Minor Notes: Price and Sandoval join the PawSox, Chavis stays hot

Here are Monday's minor league notes:

• There were a slew of roster moves the last few days, and Chris and Ian discussed them on the most recent episode of the SoxProspects Podcast. The guys also discussed some of the more notable players on the PawSox and also answered some mailbag questions. 

• The roster moves were highlighted by David Price and Pablo Sandoval beginning rehab assignments in Pawtucket. Price allowed three runs in two innings in his first appearance, and he is scheduled to pitch again for the PawSox on Wednesday. Sandoval is 1 for 9 over his three games, and he has yet to record a walk or a strikeout. 

• Hector Velazquez, who was signed out of the Mexican League in February, made his major league debut on Thursday, and he was hit hard by the Athletics. He gave up six runs on nine hits, including three home runs, over five innings. 

• Noe Ramirez was also called up from Pawtucket last week, and his stay ended up being a short one. He gave up two solo home runs over his three innings of relief on Saturday, and he was optioned back to Pawtucket on Sunday. Brandon Workman will be taking his place in the Boston bullpen. 

• 2016 second-round pick C.J. Chatham was activated from the disabled list after missing the first six weeks of the season with a strained hamstring. He went 1 for 3 in his first game back for Greenville but was caught stealing and was then taken out of the game. There is no word on if he re-aggravated the injury, but he was given the next two days off as well. 

• Greenville also activated Isaias Lucena from the disabled list, while Jerry Downs and Kyri Washington hit the disabled list for Greenville and Salem, respectively. 

• Austin Maddox was promoted from Portland to Pawtucket after the 26-year-old put up solid numbers out of the Portland bullpen. Maddox had a 1.35 ERA over 13 1/3 innings, walking five and striking out eight. 

• Portland temporarily lost another member of the bullpen as Ty Buttrey was placed on the temporary inactive list, and they added some reinforcements in Yankory Pimentel, who was promoted from Salem. Pimentel had a 1.54 ERA and struck out 21 batters over 23 1/3 innings for Salem.

• Tzu-Wei Lin, who has been one of the best hitters for the Sea Dogs this season, was placed on the disabled list for the second time in two weeks, and Aneury Tavarez was activated by Pawtucket after missing a week with right-hand tendinitis. 

Players of the Week: 5/15-5/21

Michael Chavis, 3B, Salem Red Sox
7 G, 31 AB, 11 H, 3 HR, 4 2B, 1 3B, 9 RBI, 7 R, 1 BB, 6 K, .355/.394/.839

Even with an 0-for-4 performance on Sunday, it was a terrific week for Chavis (pictured, above). He launched two home runs on Saturday, and he now leads the system with 10 on the season. He is hitting .346/.404/.679 in May with five home runs, while the rest of the team only has eight home runs. He is also leading the team in doubles, as his power production has been incredible all season, especially in the pitcher-friendly Carolina League. The former first-round pick is striking out in 23 percent of his at-bats this season, which is actually down from the 27 percent clip from last year.

Teddy Stankiewicz, SP, Portland Sea Dogs
2 GS, 1-1, 14 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 1.93 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 2 BB, 8 K

Stankiewicz went seven innings in both of his starts last week, highlighted by the seven shutout innings on Sunday. The right-hander has now thrown 50 innings this year with an ERA of 3.24, which is a big improvement from his ERA of 4.71 with Portland in 2016. His strikeouts per nine innings have dropped from 6.43 to 5.76 this season, but that has also come with a big improvement in his walks per nine innings, which is down to 1.80 from 2.59 last year.

Photo Credit: Michael Chavis by Kelly O'Connor

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