May 2, 2019 at 12:00 PM
Minor Notes: New rankings and rehab assignments
- May has arrived, and that means that the SoxProspects.com rankings have been updated. With the top six players staying in the same slot, the most prominent move was Jarren Duran's first appearance in the top 10. He moved up four spots and is now ranked at number nine. Alex Scherff (pictured, right) moved up three slots and is now ranked 15th, and Brayan Bello made it into top 20. The biggest riser was Ryan Fitzgerald, who went from 56 to 37, while Yasel Santana saw the biggest decline, going from 44 to 57.
- To coincide with the new rankings, the new player page templates were rolled out for prospects 11-20, and the scouting reports were updated for Duran, Scherff, Bello, and Brandon Howlett.
- The main movement on the farm system the last few days has centered around rehabbing major leaguers. Eduardo Nunez started a rehab assignment on Monday night in Pawtucket, Dustin Pedroia will be beginning a rehab stint with the Sea Dogs on Thursday, and Brock Holt was recalled from his rehab assignment for the second time, this time due to shoulder soreness rather than his scratched cornea.
- Michael Chavis's impressive major league performance has been one of the lone bright spots early on in Boston's season. Baseball America updated their top 100 prospect list on Wednesday, and Chavis is now ranked at 93 overall after missing the list in the offseason.
- One of the brights spots in the Boston bullpen this season has been Marcus Walden, who is using an impressive slider to limit his opponents to a .140 batting average so far this season. Ian Browne of MLB.com gave some more background on Walden, and mentioned the name Ryan Brasier as a possible point of comparison. Walden has spent parts of 12 seasons in the minor leagues, but right now he looks very comfortable in the majors.
- Salem added Alex Demchak from Lowell, and Devon Fisher was assigned to Lowell in a paper move.
Photo Credit: Alex Scherff by Kelly O'Connor