. Tzu-Wei Lin, who was called up directly from Double-A Portland, overtook him at the hot corner in late June.

Good thing the Red Sox have Rafael Devers.

What To Expect

Marrero is going to be involved in the second base carousel until Dustin Pedroia returns, so he’ll most likely stick with the team for a good while. After that, it’s anyone’s guess. His glove will keep him hovering around the majors, and maybe even start for a team desperate for anything at second base, shortstop, or third base. Right now, he looks to be part of the well-stocked depth the Red Sox have, and with no offense to be found, it isn’t likely that he’ll be much more than that. He’s good for a sparkling defensive play or two, but this is who he is.

Photo by Patrick McDermott — USA TODAY Sports

Then everything changed. His approach and hitting profile improved dramatically, and thanks to a shortage of good third basemen, Lin soon found himself in the major leagues. For the few weeks he was on the team, he did fairly well. Wasn’t amazing, wasn’t terrible, but for a guy who had zero Triple-A plate appearances in his professional career by the time of his initial call-up, I’d say he did just fine. As a prospect, however, he blew past any and all expectations.

What Went Right

Jeff Paternostro saw something in him over a year ago on the Top 10 Prospects list($), and he noted his weakness for a good glove with a semblance of offensive tools, even if Lin continued to toil away at Double-A. Then he started making noise, and eventually got a spot on Carson Cistulli’s Fringe Five series in mid-May, after Lin had 1. reduced his groundball rate by over 20 percent, 2. had recorded an Isolated Power mark more than triple his career number, and 3. brought his strikeout rate down to 18.5 percent — below the Eastern League average. As another month went by, Lin got even more attention. He got another blurb on the Fringe Five, and a few days before his call-up, Erich Rothmann praised his growth over at the main site($).

So, yes, he got some attention. That is a good thing. But why? Well, Eric Longenhagen observed several improvements to his stance and swing. He started using his lower body more in his swing — better footwork helps a lot here — and thanks to his good hand-eye coordination and contact skills, he’s been able to quickly add more power to it. Is he going to hit a ton of homers? Probably not. But I’m a sucker for middle infielders who can make contact like he does, especially when he can turn those long singles into doubles with his plus speed. Lin finally found his stroke.

On June 24th, Lin was called up to the major leagues as the Red Sox struggled to get any production out of third base. A couple days later, he got his first base hit in the majors. Three days after that, he crushed a ball that would’ve been a homer in a vast majority of other ballparks:

That swing and hit is emblematic of everything he’s done this year. The leg kick gets down to lock in the power, he turns on a middle-in fastball, and gives it enough loft to send it nearly 380 feet to right. Lin’s tenure with the club was one of the high points of the season, and it was all because everything went right.

What Went Wrong

Lin was eventually sent down on July 16th, after the Red Sox deemed Brock Holt healthy enough to play. His offensive explosion was toned down a bit as he had more time to face more advanced pitching — the walk and strikeout rates regressed, the grounders came back, and there were a lot of pop-ups. I don’t think any of us were expecting his .385 BABIP in the majors to hold up, even with his encouraging batted ball profile, so this was just natural regression. He still made good contact and whiffed only five percent of the time in Pawtucket. Other than that, nothing was really all that terrible.

What To Expect

Despite being buried on the depth chart by Holt, Marco Hernandez, Deven Marrero, and possibly the addition of another utility infielder (Eduardo Nunez, anyone?), Lin is closer to the majors than people realize. That’s a strange statement to make about a guy who has already been there, but with Hernandez’s shoulder, Holt’s general ineffectiveness, and Marrero’s allergy to any kind of offense, Lin is only an injury and a bad slump away from a roster spot. He’s still on the fringes of the 25-man at best right now, but it shouldn’t surprise you if we see him get a handful of plate appearances come mid-season, especially if he lights it up at Pawtucket. The Red Sox just might have something here.

Photo by Kim Klement — USA TODAY Sports

The Red Sox were forced to go through a lot of infielders in 2017, and Hernandez going down was one of the reasons why.

What Went Right

Not a lot, really. It’s hard to have good times when your season ended 60 plate appearances in, and you weren’t even on the Opening Day roster to begin with. But he did have one cool moment, way back at the tail-end of April, which started with Hernandez beating old friend Koji Uehara to first base to get himself an infield single:

And that culminated with Hernandez scoring the go-ahead run later that inning:

See, that’s pretty neat. Silver linings and all that.

What Went Wrong

Everything else.

He wasn’t on the 25-man roster for Opening Day because the Red Sox thought they needed Steve Selsky more than him, despite a good Grapefruit League showing by Hernandez. Then he was finally added to the roster when Xander Bogaerts went on the bereavement list.

A month later, Hernandez would have to be taken out of a game after hurting himself:

Seems innocuous, right? Just a little pinch in the shoulder? It wasn’t. He was put on the disabled list the next day with a left shoulder subluxation, and eight days after that, it was announced that he would need season-ending surgery on said shoulder. Poor Marco.

What To Expect

It’s hard to analyze Hernandez’s hitting in the majors with just 116 plate appearances total, but he can hit a bit with a little power mixed in there. His last stint in the minors came with a .309/.343/.444 slash line, so it’ll be a waste to have him stay there for much longer. He’ll probably pan out and be a solid major league contributor when all is said and done, provided he recovers well from surgery and he doesn’t get bounced off the roster for a worse player.

However, with Dustin Pedroia needing several months to recover from knee surgery, Hernandez is, as of today, the leading candidate to start in his place. The Red Sox have soured a little on Brock Holt, as they might’ve (finally!) realized that he can’t be a day-to-day starter. The other options at second base are Deven Marrero – a player who I’ve said the phrase “if he could only hit” about far too much – and Tzu-Wei Lin, who did well during his time in the majors in 2017, but will probably need more plate appearances in Pawtucket more than anything. With Eduardo Nunez coming back not a sure thing, Hernandez currently tops the depth chart at the keystone.

Had Pedroia been healthy, Hernandez might’ve faced the same outcome as he did in 2017: as the 26th man for a 25-man roster. With some playing time opening up, we’ll see more of him than we have in the past two seasons combined, and he’ll hopefully come out of it looking like a player with a little upside that won’t hurt you when he plays. He’s got the skills. Now he just needs the time to show them off.

Photo by Winslow Townson – USA TODAY Sports

It’s bad because wow, yuck, that’s bad! But it’s good because it’s an easy fix, at least as far as these things tend to go. Get one guy and you’re done. That’s as easy as fixes get.

First we’ll set the stage by saying this: By just about any standard you choose, the Red Sox have one of the worst third base problems in all of baseball. At the All-Star break, Red Sox third basemen are slashing a cumulative .236/.292/.331 with seven home runs (somehow only the Yankees have fewer). That’s both bad and good. It’s bad because wow, yuck, that’s bad! But it’s good because it’s an easy fix, at least as far as these things tend to go. Get one guy and you’re done. That’s as easy as fixes get.

If we look at that slash line, and recall it comes with overall mediocre-to-bad defense too, and recall who is in charge of the team, it’s not a stretch to say the Red Sox will acquire someone to play third base before the July 31st trade deadline expires.

Before I get into specific trade targets though, I should mention that there is the possibility, slight though it may be, that the Red Sox stand pat with what they have a third base. The platoon of Deven Marrero and Tzu-Wei Lin has been shockingly good, especially Lin’s part of it. If those guys can hold together through, say, August, third base super-prospect Rafael Devers might be ready and then the rosters expand and away we go! That sounds promising and possible and even inexpensive. But if you examine those last few sentences you can start to see the potential problems in that plan. There’s a lot of “maybe” and “could be” and “might” in there, and for a team trying to win right now there’s really very little reason to take chances and not to get a sure thing (or something closer to it) on the trade market. I’m guessing Dave Dombrowski would agree with that.

So, with all that out of the way, here are some third basemen around the league who may be available or whose names have already entered the rumor mill.

Todd Frazier

Frazier, 31, plays for the White Sox, who have been in sell-mode since before the season started. So he’s available. He’s a free agent after this season so the price shouldn’t be prohibitive and while he’s not a great defensive third baseman, he can handle the position. Frazier’s best skill is his power. He has 16 homers and 14 doubles on the season, and while his batting average is way down (.213), his walk rate has taken a big jump this season and brought his on-base percentage with it (.335). He’s a perfectly cromulent player and likely to be worth a win or so over the next half season.

Martin Prado

Unlike Frazier, Prado, 33, isn’t a free agent after this season. In fact, he’s signed for two more years for $28 million total after 2017. This makes him more difficult because you’re taking on significant salary and effectively blocking Devers. Prado is having a tough season, with little power and a bad on-base percentage. If you got Prado you’d be betting on his career averages which are fine.

Mike Moustakas

Moustakas is probably the big get of the players whose names have been prominently mentioned in rumors. He’s a free agent after this year, and has picked this year to blossom into the power that was always expected of him. He’s at 25 homers so far which is already three above his career best, and we’ve got 80 games still to go. Moose isn’t a great defensive third baseman, but he’s been around average during his career so it seems that’s what’s fair to expect. Mostly though he’s the rich man’s Frazier and he’s likely to cost a pretty penny. That all said, the Royals have moved themselves into contention (or some reasonable facsimile there of) and as of this moment have stated they aren’t looking to trade anyone.

Jed Lowrie

Our old friend Jed. Lowrie isn’t actually a third baseman having played mostly second base this year. In fact, his last year playing any third was 2015 when he was with Houston. Still, he’s done it before and is likely better than anything the Red Sox have (short of Devers) and he’s on the A’s so he can be had, if, you know, that’s anything you’d actually want to do.

Josh Harrison

Harrison would be an interesting get. He’s coming off two down seasons and his contract which runs through next season was looking like a lost cause, but he’s rebounded this season with a .361 on-base percentage and a .436 slugging. That’s above average production if he can keep it up, and if he can do anything like what he did three years ago with Pittsburgh (.837 OPS) then that’s something to be excited about. Thing is though, he’s done that once in seven seasons and the more I think about it, the less the Red Sox need anyone signed beyond this year.

Josh Donaldson

This is the great white whale. The Blue Jays might sell but they probably won’t. And yet they might. And they probably won’t trade Donaldson. But they might. Even if they did though, it probably wouldn’t be in division, and if they did the cost would be astronomical, even though Donaldson has had injury issues this year and isn’t performing up to his peak and has entered his 30s. Still though, it’s Josh F’n Donaldson. And Dave Dombrowski is the Red Sox GM. So. You know.

Adrian Beltre

Ah, what might have been… *sigh*. Beltre’s one shining season in Boston leaves me with a happy glow that is perhaps best left alone. He is 38 and signed for a season beyond this one, after all. But I’ll be damned if the old flame isn’t putting up a .900 OPS this year and with his typically spectacular defense and insanely spectacular personality to boot. Are the Rangers even sellers though? They’re under .500 and 16.5 games behind Houston, but only three back of the second Wild Card spot. This is probably a pipe dream, but oh what a beautiful pipe dream it is.

Nick Castellanos

Nobody has mentioned Castellanos in rumors, not that I’ve heard of anyway. But the Tigers are out of it, they need to sell JD Martinez, and they’re probably not far from flinging whatever isn’t nailed down out the door. Castellanos is sort of nailed down, but maybe. He’s a former first round draft pick, selected by none other than Dave Dombrowski, and he’s the toolsy sort of guy you’d expect based on the first part of this sentence. He’s not a great fielder, but he’s under team control through the 2020 season and, here’s the kicker, he’s crushing the ball. According to FanGraphs, Castellanos is making hard contact 49.6 percent of the time! That’s insane and way above what he’s done in the past. Yet, his BABIP hasn’t shown it yet. Part of the problem is his 41 percent ground ball rate, but if he starts hitting the ball in the air with that kind of contact, this is a guy you would want in the lineup. So maybe the Sox take a shot with a guy like this hoping the improvement shows up sometime upon reaching Fenway.

Next week, if Dombrowski doesn’t beat me to it, we’ll take a look at some relievers who the Red Sox might reasonably be expected to look at.

Photo by Jasen Vinlove – USA TODAY Sports

Best Game

There have been quite a few gems in the first half, so picking one was predictably difficult. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that watching exciting highlights is easy.

With that said, the winner, as is the case with most things, is Mookie Betts. On July 1st, Betts went 4-6 with two homers and eight RBIs. It was the second time in less than a calendar year that Betts had 8 RBI in a game, which is absurd.

If you wanted to give the award to Andrew Benintendi for his five-hit, two-homer, six-RBI game in Texas that was capped off with a highlight-reel catch in left, I wouldn’t stop you. But we’re an analytics-focused site, and 8 > 6 (by 2!) so Markus gets the award. Way to go Markus.

Runner-up: Andrew Benintendi vs. Texas

Worst Game

One of Pablo Sandoval’s probably. (ed. note: this is extremely likely.)

Best Pitching Performance 

Chris Sale, 4/20 (nice) vs. Toronto: 8 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 13 K, BB

Sale’s been as advertised, posting a 2.08 FIP over 18 starts so far. The following is a list of statistics that he’s posting career bests in this year:

H/9 – 6.6
BB/9 – 1.6
WHIP – 0.90
cFIP – 59

He’s also on pace to break 7 WARP for the first time in his career. He started the All-Star game for the AL, and barring some sort of disaster (please god no) he’s in line to win his first Cy Young. He’s only gone less than six innings once all year and has hit double-digit strikeouts in 10 of his 18 starts. Ironically enough, he registered a no-decision in that April 20th gem, so here’s the space to get angry about wins and losses again. It’s been a blast to watch Sale pitch every five days this year. Hopefully Joe Kelly gave him one of those ‘He’s the Ace’ shirts.

Runner-up: Drew Pomeranz

Worst Pitching Performance

Kyle Kendrick, 5/10 vs. MIL: 4.1 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 2 K, BB

The Kyle Kendrick Spot Start Campaign came to a swift and painful end that night in Milwaukee, as Kendrick hasn’t been seen since. With Doug Fister being fine I guess and Eduardo Rodriguez ready to come back after the break, we’ve probably seen the last of Kendrick in a Red Sox uniform.

Runner-up: Rick Porcello.

Most Surprising Hitter 

Tzu-Wei Lin (!!)

This is admittedly what being a prisoner of the moment looks like, but sometimes being a prisoner of the moment is fun. In 15 games since being called up, Lin has hit .333/.435/.436 with a bunch of singles and two triples. While he’s never hit much in his time spent in the Red Sox system, he did look competent last year, hitting .302/.379/.419 over 48 games in Double-A Portland. His return to Earth is coming soon, but he’s been a fun story at 3rd base for the last two weeks, which is more than any other third baseman on the roster can claim.

Runner-up: Mitch Moreland and his broken toe.

Most Disappointing Hitter 

Chris Young.

For being a lefty-crusher, he sure isn’t crushing very many lefties. He’s hitting .245 against them this season, a 20-point decrease from his career average (.266). His 2017 wRC+ against lefties is 72. Seventy-two. He’s yet to take one deep, and has a .038 ISO against them this year. He hasn’t even been unlucky against them, either. Just kind of bad. He’s been especially bad at home against them, hitting .095 over 23 plate appearances. Luckily, the Red Sox outfield doesn’t necessarily need him to hit in order to keep winning, but after a great 2016, it’s been a bummer to see Young struggle.

Runner-up: The team’s power as a whole.

Best Home Run

Retire his number now.

Photo by Jasen Vinlove – USA TODAY Sports

Triple-A Pawtucket: Dayan Diaz, RHP and Mike Miller, 2B/SS

When the Red Sox signed Dayan Diaz to a minor league contract after the 2013 season, they were acquiring a pitcher seemingly on a downward movement toward irrelevance. The right-hander out of Colombia had been hit hard in the Cubs system, and with a limited arsenal of pitches appeared destined for a minor league career of being knocked around out of the bullpen. Diaz has found new life in a season and a half in the Red Sox organization, recently becoming one of Pawtucket’s most reliable relievers. On Sunday, the 25-year-old tossed his sixth-straight scoreless appearance, tossing 12.1 combined innings and dropping his ERA to 2.57 in 13 Triple-A outings.

At 5-foot-10, 190 pounds, Diaz is relatively undersized, but possesses a hard fastball that sits in the mid-90s and a plus slider with good break and swing-and-miss ability. Although he’s been used sparingly out of the bullpen, Diaz has been good for two-to-three innings most appearances. While his current scoreless streak is impressive, Diaz is still prone to allowing multiple baserunners an outing, forcing him to escape difficult situations. Given his 86.6 percent LOB%, he usually succeeds. However, Diaz has surrendered at least one hit in each of his Triple-A appearances, and his 3.64 FIP – significantly less notable than his ERA – suggests this current run he’s on may not be something he can withstand, even if there’s still good potential.

Mike Miller struggled mightily at the plate since being promoted to Pawtucket in late May. Really, it’s been a tough 2015 offensively for Miller overall. The 25-year-old had a rare productive holiday weekend, collecting three hits over two games, including a triple on Sunday, and scoring two runs. It was only the fourth time since June that Miller – a 2012 ninth-round pick out of Cal Poly – has collected hits in consecutive games, this after starting out hot upon his promotion. Given the abundance of depth and talent at the middle infield spots throughout the Sox organization, Miller would need to be outstanding to have a shot at sniffing the major leagues. He’s certainly been dependable with his glove, totaling just one error in a combined 34 games between second base and shortstop. However, with a .203 true average and an underwhelming 5-foot-9, 170-pound frame, he hasn’t done enough offensively since a solid 2014, or flashed enough potential, to convince anyone he’s primed to make a difference in the near future.

Double-A Portland: Justin Haley, RHP

If anyone can speak to a rough 2015 season, it’s Justin Haley. The righty has had a miserable year after six strong starts in Portland last season, owning a 4.01 FIP through 16 starts this season and making three to four earned runs, walks and many more hits a regular occurrence. The 2012 sixth-round pick out of Fresno State has seen his strikeouts go down and his walks increase, and he’s often struggled to make it through five innings. At 24 years old, Haley is a tall, strong pitcher, but is limited to a solid, low-to-mid 90s fastball, an average changeup and the occasional breaking ball that’s produced unspectacular results.

Despite the season-long struggles, Haley is pitching the best he has all season. He threw a five-hit shutout Sunday, going six innings and striking out six in a PawSox win. It’s the third time in his last four starts Haley has pitched a shutout and lasted six innings, and could be the start of a nice turnaround. Like most pitchers, Haley is at his best when he’s piling up strikeouts and limiting walks. That’s something he’s done effectively as of late, as he’s struck out 17 and walked four over his last three starts. Nonetheless, although he’s been a starter throughout his career, and has done it well lately, Haley seems better fit to pitch out of the bullpen long-term. He tails off as he gets later into games and his secondary stuff isn’t effective enough to last him as a regular rotation arm.

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

High-A Salem: Tzu-Wei Lin, SS

With Mauricio Dubon being promoted to High-A and Jose Vinicio still playing well, finding regular playing time for Tzu-Wei Lin will become increasingly harder. Lin is a speedy, defensive-minded shortstop whose big-league journey will go as far as his glove will take him. However, despite fringe-average contact potential, Lin is using his bat to remain a regular in the Salem lineup. The 21-year-old Taiwan native holds a .261 TAv and .334 wOBA this season, and has been especially hot of late. Lin was on a seven-game hitting streak before being held hitless Saturday, going 13-for-27 (.481) in that span. He’s making more solid contact and has seen his strikeouts drop significantly in the last two years, making the case that he could be just as effective at the plate as with his glove. His offensive numbers have actually increased with each promotion thus far.

Low-A Greenville: Joseph Monge, OF and Bryan Hudson, OF

Joseph Monge is coming off one of his strongest weeks of the season, one in which he went 10-for-21 at the plate capped off by a four-hit day on Sunday. It was an important stretch for the skinny outfielder from Puerto Rico. Monge has spent his first three years in the Red Sox organization struggling to find consistency at the plate. He’s an athletic player with good range in the outfield, but has been held back by high strikeout numbers and a lack of overall strength. Monge’s a solid contact hitter, but making contact is still an important part of the process. This season his K% sits at 22.4 percent to go with a .258 TAv. Monge has made progress as the season’s progressed, something that’ll be necessary for the 2013 17th-round pick to ascend in the organization. Perhaps last week was the start of Monge finally discovering that consistency.

It took just six games in Lowell for Bryan Hudson to get the call to Low-A Greenville. The 20-year-old started the season hot at the plate and hasn’t slowed down since. He’s collected hits in all but two of his nine games in Greenville, and rode a five-game hitting streak into Tuesday after consecutive multi-hit games. A 2015 fifth-round pick, Hudson isn’t particularly big and imposing, but he has plus speed and finds the gaps effectively. He owns .325 batting average and .406 BABIP, but with an underwhelming .271 TAv despite his success he may be due for a drop-off. What is clear is that Hudson’s defense still has a long way to go. While his speed is an asset, Hudson needs to improve on his reads in the outfield and is lacking in arm strength.

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