Minor Notes: Top prospect Groome to get Tommy John surgery

Here are Thursday's minor league notes:

• Top-ranked prospect Jason Groome (pictured, right) will undergo Tommy John surgery and will miss the rest of the season. Sean McAdam of Boston Sports Journal had the news first. It's been a tough past two years for the prized left-hander, as Groome started the season on the disabled list with an elbow strain after an impressive spring training. The 19-year-old spent most of last season on the DL with an intercostal strain and flexor strain, throwing only 55 innings in 2017. He's started just 15 games in the Sox system after being selected with the 12th overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft. 
• Steve Adams of mlbtraderumors.com says the injury "saps some of Groome's trade value, lessening the possibility that he could be used to acquire a key piece in trades hit summer" if the Red Sox were open to dealing their top-pitching prospect.
• It has been a rough go of things for SoxProspects.com's top-two prospects with Groome now having season-ending surgery and Portland third baseman Michael Chavis currently serving an 80-game suspension following a failed PED test. As SoxProspects.com's Director of Scouting Ian Cundall said on Twitter, with Groome and Chavis out of action, Salem right-handed pitcher Bryan Mata is now the top-ranked prospect in uniform in the Sox system.
  
• Jalen Beeks was the tough-luck loser on Wednesday in the PawSox' 3-0 loss to Lehigh Valley. Beeks saw his ERA raise .01 on Wednesday to 1.72 overall on the season, pitching five innings of four-hit ball and allowing only one run. He added six strikeouts to give him an impressive total of 52 on the season in six starts. He's also issued just eight walks in 31.1 innings of work. 
• Steven Wright made his first rehab appearance for Pawtucket on Tuesday with his 15-game suspension for domestic violence up next week. The 33-year-old knuckleballer allowed a run in his first inning of work, but settle down and finished with five straight scoreless frames. In all, Wright gave up one run on eight hits in six innings, striking out one without issuing a walk. Wright was used in a relief role since the right-hander may be used in that capacity when he is called up to the Red Sox, barring any extended absence from David Price or another Sox starter. 
  
• On Tuesday, CJ Chatham (pictured, left) was promoted from Greenville to High-A Salem and made his debut with the Red Sox as the designated hitter in a 10-2 loss to the Winston-Salem Dash. Chatham grounded out in each of his three at-bats on Tuesday before getting his first hit with Salem, a single to shortstop, in the first inning of a 10-8 loss to the Dash on Wednesday. The 2016 second round draft pick hit .307 in 19 games with the Drive. 
• After opening the season on the disabled list, Travis Lakins has impressed so far in three outings with Portland, striking out 13 batters in nine innings of work. On Wednesday, he earned our Cup of Coffee Player of the Day honors, and a great line from SoxProspects.com contributing editor James Dunne. Dunne wrote, "We don't often give Player of the Day honors for a pitcher who goes only three innings, but pitchers don't usually shut down a white-hot Vlad Guerrero Jr. and his All-Star band of legacies." The Fisher Cats also boast the son of former major leaguer (and Red Sox) Dante Bichette in Bo Bichette. Lakins opened the year on the shelf with an elbow injury after the same injury ended his 2017 season. The 23-year-old right-hander made 15 starts and had a combined ERA of 4.21 between Salem and Portland last season. 
• Are you a Fortnite fan? The popular video game has swept the nation by storm, and the big-league club finds itself amidst all the hoopla. Dakota Randall of Nesn.com writes about how the bug has bitten the Boston Red Sox clubhouse.   

Photo Credit: CJ Chatham by Kelly O'Connor

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