Minor Notes: The system struggles; major league reinforcements soon to arrive

Here are Monday's minor notes:

• Tyler Thornburg, who has yet to pitch for Boston since being acquired in Dec. 2016, is almost ready to don a Red Sox uniform after a long recovery from thoracic outlet syndrome. The Providence Journal's Bill Koch has the rundown on what the right-hander's timeline is.

• Many Red Sox top prospects have either been missing time or have taken a step back in a rough start to 2018 for all four full-season affiliates. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe outlined exactly what the system has been going through early on.

• Joining Thornburg in Rhode Island will be Dustin Pedroia, who is working back from knee surgery. They will both be in Pawtucket starting Monday, according to Koch.

• Earning an aggressive placement at Double-A Portland in his second full season, Mike Shawaryn (pictured, right) has been pitching well. Kevin Thomas of the Portland Press Herald profiled the 23-year-old on Sunday.

• Shawaryn's teammate Cole Sturgeon has been hitting so far in his fourth season playing at the Double-A level, slashing .365/.421/.579 headed into Sunday. Thomas discussed his position with players like Rusney Castillo and Anuery Tavarez blocking his path.
• Jim Rice of the Greenville News wrote about Greenville's struggle with the limit of mound visits and the ambiguity surrounding what is a mound visit and what isn't.
• The Salem Red Sox drew their biggest crowd in franchise history as 8,856 came through the gates on Saturday, but they suffered an 18-1 drubbing at the hands of Lynchburg. Brian Gardner has the story.
• ESPN's Keith Law gave his top 20 busts of the 2008 MLB Draft in honor of its 10-year anniversary and Casey Kelly, who was traded in Dec. 2010 in the Adrian Gonzalez deal, was No. 20 on the list.
• Law also redrafted the first round and current Red Sox Craig Kimbrel was slated No. 4 overall. Boston 'selected' Bryan Shaw, who was selected in the second round by Arizona out of Long Beach State and is currently a reliever with the Chicago White Sox.
• MLB.com's Jim Callis mock-drafted the first round of the 2018 MLB Draft and the Red Sox end up with Clemson first baseman Seth Beer.

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Players of the Week

Luke Tendler, OF, Portland

7 G, 19 AB, 8 H, 1 HR, 5 R, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 5 K, .421/.500/.632

The 26-year-old (pictured, left), who was acquired in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 Draft last December from Texas, had three multi-hit efforts in seven games last week. His best outing came at home against Binghamton on Thursday, as he hit 2 for 3 with a home run, three RBI and a pair of runs scored. He led the system in batting average, was second in on-base percentage and third in slugging percentage.

Before this week, Stedler was hitting only .182 but increased his batting average up to .240 on the year. He did well at High-A in 2016, but only slashed .245/.315/.405 in 113 games at Double-A Frisco in 2017. This is his second season at the Double-A level and as the weather has gotten warmer, he is hitting better, as he is hitting .290 in his last 10 games.



Mike Shawaryn, RHP, Portland
1 GS, 7 IP, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 H, 1 BB, 8 K, 0.57 WHIP

Tendler's teammate in Shawaryn is the pitcher of the week after a dazzling performance against New Hampshire. He pitched seven shutout innings, giving up only three hits in a game that was close until the ninth inning. He walked only one batter and struck out eight. His start was his longest of 2018 and he also had a season-high in strikeouts. His effort also merited mention on Baseball America's Prospect Hot Sheet.

Shawaryn is only in his second full season of pro ball and is already at the Double-A level, giving his best performance to date. His last outing lowered his ERA to 2.88 and his WHIP to 1.02. He has struck out 29 batters to only eight walks in 34 1/3 innings. Half of his walks have come in one start on May 4 against Hartford.

Photo Credit: Mike Shawaryn and Luke Stedler by Kelly O'Connor

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