Red Sox promote Chavis to Pawtucket

It may have taken longer than anyone would have liked, but Michael Chavis' arrival in the International League is imminent. 
The Red Sox are promoting MLB.com's No. 98 overall prospect from Double-A Portland to Triple-A Pawtucket, the Sea Dogs announced Friday afternoon.

Chavis hit .303/.388/.508 with six homers and seven doubles during his 33-game stint with Portland this season. He leaves the club with a 12-game hitting streak, tied for the longest active run in the Eastern League.

The 23-year-old corner infielder was suspended for the first 80 games of the 2018 campaign after he testing positive for the performance-enhancing drug Dehydrochlormethyltestosterone during the offseason. He didn't return to play until July 2, when he began to ease back into action with Class A Short Season Lowell.
A first-round pick in 2014, Chavis enjoyed a breakout 2017 season. He hit a career high 31 homers, almost doubling his previous best of 16, while producing a .282/.347/.563 line over 126 games between Portland and Class A Advanced Salem. He later held his own with four homers and an .805 OPS over 23 games in the elite Arizona Fall League.
Though the positive PED test raised questions about his power, he has shown plenty of pop since returning to action -- an encouraging sign that led to his promotion to Pawtucket. Primarily a third baseman during his Minor League career, Chavis spent time at first base during last year's trip to the AFL in order to get out of the shadow of Rafael Devers. Along with playing first, he shared hot corner duties with Bobby Dalbec in his return to the Eastern League and might have to do so again, in this case with Jantzen Witte and Brandon Phillips, in Pawtucket.
The PawSox sit 7 1/2 games back in the IL Wild Card race with 11 games remaining, meaning Chavis' stay with the Triple-A club will likely be abbreviated by the offseason.