Weekly Notes: Red Sox win GCL title, Castillo debuts

Here are this week's minor league notes: 

• The GCL Red Sox took home the Gulf Coast League title Monday with an 8-1 victory over the GCL Yankees 1. Michael Chavis, the Red Sox first round pick in the June draft, and Javier Guerra hit one home run each in the game. It was Chavis' first of the season and Guerra's second. Chavis went 1 for 5 in the game with three RBI.  

• 
  Rusney Castillo made his debut within the Red Sox organization Sunday in the Gulf Coast League final. He went 1 for 2 in the game and was caught stealing. Tim Britton of The Providence Journal recorded a video of his first professional at-bat, which was a single. 

• Two Red Sox pitching prospects were named Most Valuable Pitchers of their leagues last week: Anthony Ranaudo for the International League and Henry Owens for the Eastern League.

• Ranaudo, 24, has spent the last month or so shuttling between Boston and Pawtucket. In 24 starts for the PawSox, Ranaudo posted a 2.61 ERA and 1.20 WHIP and struck out 111 batters across 138 innings. He's held opposing hitters to just a .223 batting average, the lowest in the league. It was the second stellar season in a row for Ranaudo, who won the Eastern League Most Valuable Pitcher award while pitching for Portland in 2013.

• Owens, 22, is now pitching for Pawtucket, but spent the majority of the season with the Portland Sea Dogs in Double-A. In 20 starts for Portland, Owens posted a 2.60 ERA and 1.12 WHIP across with 121 innings. He also posted 126 strikeouts, which still leads the league even though he hasn't thrown a Double-A inning since July. Owens established a number of records while pitching for Portland: he threw 27.2 consecutive scoreless innings from May 19 to June 14, tossed nine straight wins from May 24 to July 19, and owns a franchise-record ERA of 2.44 in 26 career appearances. In six starts for Pawtucket, Owens has posted a 4.03 ERA and 1.16 WHIP. He has 44 strikeouts in 38 innings. 

• The Red Sox announced their selections to join the Arizona Fall League this week. Six players will play for the Suprise Sagueros. The group is headlined by infielders Deven Marrero and Sean Coyle. Marrero, 23, has spent the season between Pawtucket and Portland. Known for his glove, Marrero progressed offensively this season while in Portland, but struggled a bit playing for Pawtucket. Coyle, 22, has had an excellent year for Portland. He's hit .299/.376/.506 in 90 games.  He's missed some time with injuries this season. 

• The Red Sox acquired minor league infielders Jemile Weeks and Ivan De Jesus this weekend from the Baltimore Orioles for infielders Michael Almanzar and Kelly Johnson.  De Jesus, 27, has hit .282/.358/.389 over 469 at-bats for Baltimore's Triple-A affiliate. Weeks, 27, has hit .280/.392/.391 in 207 at-bats. 

• Portland Sea Dogs starting pitcher Brian Johnson and infielder Mike Miller were named the SoxProspects.com Players of the Week for their performances from Aug. 18 to Aug. 24. Johnson yielded one hit, one run and two walks through seven innings. Miller was 10 for 20 with two home runs. 

• Matt Barnes went seven innings and struck out 10 batters in his most recent start against the Syracuse Sky Chiefs. The outing was the fourth straight and fifth in six starts where Barnes pitched into the seventh inning, a good development for Barnes who has struggled with pitch efficiency. In those six starts, Barnes has struck out 38 in 41 2/3 innings and yielded only 10 walks. Brian MacPherson of the The Providence Journal said Barnes has taken a little off his fastball to help his efficiency.

• MacPherson writes that Pawtucket infielder Garin Cecchini is progressing defensively in the infield, but that he "still has a long way to go," according to PawSox coach Bruce Crabbe. 

Photo Credit: Rusney Castillo by ESPNBoston.com. 

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