Minor Notes: Lakins, Baldwin return (& the podcast too)

Here are Thursday's minor league notes:

• SoxProspects.com Assistant Director of Scouting Chad Fiorino continued his Notes from the Field series with notes from players from spring training. Wednesday's edition focused on two pitchers in their early 20s in right-hander Roniel Raudes (pictured, right) and lefty Jhonathan Diaz. Raudes, ranked 11th in the SoxProspects.com rankings has made four starts this season for Salem with a 3.79 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 13 strikeouts to nine walks over 19 innings. Diaz, pitching for Greenville, has also made four starts and over 21 2/3 innings of work he has a worse ERA at 4.57 but better secondary numbers with a 1.20 WHIP, 21 strikeouts, and five walks.
• Do you like how former top prospect Blake Swihart has been used while up with the big league club? Yeah, Chris Hatfield and Ian Cundall don't approve either and that is just one of several topics discussed on the glorious return of the SoxProspects.com podcast after a short hiatus.
• The Red Sox system got several players back from injury this week. Travis Lakins, a 2015 6th round pick, has missed parts of his first two full professional seasons while dealing with stress fractures in his pitching elbow. The Boston Globe's Alex Speier noted Tuesday morning that he was going to be activated off the DL and pitch. While he was only able to go 2 2/3 innings, he was able to strike out three while allowing four hits without a walk. Hopefully, he can stay healthy and continue to refine his four-pitch arsenal.
• Speier also notes that the Red Sox top catching prospect, Roldani Baldwin, is scheduled to join the Salem Red Sox on Thursday after beginning the year on the DL. Don't confuse top catching prospect with being a top prospect, as Baldwin currently only sits at 33 on the SoxProspects.com list, coming off a season where he hit .274/.310/.489 with 14 home runs in 95 games in High-A as a 21-year-old. 
• The international signing period does not officially begin until July 2nd, but the top players are already being linked to teams. MLB Pipeline is reporting that the Red Sox are the favorites to sign Dominican outfielder Eduardo Lopez, who they have ranked 23 on their top-30 prospect rankings list.
• The Red Sox announced this week they have traded Roenis Elias back to Seattle in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. Elias was acquired from the Mariners with Carson Smith in December of 2015 in exchange for Jonathan Aro and Wade Miley and only ended up throwing eight major league innings while allowing 11 earned runs.

Photo Credit: Roniel Raudes by Kelly O'Connor. 

Will Woodward is a Co-Owner and Senior Staff Writer for SoxProspects.com. Follow him on Twitter @SPWill. 

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