Minor Notes: MLB rosters expand; minor league season ends

Here are Tuesday's Minor Notes:

• SoxProspects.com released its August player and pitcher of the month on Monday, giving the nod to Michael Chavis and Jhonathan Diaz. Tommy Cassell went in-depth on how they each fared in the season's final full month.
• The final day of the minor league regular season was on Monday and Trey Ball was 1 for 3  in his first set of professional plate appearances. He added a double to drive in the game-winning run. SoxProspects.com's James Dunne has the story in Monday's Cup of Coffee.
• Rafael Devers powered the Pawtucket offense on Sunday with a two-run home run as the Red Sox affiliates finished 5-2 on the penultimate day of the regular season. Bobby Dalbec tripled and Tanner Nishioka earned player of the day honors as well.
• Lowell and Greenville were both eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday as Portland was the only one of the five affiliates to earn a victory. Yasel Santana took a no-hitter into the fifth inning for the Spinners, but they were eventually shut out 5-0.
• The affiliates were swept on Friday as Pawtucket was eliminated from the wild-card race with a loss to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, despite Justin Haley throwing five innings of two-run ball.
• On Tuesday, Devers was activated from the 10-day disabled list and Brandon Phillips (pictured, top) was added to the 40-man roster and called up to the Red Sox. Phillips played 44 games in the Red Sox system between Lowell and Pawtucket, slashing .304/.348/.474 in 171 at-bats. 
• Boston's active roster stands at 35 and the full complement of players are on the 40-man roster.
• September 1 was on Saturday and major league rosters expanded from 25 slots to 40 and the Red Sox took advantage, bringing five PawSox up I-95 to Boston. Tzu-Wei Lin, Sam Travis, William Cuevas, Bobby Poyner and Robby Scott, all of whom have already made big-league contributions this season, will factor in during the stretch run.
• Boston also activated Eduardo Rodriguez, Christian Vazquez and Steven Wright from the 10-day disabled list on Saturday.
• Alberto Schmidt was suspended 76 games on Thursday for testing positive for Stanozolol, an anabolic steroid. The 21-year-old catcher slashed .208/.299/.273 in 77 at-bats for Lowell this year.
• Kevin Thomas of the Portland Press Herald wrapped the Sea Dogs' season on Saturday, a day after their final home game, with tidbits such as Tony Renda being the only member of the Sea Dogs to reach the big club this year.
• MLB Pipeline rounded up each team's Top-30 prospects that were September call-ups, including their No. 20 and SoxProspects.com's No. 23 prospect Bobby Poyner.
• Arizona Fall League rosters were announced on Thursday and Michael Chavis will be among the Red Sox headed for extra baseball. Red Sox manager Alex Cora told MLB Pipeline's Max Gelman that he needs to make up for the at-bats he missed while suspended as well as his Spring Training at-bats due to injury. 

Players of the Week

Tanner Nishioka, 3B, Greenville Drive

8 G, 29 AB, 9 H, 5 2B, 3 HR, 5 R, 12 RBI, 4 BB, 8 K, 0 SB, .310/.400/.621

Nishioka (pictured, right), unranked in SoxProspects.com's September rankings, finished the season off with a bang, leading the system with three home runs in the season's final week. The 23-year-old had a strong season in Greenville, leading qualifiers in all three slash-line categories with a .322/.401/.512 line. He also finished seventh in the Red Sox system in batting average as well as eighth in both slugging and on-base percentage.

Originally from Hawaii, he earned a hit in each of the final four games of the season against Lexington, finishing 7 for 15. He also hit a home run in each of the first three games of the series.

Jhonathan Diaz, LHP, Greenville Drive

2 G, 15 IP, 1-0, 0.60 ERA, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 10 K, 0.73 WHIP

Diaz (pictured, left) was sparkling in his final two starts of 2018, leading the system in innings and was fourth in strikeouts. He also led all pitchers that threw more than seven innings in WHIP and ERA, striking out two batters looking and just a .213 slugging percentage against. His better outing was on Sunday against Lexington, when he went seven shutout innings, scattering four hits to go along with a walk and six strikeouts.

At No. 28 in the SoxProspects.com rankings, Diaz led the system in innings (157 1/3) and was second in punchouts at 151, six behind teammate Kutter Crawford. His 1.09 WHIP was also third among pitchers with at least 75 innings.

Photo Credit: Brandon Phillips, Tanner Nishioka and Jhonathan Diaz by Kelly O'Connor

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