October 7, 2019 at 1:00 PM
Fall/Winter League Roundup: Houck leads strong pitching performances
While the Dominican Winter League and Mexican Pacific League are set to kick off later this week, the Arizona Fall League remains the lone Fall/Winter League currently in action. It was a quiet week for Red Sox position players as both Jarren Duran and CJ Chatham cooled off from their red hot starts to the campaign, and Marcus Wilson remained absent from the Javelinas lineup. It was an entirely different story on the mound however as Tanner Houck's dominant start headlined a strong week of performances from the Red Sox representatives on the Peoria staff. To view the full list of Red Sox prospects participating in fall & winter leagues, check out our Fall & Winter Leagues pages, which will be updated continuously through January. This week's roundup covers the period up to October 7.
Arizona Fall League
Heading into the week with a sterling .348 batting average, Jarren Duran cooled off significantly this week. the speedy outfielder went just 3 for 19, striking out twice and adding just a single walk across five games. It wasn't all negative for Duran, who managed to collect two extra-base hits with a pair of doubles. It was an up and down week at the plate for CJ Chatham, who notched all three of his hits in Peoria's shootout victory over Salt River on October 5th. Chatham ended the week 3 for 11 with no walks and three strikeouts but did manage to notch his fourth double of the season.
Coming off of an ugly start against Surprise Tanner Houck was pitching like someone with something to prove and put in his strongest start of the campaign thus far. The right-hander scattered three hits across four dominant innings in which he struck out eight batters and allowed just a pair of walks. Yoan Aybar was the lone Red Sox pitcher to appear in multiple games this week and had the dubious honor of being the only representative to allow a run as well. Aybar allowed just a solo home run in his two innings pitched, his first earned run of the season. Jhonathan Diaz put in a strong performance in his lone appearance out of the 'pen, as he fired 1 2/3 scoreless innings and struck out a pair. Bryan Mata rounded out the strong showing by allowing just a single walk in his 1 1/3 inning appearance out of the bullpen.
Photo Credit: Tanner Houck by Kelly O'Connor