Cup of Coffee: Kent super for Portland; Duran on fire at the dish

8/19 Cup of Coffee: A super performance from Matthew Kent (pictured, right) propelled Portland to a win while Jarren Duran extended his hit streak to seven games with Greenville. Pawtucket and Salem were both shut out while Lowell got a lift from Devlin Granberg at the plate.

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Durham Bulls (TB) 3, Pawtucket Red Sox 0

Former PawSox prospect Brandon Snyder delivered a two-run home run to break a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth after an hour and 20-minute rain delay. Starter Fernando Rodriguez Jr. got the no-decision with 3 2/3 innings of two-hit ball. The 34-year-old right-hander walked two and struck out three. Matthew Gorst took the loss after allowing the aforementioned Snyder homer.

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Cup of Coffee: Duran with 4 hits; Hernandez tosses 6 shutout frames

8/18 Cup of Coffee: Jarren Duran (pictured) was a perfect 4 for 4, headlining the offensive performances in what was a strong day with the bats for the system. Chad De La Guerra had three hits in Portland and five different Spinners turned in multi-hit outings. Darinzon Hernandez struck out nine in six shutout innings for Salem and Jhonathan Diaz did not allow an earned run in his outing as part of a 4-2 day down on the farm.

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Pawtucket Red Sox 5, Durham Bulls (TB) 3

Sam Travis drilled a two-run home run and Cole Sturgeon lifted a solo shot to make a three-run third that helped to be the difference. Sturgeon added an RBI double in the sixth and Dan Butler contributed another with a productive out. Robby Scott walked one in 1 2/3 innings of no-hit work and Travis Lakins was perfect in 1 1/3 frames to close out the ballgame, grabbing his first save in Pawtucket. Josh A Smith allowed three runs on eight hits in six innings of work in the start, striking out seven against zero walks.

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Cup of Coffee: Enmanuel De Jesus strikes out 10, Ivan De Jesus Jr. drives in 5

8/17 Cup of Coffee: There were several good pitching performances on the farm on Thursday, with Enmanuel De Jesus's (pictured) 10 strikeouts standing out above strong outings from Josh D. Smith, Daniel McGrath, and Denyi Reyes. Brandon Phillips and Pedro Castellanos stayed hot, and Ivan De Jesus Jr. drove in five runs for Pawtucket. 

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Pawtucket Red Sox 8, Durham Bulls (TB) 2

Seven one-run innings from Josh D. Smith and a grand slam from Ivan De Jesus Jr. highlighted Pawtucket's victory. Smith only allowed two hits and walked two while striking out five. Brandon Workman followed with a scoreless eighth, striking out two. The PawSox put up six runs in the first led by the grand slam as well as RBI singles from Brandon Phillips and Sam Travis. Phillips and Rusney Castillo each went 3 for 4, while Sam Travis went 2 for 4. Phillips is now hitting .359 over his last 15 games. 

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Minor Notes: Houck's arm angle & Lakins' latest win

Here are Thursday's minor league notes:

• In Tuesday's Daily Prospect Notes from Eric Longenhagen at FanGraphs, he takes a look at 2017 24th overall pick Tanner Houck (pictured, right). Longenhagen notes the Red Sox have been experimenting with different arm slots to try and maximize Houck's effectiveness. While initially they raised his arm slot, recently he has dropped back down to where it was in college, coinciding with a string of improved starts.
• Sea Dogs infielder Michael Chavis missed the first 80 games of the season due to a suspension, but he is making up for lost time as noted in the Portland Press Herald. The top-ranked player on the current SoxProspects.com rankings has hit .303/.398/.539 with 5 home runs over 24 games and 89 at-bats since joining Portland. This is a considerable improvement from the .250/.310/.492 line he posted there in 67 games last season, and at 22 years old, he is still two years younger than the average position player in the Eastern League.
• Awards continued to roll in for Chavis for his recent performances. In Monday's minor notes, Chavis won the SoxProspects.com Hitter of the Week and he also won the Eastern League Player of the Week. He added to that by also being named to MLB.com's Prospect Pipeline Team of the Week.

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Cup of Coffee: Jimenez hurls five hitless frames; Lopez drives in three

8/16 Cup of Coffee: It was an even day on the farm, as the eight affiliates went 4-4 on Wednesday. Greenville had 14 hits in the best offensive performance, with three different players having three base knocks. Up in Portland, Deiner Lopez (pictured) was 2 for 4 with three RBI in the No. 9 hole and Kleiber Rodriguez drove in three more for DSL Red Sox2, while Durbin Feltman surrendered his first run in Salem, and Lowell committed five errors in a loss.

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Norfolk Tides (BAL) 8, Pawtucket Red Sox 3

At the top of the lineup, Tzu-Wei Lin was 3 for 5 with a triple but it was not enough as Pawtucket fell on Wednesday. William Cuevas struggled with his control, walking four in five innings of work. That ended up netting the Tides four runs on nine hits. Matthew Gorst and Bobby Poyner did not do much better in relief, as each allowed a pair of runs in a pair of innings. Rusney Castillo added two hits.

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Cup of Coffee: Shawaryn and Houck fire seven strong innings

8/15 Cup of Coffee: Dominant outings from Mike Shawaryn (pictured), Kyle Hart and Tanner Houck were the highlights of the night, while Sam Travis had five hits over two games. Brayan Bello racked up more strikeouts in the DSL, four players from Lowell played in the New York-Penn League All-Star game. 

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Norfolk Tides (BAL) 4, Pawtucket Red Sox 1 (Game 1)

Chandler Shepherd struck out seven over 5 1/3 innings but he also served up two home runs as he fell to 6-8 on the season with the loss. Marcus Walden fired 1 2/3 innings of scoreless ball to keep the PawSox close but they couldn't muster up enough offense to come back. Sam Travis had the only offensive performance of note, going 3 for 3 with a double and an RBI. SoxProspects.com Director of Scouting Ian Cundall attended the game, and he noted that Travis is looking much more comfortable at the plate, and that carried forward to the second game of the doubleheader.

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Cup of Coffee: Crawford on cutting edge, Bazardo gets bad luck

8/14 Cup of Coffee: With the PawSox getting rained out and Portland having the night off, Salem was the top affiliate in action on Monday and Kutter Crawford (pictured, left) and Jerry Downs combined to put on a show at Haley Toyota Field. The former picked up his first win in a Salem uniform while the latter blasted a three-run home run. Eduard Bazardo pitched well like Crawford, but the Greenville right-hander didn't get any support in a no-decision and Drive loss. Alex Scherff made his second appearance on a rehab assignment with the GCL Red Sox. 

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Pawtucket Red Sox, Norfolk Tides (BAL) PPD
Monday night's game between the PawSox and Tides was postponed due to rain and inclement weather. The contest will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Tuesday, starting at 5:05 p.m.

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Salem Red Sox 7, Carolina Mudcats (MIL) 4

In his second start with Salem, 2017 16th round draft pick Kutter Crawford picked up his first win in a Salem Red Sox uniform, firing five strong innings of four-hit, one-run ball while striking out seven. After a tough-luck loss in his first Salem start on Aug. 8, when the right-hander tossed six innings of three-run ball with seven strikeouts, the 22-year-old Crawford got a little help from his teammates on Monday.

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Minor Notes: Cuevas gets the call, Chavis continues to mash

Here are Monday's minor league notes:

• Ian Cundall, Director of Scouting for SoxProspects.com, and Chris Hatfield, Executive Editor of SoxProspects.com, caught up on our latest podcast -- despite Cundall's silent protest -- on the Ian Kinsler trade, recent promotions, our August rankings and what exactly is a prospect? Be sure to give it a listen.   
• Cundall also recently updated the scouting reports on Greenville right-hander Eduardo Bazardo, Lowell outfielders Tyler Dearden and Tyler Esplin, and Lowell infielder Andre Colon. Check them out by clicking here. 
• William Cuevas (pictured, top left) earned a quick promotion on Saturday, tossing an inning of relief in Boston's second game of a doubleheader with the Orioles. After pitching two innings of one-run ball earlier this season for the Red Sox, Cuevas walked two and struck out one in the scoreless inning of relief in the Red Sox' win on Saturday. The right-hander has a 3.45 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 102 strikeouts over 117 1/3 innings with Pawtucket this season and is currently the 56th ranked prospect.   
• Since his promotion to Portland, third baseman and sixth-ranked prospect Bobby Dalbec hasn't skipped a beat. Dalbec is now tied for the most home runs in the minor leagues this year with his 31st homer coming in the Sea Dogs' win over the RubberDucks on Sunday. In 33 at-bats for Portland, Dalbec is hitting .364 with five home runs and 11 RBI.
  

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Cup of Coffee: Dalbec and Chavis slug away, Swihart begins rehab

8/13 Cup of Coffee: The dynamic duo of Michael Chavis and Bobby Dalbec showcased their prodigious power once more, stealing the headlines from a rehabbing Blake Swihart and several excellent long relief stints as Red Sox affiliates won 3-of-5 contests. Also shining were starters Jonathan Diaz and Matthew Kent, while Jantzen Witte continued his improved form. Lowell witnessed another washout in the second game of a doubleheader caused by Saturday's rain, while both rookie leagues were off. 

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Pawtucket Red Sox 9, Indianapolis Indians (PIT) 5

The PawSox overcame a 5-0 deficit through three innings by scoring nine unanswered runs, thanks in large part to a six-run explosion in the seventh. Jantzen Witte and Mike Miller each had run-scoring singles in the frame as part of three-hit days as part of a 15-hit performance from Pawtucket. Tzu-Wei Lin had a double and two walks as Sam Travis and Kyle Wren joined in on the two-bagger brigade. Since returning from an injury that prevented a big-league stint, Lin is 7 for 12 in three games, upping his OPS by almost 50 points. 

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Cup of Coffee: Phillips key for PawSox, Reyes dazzles for five frames

8/12 Cup of Coffee: A big night from Brandon Phillips (pictured, left) played a key role in a comeback victory for the PawSox. Portland, Salem, and Greenville all lost close, low-scoring contests, as Teddy Stankiewicz and Denyi Reyes both pitched well in the losses for the former two, respectively. Marino Campana hit a home run in the Drive's loss while rain suspended or postponed Lowell's and the GCL Red Sox' games.  

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Pawtucket Red Sox 3, Indianapolis Indians (PIT) 2

Trailing 2-0 with nine outs remaining, the PawSox scored once in the seventh and twice in the eighth to come from behind and beat the Indians. The victory marks the third straight series win for Pawtucket. Brandon Phillips sparked the comeback, hitting a leadoff double in the seventh before scoring on a Josh Ockimey RBI single. Phillips added a single in the eighth. Overall, the veteran infielder went 3 for 4 with two doubles. Phillips is 8 for 16 with six doubles over the course of his last six games with Pawtucket.  Tzu-Wei Lin put together a second straight multi-hit performance, going 2 for 4 with a run and RBI on the heels of a 4-for-5 showing a day earlier.

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Cup of Coffee: Lin gets four hits, Dalbec hits go-ahead single

8/11 Cup of Coffee: It was a strong night offensively on the farm, while the pitching was up and down. Tzu-Wei Lin (pictured) led the way for the PawSox with four hits, while Michael Chavis continued his recent hot streak for the Sea Dogs. Salem and Greenville each had numerous players hit well, while Lowell's pitching was outstanding in a shutout victory. 

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Pawtucket Red Sox 3, Indianapolis Indians (PIT) 2

Several players had strong offensive performances, but Tzu-Wei Lin stood out above the rest with his 4-for-5 night. Two of the hits were doubles and he also scored a run as he raised his average to .327. Tony Renda added three hits while stealing a base and Sam Travis belted an opposite-field home run. 

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2018 Donation Drive - We Need Your Help!

Dear readers,

We're asking for your help to raise $8,000 to keep SoxProspects.com up and running for another year. We have kept the site 100% free for almost 15 years now, and we hope to do so for the foreseeable future. As we scout dozens of games first-hand each year, travel costs pile up. Our other costs to run the site often go up on an annual basis as well, and our ad revenue only covers a portion of those costs. So we're reaching out to the community for donations to help us keep the site going. Donations help cover site costs in two primary areas: (1) first-hand coverage travel costs for scouting and player columns; and (2) general IT costs (hardware, software, internet costs, hosting fees, etc.).

Your donations help us travel to Fort Myers in March to cover spring training and in the fall to cover the Instructional League each year, which are vital to get “one-stop shopping” for prospects across the system at levels we can’t see regularly. They also help cover the costs of travelling to affiliate games for regular first-hand coverage. We anticipate that our total costs will exceed $15,000 in 2018. While we may cover roughly half that from online advertising revenue, your donations help us ensure we can cover those costs in order to keep the site going.

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Podcast Ep. #143 - Ian might be silent about it

It's August, and the Red Sox are rolling. Chris and Ian break down the Kinsler trade. Now that the trade deadline has passed, the Sox are promoting prospects. Ian saw a few of the new guys at Pawtucket and reports on how they look. The guys throw down over what kinds of minor league players should be classified prospects. Should a 30-year-old journeyman minor leaguer be ranked alongside a 16-year-old Venezuelan amateur? Let us know your thoughts by dropping us a line. Speaking of your mail, Chris and Ian wrap up the show by opening the mailbag and answering your questions.

Listen in!

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Cup of Coffee: Chavis, Dalbec blast two homers apiece

8/10 Cup of Coffee: While the system's former valedictorian was hitting for the cycle up in Toronto, its two biggest power bats were leading the Sea Dogs. With two homers each, Bobby Dalbec (pictured) reached 30 homers on the season with nearly four weeks remaining and Michael Chavis continued his torrid stretch. Fellow hot hitters Pedro Castellanos and Jarren Duran led the way in Greenville's romp, and Mike Shawaryn paced Pawtucket's victory. Salem had the only loss among stateside affiliates, with Tanner Houck turning in an uneven but encouraging outing.

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Pawtucket Red Sox 6, Louisville Bats (CIN) 2

Mike Shawaryn turned in a solid start to pick up his first Triple-A victory. The former Maryland Terrapin allowed two runs on four hits in five innings, striking out seven and walking four. Shawaryn was backed by a 13-hit attack by the offense, led by the three hits off the bat of Jantzen Witte. Josh Ockimey ripped his first double since last week's promotion, giving him hits in 10 straight games across two levels. Rusney Castillo picked up his 27th double of the year as part of another two-hit night. 

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Minor Notes: Devers makes a pit stop in Lowell, Scherff begins a rehab stint

Here are Thursday's minor league notes:

• There was plenty of movement in the minors this week, with the biggest news being Rafael Devers seeing time in Lowell. Devers hit a mammoth home run on Monday in his only rehab appearance and the Red Sox activated him on Wednesday. Tony Renda, who scored the winning run against the Yankees on Sunday night, was optioned to Pawtucket. 

• 14th-ranked prospect Alex Scherff has been on the disabled list since June 13 with an intercostal strain, but he started a rehab assignment with the GCL Red Sox on Wednesday, throwing two innings of one-run ball. 

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