July 3, 2018 at 6:00 PM
June Players of the Month: Tanner Nishioka and Denyi Reyes
The month of July will be hot, but it may be a welcomed reprieve from some of the happenings, and cold harsh realities, that hit the Boston Red Sox minor league system in June, and really, this entire season so far.
To this point, the system's top two prospects in Jay Groome (out for the season due to Tommy John Surgery) and Michael Chavis (played in his first game on July 2 following an 80-game suspension), have been anything but hot, yet instead, missing in action. So, too, have been many noteworthy performances on the farm.
Still, it hasn't been that bad for everybody in the Sox system, as Tanner Nishioka (pictured, right) and Denyi Reyes (pictured, below) earned SoxProspects.com's Player and Pitcher of the Month, respectively, after compiling significant stats in Salem in June, with the former getting a call-up to Greenville on the last day of the month. Nishioka claimed the honors by being near the top in many batting categories throughout the system, earning him the promotion, while Reyes, for the second month in a row after being named Player of the Month in May, was able to continue to limit opponents to next to no earned runs.
Although Nishioka still hasn't cracked the SoxProspects.com rankings, possibly due to all the recently signed draft picks, if the 2017 ninth-round draft pick can continue to hit like he has, those days outside the top 60 are numbered. Nishioka boasted a .333/.417/.536 slash line for June with a .952 OPS.
His nine doubles were second-most on the farm for the month, and he accumulated 28 hits in 84 at-bats. And to make things even better, his month of July is off to a good start with the Drive, as the right-handed hitting infielder has a hit in each game for Greenville.
A senior draftee out of Division III Pomona-Pitzer, Nishioka has shown an ability to hit for contact and power, with two home runs last month added on as well.
As for Reyes, he had the lowest ERA in the system for pitchers that hurled 21 innings or more with a 1.20 earned-run average. In five starts, Reyes compiled 30 total innings, with four of his outings lasting six innings or more. He went 2-0 on the month with wins over Charleston and Augusta, with the latter being a six-inning, three-hit shutout supplemented by six strikeouts.
Reyes is now 6-3 on the season with a 1.91 ERA. The right-hander is faring well so far in his first year of full-season ball. After playing in the Dominican Summer League in 2015, he spent 2016 in the Gulf Coast League before heading to Lowell.
He currently is ranked No. 43 in the SoxProspects.com rankings.
Photo Credit: Tanner Nishioka & Denyi Reyes by Kelly O'Connor
Tommy Cassell is a Contributing Editor for SoxProspects.com. Follow him on Twitter at @tommycassell44.