Guerra, Moncada power Drive romp

Yoan Moncada came to the United States with a reputation, and it looks like he's finally living up to it. Javier Guerra wasn't nearly on the same level, but in short order, he's developing quite the reputation as well.

Guerra homered twice and Moncada went 3-for-5 with a homer, double, two RBIs, a stolen base and two runs scored on Sunday to lead Class A Greenville to a 9-3 win over Asheville at McCormick Field. 

For Guerra, Sunday marked his second multi-homer game of the season -- his first came exactly one month earlier -- and pushed his total to 11 in 70 games with the Drive. That's somewhat surprising coming from a 19-year-old shortstop who entered the season with only two long balls in 111 games between the Rookie-level Dominican Summer and Gulf Coast leagues in his previous two campaigns. According to his manager, the power has been coming.

"He may be listed at 5-foot-11, 155, but he's much bigger than that," Drive manager Darren Fenster said. "He's got a fundamentally sound swing and he's got some strength there. And I'll tell you what, until he gets to two strikes, he's getting his money's worth with his swing. He's not taking defensive swings up there. Until he has to go into battle mode, he'll try to get all of it, and that's why you're seeing some pretty good power numbers."

With that in mind, Fenster said he preferred Guerra's second homer in the sixth inning to his first in the second, although that was impressive, too.

"That first was a really towering shot, a no-doubter," Fenster said. "It was high and well over the wall in right field, which is a short porch here in Asheville. But the second one I liked more because it was a line drive to right-center that also cleared the fence, which is a good 25-30 feet high. After the bomb in his first at-bat, he got right back to a middle-of-the-field approach. That's what we've been working with him on, and he was rewarded with another homer."

The left-handed-hitting shortstop entered the season with a glove-first profile. GCL Red Sox manager Tom Kotchman called Guerra "the best shortstop I've worked with in 35 years" when the club won the championship last summer, and MLB.com pegged him with above-average 60 grades for both his glove and arm in the offseason. But after Sunday's performance, he owns a .298/.349/.504 line, impressive numbers that should shoot him up prospect lists.

"I think his overall offensive approach is his biggest step forward," Fenster said. "He had a reputation of swinging at everything, including the rosin bag, the first couple years, and some teams exploited that. ... But there's been a distinct change in selectivity. He's not chasing balls, and that's put him in better position to hit."

Guerra signed with little fanfare for $250,000 out of Panama in 2012. His growth has been a pleasant player development surprise for the Red Sox .

Moncada, of course, is another story. The 20-year-old switch-hitting second baseman signed for a record $31.5 million bonus out of Cuba in March and immediately had expectations heaped upon him. He became Boston's top prospect upon signing and is listed at No. 7 overall by MLB.com. 

So when Moncada batted .200/.287/.289 with five extra-base hits in 25 games during the first half of the South Atlantic League season, it felt like a letdown, even if he was just getting acclimated to stateside ball.

He's turned a corner in the second half, as he showed Sunday. The three hits matched a season high -- the second time in five games he's reached that mark -- and give him a .355/.446/.532 line with a homer, triple and six doubles in 16 games since the All-Star break. (Overall, he's batting .263/.354/.388 in 41 games.)

The transition has been a process, but Greenville is seeing the fruits of that labor.

"He's obviously been a huge talent since the first time we saw him in Spring Training," Fenster said. "But every single thing that we preached to him was new. Combine that with the stuff in Cuba and you're taking about dealing with a whole new culture, a different approach to the game.

"The way he's played lately, he's really embraced what we've taught him and he's fallen in line with other players. ... Once he got what it's like to do the work before 7 o'clock, he put in some really good work days in. Offensively and defensively, he's put himself in position to grow, and it's because what he's done before the gates even open."

Red Sox No. 11 prospect Michael Kopech improved to 4-5 after allowing three hits over five scoreless innings. He issued four walks, fanned three and needed three double plays to escape with a zero on the board, including one with the bases loaded and no outs in the third.

"There was some 'bend but don't break' to his game today," Fenster said of the 19-year-old right-hander, who has a 2.63 ERA over 65 innings. "He needed some of those double plays, but he's got such a live arm that barreling that thing up is tough as it is. With baserunners on, he started getting in the strike zone more, and that was big."