Groome has yet to pitch. Duran appeared in the first two games and Fitzgerald only in the first 3 before reappearing last night.
So, Does anyone know where can I find news on these guys and other day to day goings on in the farm system? The teams sites do not to a good job if this sort of thing. Google returns very little.
btw, Fitzgerald is doing everything in his power to make the Sox look silly for keeping Arauz. 3 HRs in his first 3 games, disappears for 5 days and then comes back and hits another. .571 BA after 4 total games. Nice start.
Young Duran is out with Covid, a positive case.
Found a few articles on this site: https://www.overthemonster.com/red-sox-minors (https://www.overthemonster.com/red-sox-minors)
And also on this one: http://news.soxprospects.com/ (http://news.soxprospects.com/)
Thanks for the links! thumb_u
One more bit on the following the minor league baseball front. I got an offer via email yesterday from MLB. MLB subscribers can pay an extra $25 and get MiLB games. Kewl!!! I did it. Oughta be fun once in a while. thumb_u
Mongo, the milb viewing could be interesting. To some degree, maybe a large degree, Bloom has set up the 2022 season in Boston as a bridge to Casas, Winchowski, Seabold, Duran (??), even Murphy, Bello and Walter from AA. The last three would need epic years to make MLB any time in 2023.
I used to always get the rare MiLB games they had on TV but now they're apparently subject to blackouts. Hell of a way to grow the sport.
Quote from: longgame on April 26, 2022, 12:12:56 PM
I used to always get the rare MiLB games they had on TV but now they're apparently subject to blackouts. Hell of a way to grow the sport.
MLB blacks out a lot of games the past couple of years and it makes me wonder just how these ball clubs and the baseball channel are in cahoots to screw the viewer out of some prime time fun. They seem to have a lot of Dodger games scheduled on MLB T V out here in Southern California but you get the "blacked out" BS verbiage on the screen. You wonder if MLB could put another game on instead of just telling the fans to shine it on. Then, again, I could turn to the Dodgers channel and get bored to death listening to those two dry wits they put in the announcer's booth.
I picked up a schedule for the AAA Charlotte Knights today. Apparently whether its to reduce costs or for Covid reasons, the schedule is 6 games at home against the the same team, followed by 6 games on the road at one other team's stadium. One effect is that teams in different divisions only have 6 games with each other so in the case of the Knights, they only play Worcester 6 games in a row and none in Charlotte.
I am amazed how the powers that be in professional baseball manage to screw up everything.
The blackout are all about protecting the local markets for their TV contracts. That's a huge source of revenue, and those stations need to be able to sell subscriptions and cable contracts and crap. Do I agree with it? Hell to the know. I'm in Baltimore's and Washington National's local zone. Nobody gives a crap about either of them here in Raleigh, NC. BUT, thanks to a tip given here, I got me the IPTV and a streaming service that mitigates all that crap for $110 per year. PLUS I get all Patriots games. Thanks Longgame!!!
Oh, that covid thing and reduced travel was supposed to be the impetus for the 6 games in a city thing. They increased the travel some, but kept the 6 game thing for this year. I wonder if it will continue.
That wasn’t me but I may look into it. With DirectTV I get all the games, just have to watch the opposing team broadcast. I imagine we have the same restrictions in Charlotte which also includes Atlanta and for some reason Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.
Might have been markj, maybe? At any rate, the service is Uzzo TV and you need to get a streaming app for it, which for me was the IPTV for some stupid low price. Maybe $100 a year for the streaming service and another $15 for the app. I got it because I was sick of not seeing any Sox/Orioles games for over a decade and then the Sox played the National's.
The big kicker for me was that the local cable did not carry the Baltimore/DC sports channel because they wanted to be a premium required like TBS or something, not a premium add on. They carry some ACC games, so thought they were a big dea? Regardless, I had zero way to get those games in a legal manner until I learned of this a day after the season ended.
Getting all the Pats and Washington Football Team(for my wife) was worth the price of admission.
Some fun on the farm.
A kid named Nick Northcut down in Greenville is off to an interesting start. In 24 games, he has a 3-1 strike out to Home ratio. (LOL) He strikes out a lot. Makes Dalbec's numbers last year look like he was Wade Boggs. That also means this kid's got 13 dingers so far. Not bad for 24 games into a season for any league.
I don't if 3 is good or bad, but I had to look it up and Dalbec is Ks to HR! Just looked up JF Martinez is a 4.8 so I think the magic on this kid is in the denominator!
I'm sure that's not a stat. It happened to catch my eye. 13 home runs in 24 games so far was the big thing that caught my attention. Not sure I would have even seen that if he did not homer last night and saw it in the box score.
Ill throw in Franchy as a MinorLeaguer, or as some call them AAAA players. Since he became a starter, he is 4 walks and 2 Ks. I looked at the box the other night, he was 0 for 0 with 3 walks (Dalbec played 1st in the 9th.)
In other news, Brayan Bello got his ticket punched to Worcester. Here's to hoping we don't start screwing with him. thumb_u
Good news on Bello. He just turned 23. With Bloom clearing the decks and not extending Eovaldi, will Bello get a shot in Boston late '23? AJ Politi also promoted to Wooster.
My baseball watching has changed. Laptop on the coffee table full-screening the highest level 'sox minor league game and the big TV showing the Red Sox. Takes some getting used to with balls and strikes and how many outs each game as at any given moment. Still fun, though.
Bello looked off with control last night, but still pitched 6 giving up 2 runs on 6 hits and a walk while striking out 10. At least I THINK he was off. Laid a few meatballs out there to be smashed in the 2-3 innings worth that I saw. Big leaguers would have eaten him up just like they did with Eovaldi the night before when he grooved some pitches.
Fitzgerald, Duran are that team right now, especially with Casas out (day to day ankle). Fitzgerald and Duran would light an energy fire under the big league club. No clue if either can play RF worth a hoot thought Fitzgerald played there last night. I think they were working out Fitzgerald at 1B recently. No SB, but it seemed like he ran well. Kind of reminds me of a cross between Brock Holt and the Spaniard swordsman in the Princess Bride movie. They are fun to watch. Duran hit a pop up double. always fun.
Quote from: MongoLikeSox on May 19, 2022, 11:01:50 AM
My baseball watching has changed. Laptop on the coffee table full-screening the highest level 'sox minor league game and the big TV showing the Red Sox. Takes some getting used to with balls and strikes and how many outs each game as at any given moment. Still fun, though.
Bello looked off with control last night, but still pitched 6 giving up 2 runs on 6 hits and a walk while striking out 10. At least I THINK he was off. Laid a few meatballs out there to be smashed in the 2-3 innings worth that I saw. Big leaguers would have eaten him up just like they did with Eovaldi the night before when he grooved some pitches.
Fitzgerald, Duran are that team right now, especially with Casas out (day to day ankle). Fitzgerald and Duran would light an energy fire under the big league club. No clue if either can play RF worth a hoot thought Fitzgerald played there last night. I think they were working out Fitzgerald at 1B recently. No SB, but it seemed like he ran well. Kind of reminds me of a cross between Brock Holt and the Spaniard swordsman in the Princess Bride movie. They are fun to watch. Duran hit a pop up double. always fun.
Our problem in RF is not defense; it is some kind of hitting prowess with Bradley and his 189 average and NO homers doesn't solve. We lost Renfroe through an utterly moronic trade to get back John Henry's pet Bradley and we get nothing from that bum offensively, neither hits or power. Duran should be given a shot at CF and GOD DAMN IT KEEP HIM THERE and put Hernandez in RF or left and Verdugo switched to right. Fitzgerald would be an improvement over French Fry who has shown no power whatsoever. We need a spark and Bradley and Frenchy do not give it to us. Bloom has really screwed this team up with his dumpster diving, stupid trades and just plain ineptness. If this miserable season continues he should be fired immediately after the campaign.
Fred, I think we'll be talking about that trade for years. I just hope there's some positive other than tied for 2nd in defensive runs saved. sigh
Speaking of Minor League and such, Fitzgerald has played multiple games at 5 positions while hitting .312 and 9HRs. Arauz is hitting .162. Aurauz has only K'd 5 times in 40 plate appearances, though. One of them was last night with what might be the worst umpire I've seen not named Angel Hernandez. The guy was so awful that a SWB player named Guzman was still fuming about his previous at bat after reaching base with a Single in the 9th, he started yelling at the Home Plate Umpire and got himself ejected. It was funny as hell. Not sure I've ever seen that.
Where do you watch the Minor league games, on that service you mentioned before?
I was texting my brother in law earlier. My mother in law's maiden name was Bello but they are from Puerto Rico, not the DR, but we were joking we'll have to hit up our "cousin" for tickets. BTW, my wife's maiden name was Martin and she always told people she was a cousin of Ricky Martin! ;D
I've got the MLB package already, so through that, I was able to get the MiLB package for an extra $25 or something. it's mostly just feeds for the lower levels. Worcester games look like full productions. I just mute the volume when watching both games.
Casas replacement is a big dude that has had an interesting journey. He looked like he was on the brink of greatness putting up a couple 30HR/105RBI/.305 2018-2019 and then a monster 2020 season with a Korean team during the Pandemic, a couple of injuries and now trying to latch on at the age of 28(?) with Tristan Casas in his way. He hit an opposite field walk off HR while down a run last night. Fun to watch.
A couple more observations from some minor league watching.
Finally getting some Greenville Drive watching time in. There was this one kid with a SWEET, tight RH swing. Come to fins out, it was Nick Yorke. I can see why they got him early in the draft. The AB was an out, too. Easy power to r-center wall.
Meanwhile in Worcester, Pop-ups and Fitzgerald are as nerve-wracking as it gets for watching defense.
I'm not a fan of that pitch clock thing.
Interesting, you'd think they'd make the MiLB games as available as possible. They can't be raking in too much with that package.
I've always wanted to go down to Greenville for a game. It's just a bit far for a down and back for a MiLB game, but there's some good hiking not far from there!
I like the idea of the pitch clock but it seems the pitch-com system is shortening the time for some guys.
It was too much. That Pitchcom thing seems to take care of much of the problem. Nicer flow now. i didn't like seeing a ball-4 called because the clock zeroed out. It put a runner into scoring position, too. Thassa hard pass for me.
I don't like that either. Good point. It's interesting because sometimes I'll record a game if I can't get to it in time and my TV has a 30 second fast forward. Most times if you get it just as the batter swings the pitcher has already thrown or is about to throw the next pitch. Some guys are still farting around on every pitch.
Has anyone seen stats on game times this year because they feel like they're coming down.
Back to the Greenville Drive, a nice promo today by a writer for Alex Binelas. Hit his 10th homer over the weekend and is second for homers in the Sox organization. His walk rate is about 20% so far. Sox seem to be lacking power bats in the minors, other than Casas, Fitzgerald and Northcut.
Binelas was the big stick in that JBJ/Renfroe deal. The other part of that was a speed demon IF with 17 sb in 34 games so far. Hi batting average has been in a decline for a bit IIRC.
On the flip side of the game, look at the pitching prospects. We've chatted a bit about Bello, Seabold and Wincowski. Jay Groome might have finally turned a corner along with a couple mid-rounders down in Portland that have climbed the ranks this past year named Chris Murphy and Brandon Walter. Thad Ward and Bryan Mata are on the rebound trail.
It could get even more interesting if Noah Song gets his permission to play from the military. I think the earliest eligible is coming up soon, though I'm not sure he's chomping at the bit to do so. imagine Trader Joe's legacy growing upwards if that turned into the draft coup that it could be?
I don't recall a group of arms coming up for Boston ever, though I was out of touch in the mid-late 80's when Tudor, Ojeda, Hurst and Oil Can Boyd were carrying the Rocket's luggage back in the day.
I'll put this in minor league talk as Win how ski is probably headed back to AAA this week.
Some observations I've seen on his start on Saturday. He pitched three innings, I think credited with 4 runs. He was throwing 92-93 and a couple pitches reached 96. His downfall, he has only two pitches and didn't have good control of those. So that puts him in the bullpen at MLB level until he can develop a third pitch that is a minimum for MLB starters. I don't think he figures in the '22 Sox long term, unless they want to restock the bullpen like they've done with Kutter.
In what seems like a rebuilding year might be coming up, this is a bio of the 20+ trades Bloom has made in his three years, and where they are. Downs, Binelas, Hamilton, German, a lot of others. His MLB draft and international guys are still a couple years off from helping Boston, like the Greenville Drive guys, Lugo and Rafaela.
Casas should be ready this year whenever he recovers from a high ankle sprain that will sideline him for a few weeks. Pitching wise, Brayan Bello is projecting as a good MLB talent. Groome is still up and down, getting exposed by the Yankees AAA club last week. Winchowski and Kutter Crawford need more work in AAA to be more than just bull pen arms in MLB.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/boston-red-sox-have-traded-for-more-than-20-prospects-under-chaim-bloom-how-are-jeter-downs-alex-binelas-others-doing/ar-AAXXn1V?ocid=uxbndlbing
Quote from: Sea Dog 23 on May 30, 2022, 10:06:59 AM
I'll put this in minor league talk as Win how ski is probably headed back to AAA this week.
Some observations I've seen on his start on Saturday. He pitched three innings, I think credited with 4 runs. He was throwing 92-93 and a couple pitches reached 96. His downfall, he has only two pitches and didn't have good control of those. So that puts him in the bullpen at MLB level until he can develop a third pitch that is a minimum for MLB starters. I don't think he figures in the '22 Sox long term, unless they want to restock the bullpen like they've done with Kutter.
Yeah, I agree on that for the most part. Hard not to. He's a control pitcher and didn't have control. Had to have been a nerves thing, I think.
One difference so far that I've noticed after watching some woosox games is that the pitchers seem to get away with more mistakes. Not always, of course, but enough.
Quote from: Sea Dog 23 on June 01, 2022, 06:50:04 AM
In what seems like a rebuilding year might be coming up, this is a bio of the 20+ trades Bloom has made in his three years, and where they are. Downs, Binelas, Hamilton, German, a lot of others. His MLB draft and international guys are still a couple years off from helping Boston, like the Greenville Drive guys, Lugo and Rafaela.
Casas should be ready this year whenever he recovers from a high ankle sprain that will sideline him for a few weeks. Pitching wise, Brayan Bello is projecting as a good MLB talent. Groome is still up and down, getting exposed by the Yankees AAA club last week. Winchowski and Kutter Crawford need more work in AAA to be more than just bull pen arms in MLB.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/boston-red-sox-have-traded-for-more-than-20-prospects-under-chaim-bloom-how-are-jeter-downs-alex-binelas-others-doing/ar-AAXXn1V?ocid=uxbndlbing
Crawford had another horrible outing.
They just promoted Walter(lefty starter) from Portland to Worcester. I think he starts tonight.
Bello's been effective and has a live arm. I saw his Worcester debut and he seemed a bit off on hitting his targets. Nothing like Winckowski the other day. I've not seen Bello pitch since. I think when he's ready, it's going to be one of those cases where it's undeniable dominance for 3-4 starts.
Casas might be two months before he's ready. He wasn't exactly raking before his ankle sprain, though I think he stopped the downwards slide. A couple-three weeks of healing and 4-6 weeks of ABs. If he rakes, he's up? Maybe?
I would like to see Duran get his big chance as a starting CF'er this year unless the sox make a serious run this month. Kike's a much improved CF'er this year than early last season, and he will likely get hot. BUT, he's not our future. Dangle him next time a contender needs a CF'er or 2B and get an arm or two.
They had a Darwinzon Hernandez sighting yesterday. Pitched the 5th inning 14 pitches, 10 strikes and 3K's. Good for him.
These cats can come back from a knee injury in short fashion these days. Gotta like it.
If anyone is so inclined, Mata gets his next start in Portland on his comeback from TJ surgery. My guess is tonight, but might be tomorrow. He's been lighting it up, but I keep forgetting to turn it on to see.
Also, Bloom pitched another good outing last night. His every 4th-5th game implosions are the only thing holding him back from Worcester. Might happen anyhow if Seabold is hurt.
edit: I meant to write "Groome", not "Bloom".
Eovaldi gave up 2 runs in 3 IP, but was at least on target with 40 strikes in 54 pitches. Hopefulle a bit less hitable when he starts next. (In NY, maybe?)
Josh Taylor had a clean inning with 1K. It'd be nice to see him do back to back clean games next week and get him back after the break.
Barnes began his rehab stint in the FCL. Not pretty. 1IP and 3-runs. What did eck say once - Yuck?
Speaking of good pitching in Portland, they've got a guy, Brian Van Belle, who had a wicked bad start in Greenville. ERA up over 8.00 after half dozen starts. He settled down some and had to move up the ladder to Portland when their pitchers started getting promoted. After 5 games in Portland, he's got his Portland ERA down to 3.21 including a 7IP, 3H, 5K , 0R outing yesterday. That followed a similar outing the week before. Since joining Portland, he's allowed 2 BB in 28 innings.
Mata, btw, had another nice outing on his TJ recovery road. 4 IP, 1H, 0R and 7K's. The big negative was 5BB in those 4 innings. Remember, this guy was one of two top prospects nearing ready to go when they both went down before last season even started needing TJ.
I recall Mata has had two TJ's since he was drafted in 2018. That kid has a lion's heart to keep coming back.
Ceddanne Rafaela was hit by a pitch and was pinch-run for last night. I hope nothing is serious.
While looking for info on that, I saw that he was selected to play in the MLB Futures game. I hope he gets to play in it.
One more bit of Minor League news - Casas has finally begun his FCL rehab assignment, going 0-1 plus 2 BB. No idea how long it will be before he gets back to AAA. I hope he catches fire quickly and definitively.
I have a bad feeling, after reading one writer yesterday, that they will trade Shreiber at the deadline for more minor leaguers. That was predicated on losing the WC chances in the next few weeks. Im a suffering Sox fan, for some reason I put on Beni's jersey this week. sigh
Quote from: Sea Dog 23 on July 13, 2022, 08:15:25 AM
I have a bad feeling, after reading one writer yesterday, that they will trade Shreiber at the deadline for more minor leaguers. That was predicated on losing the WC chances in the next few weeks. Im a suffering Sox fan, for some reason I put on Beni's jersey this week. sigh
That would be the icing on the cake, right? I mean, Schreiber is essentially a minor leaguer for us. We've got three years of control after this season. If that Blooming idiot turns us into sellers because of two weeks of iffy performances by replacements for temporary injured starting pitchers......
btw, Chris Murphy (#10 prospect) pitched a gem last night for Worcestor. 7IP, 2 hits, 2BB, 0R on 86 pitches. ERA down to 3.00 and WHIP below 1.00. 3 games in to his AAA stint and the stats look like he never left Portland. He looked as good as his box score indicated, too.
Trading out best arm in the bullpen would be idiotic. The thing is they're not going to be out of the WC race for some time to come. What will be interesting is if they think the WC is worth competing for. The bigger problem is that if they finish 4th or 5th they'll likely be playing another AL East team and they simply can't beat the other teams in the division.
More minors action. Everybody saw Groome pressed into action in worcester. 6IP - 0ER, 5H, 3BB 5K's.
Mata got 5 IP tonight. 0R, 5 Hits, 7K's. 72 pitches and 48 strikes.
Everyone saw Casas pulling out a 3for5, 1 HR, 1-2b, 2 rbi on his third rehab. He should be in worcester and hopefully hitting well when they resume after the break.
Lastly, the 1B from last year's 11th round from Notre Dame name Niko Kavadas has hit his 8 HRs in 17 games for Greenville since his promotion a few weeks ago. All while hitting .346. Gotta like it.
Quote from: MongoLikeSox on July 15, 2022, 09:41:45 PM
More minors action. Everybody saw Groome pressed into action in worcester. 6IP - 0ER, 5H, 3BB 5K's.
Mata got 5 IP tonight. 0R, 5 Hits, 7K's. 72 pitches and 48 strikes.
Everyone saw Casas pulling out a 3for5, 1 HR, 1-2b, 2 rbi on his third rehab. He should be in worcester and hopefully hitting well when they resume after the break.
Lastly, the 1B from last year's 11th round from Notre Dame name Niko Kavadas has hit his 8 HRs in 17 games for Greenville since his promotion a few weeks ago. All while hitting .346. Gotta like it.
That is some really good news about some of our farm hands. Goome finally, Mata back in impressive form, Casas ready to slug and this Kavadas kid seems to be ripping well in his classification. All this news to round out what has turned out to be a very good day for us. What a game we had at Yankee Stadium. Makes you smile all over if you can rewind from all the acid and shakes in your stomach and body.
The Woosox game is at 4:05 and features Chris Murphy starting I think his 3rd AAA game. Last week's outing was 7IP, 0R on 2H and 2BB. More control than a couple of his contemporaries, though 2-3 of them we've seen in Boston recently had great control in AAA as well.
Bello pitched 3 innings yesterday, giving up a run. don't know the "why" on just three innings. I hate to speculate anything.
Ronaldo Hernandez hit his 9th HR yesterday as his batting average seems to have climbed a fairly (and uncannily) steady from .119 on May 19th to .279 by the end of June. He's been hovering around .285-.290 since. Big hitting and big throwing catcher, but the scouting reports are not so kind to him on overall defense. I've no idea if that's true. Seems like I see Wong every time I watch them.
Our representative to the Futures game was Ceddanne Rafaela. He went 0-2 with 2Ks. The AL squad struck out 12 times.
No minor minor league action after today until Friday.
An interesting late bloomer? Sometimes it takes a while, right? Another ex-Yankees farmhand we got off of waivers last Winter. 28 years old. 39th round pick out of college named Brian Keller. I think he got hurt in 2019 and returned later in 2021. Made a decent climb through the ranks until that, though.
Anyhow, bad start this year, but he's taken an ERA of 6.04 at the end of May down to 3.30 as of last night. June and July ERA's of 2.08 and 1.23 and started August with 6IP, 1R, 2H and 10K. I'd say he's back on track.
One other note. Worcester has turned over a lot of late-game duties to the hard throwing ex-Yankee farmhand, Frank German. Dominated in Portland, but struggled in Worcester for the 1st month before settling down in July. Struck out 17 in 10 innings. Gave up a 2-run HR in July 3rd and nothing since except 2 hits and 7 walks in the last 9.1 IP. The walks & overall control is the hold up. 56% strike rate. Yikes!
If we were in a desparate need of a 2B, like Tampa shuffles 35 players at times, Valdez the kid in the Houston deal has had a good week at Worcester. A homer (seco nd this week), walk and 4 rbi's on Friday. Likely won't happen unless Story is lost for the year and Arroyo gets dinged up. Valdez might well be a good depth piece next year if he keeps raking.
Like Mongo noted, there are some promising arms at Worcester. Keller, German who we’ll need in the next 30 games. They’re hinting Strohm, Paxton and Sale won’t be ready until Sept. Lots of innings to eat waiting for help.
Speaking of German, he actually pitched two innings sans walk last night. Struck out 4 no hits, no runs. Of course, Seabold struck out 5 in 3-1/3, so who knows how much that matters. Still looks impressive, though. I imagine we'll see German next month as one of the two call ups. At times, at least.
So, with Valdez being Blooms latest save-my-job political player, I imagine he's someone we'll see soon along with Franchy, Act IV. I've not seen Valdez play yet, but the numbers are there for the utility role.
I can imagine Rafaela in a similar role as well, but he's going to be minced meat for MLB pitchers until he gains some command of the strike zone. Hamilton, who's up to 50SB, and Rafaela could benefit from the example Abreu is setting now. He took the lead off spot last night for Portland. In 4 games, he's 3 for 11 with 6BBs. That gives him 84BBs on the year in 93 games. Oh, and he's said to have a plus arm. I've not seen him play.
For reference, Abreu's BB numbers are slightly better than Youk's BB numbers were in the minors. Abreu is also 23 for 24 in the SB department this season. Power numbers coming out of the pandemic? 16 HRs in 82 games, and 15 HRs in 93 games. On paper, this is an old school Red Sox hitter.
I can see why Bloom liked these kids - on paper, at least.
Quote from: MongoLikeSox on August 07, 2022, 09:28:11 AM
Speaking of German, he actually pitched two innings sans walk last night. Struck out 4 no hits, no runs. Of course, Seabold struck out 5 in 3-1/3, so who knows how much that matters. Still looks impressive, though. I imagine we'll see German next month as one of the two call ups. At times, at least.
So, with Valdez being Blooms latest save-my-job political player, I imagine he's someone we'll see soon along with Franchy, Act IV. I've not seen Valdez play yet, but the numbers are there for the utility role.
I can imagine Rafaela in a similar role as well, but he's going to be minced meat for MLB pitchers until he gains some command of the strike zone. Hamilton, who's up to 50SB, and Rafaela could benefit from the example Abreu is setting now. He took the lead off spot last night for Portland. In 4 games, he's 3 for 11 with 6BBs. That gives him 84BBs on the year in 93 games. Oh, and he's said to have a plus arm. I've not seen him play.
For reference, Abreu's BB numbers are slightly better than Youk's BB numbers were in the minors. Abreu is also 23 for 24 in the SB department this season. Power numbers coming out of the pandemic? 16 HRs in 82 games, and 15 HRs in 93 games. On paper, this is an old school Red Sox hitter.
I can see why Bloom liked these kids - on paper, at least.
Time to reshuffle the chairs on the Titanic and bring up the next round of duds. There is a difference between the minor leagues and the Bigs, and it is up to scouts and baseball personnel at the Big League level to be able to judge that talent------an ability that those in our organization are completely bogus on. Like Darwizon Hernandez!!!! How many times has he been up? How many times has be failed miserably? How many times are we going to have to stomach French Cordero, a failure with KC and San Diego and a two time failure with us and a third one on the way. It is time to clean house starting with Bloomer Boy and a full frontal assault by the press on John Henry, a notorious lightweight who has trouble dealing with criticism. The team is putrid from the head down and drastic action must be taken at the end of the season on all fronts or 2023 could be an even worse season for us than this shit show has been. Any one for six last place finished in 12 years?????
Fred, I'm still envious of your trip to Cooperstown. I hope to be able to make that trip again some day. I still kick myself in the butt for not going to HOF games when they had them. The reason for not going was because one of my classmates told me that Willie Stargell hit a HR in one recent game and didn't even bother to round the bases. I could have gone at least once.
Imagine being a player in their system that is not amongst the chosen ones? No thanks!
Mayer and Blaze Jordon got promoted to Greenville. Both hitting .286, IIRC. They'll be playing with Kavedis, who's been as hot as anyone in the system this past month. Might have to switch on a couple of their games the next few weeks.
Some pitching rebounding this week from some of the higher ranked arms in the system.
Wikelman Gonzalez was sitting on a 5.23 ERA in Salem entering August, which included a 7.07 July. His August ERA is 1.69, which includes a 6-inning effort 0R, 0h, 1BB game last night.
Bryan Mata ended a rough 3-game stretch of 14 innings, 9 Runs, 11 Hits and 11BB's. The other night he through 6 scoreless on 5 hits and no walks.
Thad Ward (the other big prospect recovering from TJ) threw 5 innings 0 runs, 3 hits and 2 BB's. Last week he threw 3.2 IP of scoreless ball, but walked 5 guys while throwing 67 pitches and only 34 strikes. It does look like they are stretching him out, increasing pitch count now to 75 pitches.
Brian Keller's 2nd half rebound is still rolling. Since converting back to full time starter, he's pitched 7 games, 34 innings, 4 ER, 1.06 ERA, .175 opp BA and 47 K's. The only blemish is 16 BB's in those 34 innings. He's now 28 years old. Makes you wish he could get a shot. Roster's chocked full, though.
The (distant) future of the Sox in the 2022 draft are playing in the Florida League. 10 players activated over the weekend. The top picks have already been playing, Mikey Romero at SS, Cutter Coffey at 2B, LF RomanAnthony, C Brooks Brannon.
https://twitter.com/SoxProspects/status/1559191059892150277?s=20&t=VUd5E0e4O2mxzTXc9HhqtQ
Another "Cutter"? He shouldn't be playign 2B! ;D
Quote from: MongoLikeSox on August 09, 2022, 12:04:18 PM
Fred, I'm still envious of your trip to Cooperstown. I hope to be able to make that trip again some day. I still kick myself in the butt for not going to HOF games when they had them. The reason for not going was because one of my classmates told me that Willie Stargell hit a HR in one recent game and didn't even bother to round the bases. I could have gone at least once.
Imagine being a player in their system that is not amongst the chosen ones? No thanks!
Mayer and Blaze Jordon got promoted to Greenville. Both hitting .286, IIRC. They'll be playing with Kavedis, who's been as hot as anyone in the system this past month. Might have to switch on a couple of their games the next few weeks.
Just noticed your reply to me Mongo. How the hell did I miss it. Anyway, when you get the opportunity to go to Cooperstown for an Induction Ceremony, pleased do it. You'll have a great time, meet some nice people and soak in the baseball atmosphere. Nothing like it.
I went there once, when I was about 13. Other than the Hall which I remember pretty vividly, I also recall catching a glimpse of a Playboy magazine when my parents weren't looking! ;)
Longgame - If my 13 and your 13 are at all close, it's changed a ton since you've been. It's probably changed a ton since I've been. I know I've not been since at least 2007. Before that it gets fuzzy. Might be 3-5 years before that, even. Far too long.
Fred, I most certainly will if I ever get the chance again.
It's nit possible to do personally, but at one time there was a small company putting together "dream weeks" for different age groups to go up and play baseball for a week. Couple days of practice and 4-5 games. One game on DD field. I would have liked to try it once. One of the guys I played 38+ ball with did it every year. He was pushing 50 at the time and was in some sort of low skill group up there. (It was very justified.)
Well, Keller fell out of his tree last night giving up 4 runs on 4 hits, 4 walks in 5 innings. I did watched some of it on the small screen. They had a camera angle straight behind the pitcher to catcher. He's got what Youk would call a slurve, and it was one helluva slurve when on. In typical Red Sox fashion, it was big as a grapefruit when he left it up and got hit hard. He had the kind of innings Seabold had when you knew he was in trouble when he went 1-2 on a guy. He battled, though. A pair of two run innings and that was that. Never folded.
I also saw Ward pitch some last night for Portland. It was tough to tell what he had. There was nothing smooth about any of it. He threw his 75 pitches with a 66% strike rate. 4-1/3 IP, 6 hits, 6K's, 1 walk and 2 runs. I could not really get a read on what he was good at. I'm going to make it a point to watch more of his next start if I can.
The infield of the future is starting to hit in Greenville.
Cordero has not played in 2 games since striking out 9 times in 13 ABs ending with Saturday's game.
Quote from: MongoLikeSox on August 17, 2022, 07:09:41 AM
Well, Keller fell out of his tree last night giving up 4 runs on 4 hits, 4 walks in 5 innings. I did watched some of it on the small screen. They had a camera angle straight behind the pitcher to catcher. He's got what Youk would call a slurve, and it was one helluva slurve when on. In typical Red Sox fashion, it was big as a grapefruit when he left it up and got hit hard. He had the kind of innings Seabold had when you knew he was in trouble when he went 1-2 on a guy. He battled, though. A pair of two run innings and that was that. Never folded.
I also saw Ward pitch some last night for Portland. It was tough to tell what he had. There was nothing smooth about any of it. He threw his 75 pitches with a 66% strike rate. 4-1/3 IP, 6 hits, 6K's, 1 walk and 2 runs. I could not really get a read on what he was good at. I'm going to make it a point to watch more of his next start if I can.
The infield of the future is starting to hit in Greenville.
Cordero has not played in 2 games since striking out 9 times in 13 ABs ending with Saturday's game.
Mongo, I've read that the Sox pitching throughout the system is built on location and finesse. They do not seem to sign many hard throwers with an out pitch. Pivetta was hitting 94 on his fastball. Nate was only throwing fastballs on 1/3 of his pitches in the last start (still injured?). Only Whitlock, Crawford and Mata seem to have a greet fastball, Bello, if he can mix in reliable off-speed.
Their draft this year was all college pitchers, none overpowering like a Rocker or Leiter.
I've not seen any specific news on the subject, but Ceddanne Rafaela got hit in the hand a week ago and has not appeared in a game since. He is still listed as "Active", fwiw.
In other new that TC didn't mention last night, Brian Mata made his AAA start. 3 IP, 2H, 1R, 4BB. 73 pitches with only 41 strikes. Another rough promotion-debut for the Sox.
The next night, though, Conner Seabold rebounded from three VERY ugly outings with a 7-inning, 3H, 0R, 0BB and 7K while throwing 63 strikes in 93 pitches.
With Bloom trying to recreate a new roster for 23 (I feel like the Sox are an expansion team!) he's going to need a few new additions from AAA. The projections show Casas, check. But the others are Manny Valdez batting .180 and Downs at .190. Give me a break.
I just read the article in the Atheletic with the Red Sox farm director. It reinforces my opinion the Bloom is pursuing quantity over quality.
I also believe he is rushing players to the majors before they are ready. Duran appears to be the one whose confidence has been really shaken by his awful stint with the big club.
Unless Bloom has a complete reset I still see him buying several Swiss Army knives instead of one good Bowie knife.
Its Sept 1. Time to allow your AAA gems to get their prizes. Promoted tofday are relief pitcher Eduardo Bazardo (3.45 era, 1.47 WHIP and catcher Connor Wong, who has also getting reps at 2B in Wooster (sound familiar?)
Quote from: Sea Dog 23 on September 01, 2022, 01:33:25 PM
Its Sept 1. Time to allow your AAA gems to get their prizes. Promoted tofday are relief pitcher Eduardo Bazardo (3.45 era, 1.47 WHIP and catcher Connor Wong, who has also getting reps at 2B in Wooster (sound familiar?)
He'll be playing RF by the end of the weekend.
Where is #2 prospect Casas? A lot of info that he won’t be seen at Fenway in September.
One) his splits show most of his production off RH pitchers, incl all 11 homers.
Against righties, Casas is hitting .290 with 29 extra-base hits, 32 RBIs, a 39-to-34 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a .955 OPS.
From the left side, those numbers dip to .227 with three extra-base hits (all doubles), five RBIs, a 28-to-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a .627 OPS.
It should be noted that Casas has a little over three times the at-bats against right-handed pitching than left but the averages are still notably off and his lack of pop against his own side of the plate is disappointing.
Two) He has never been at one place very long. The short Covid year in 20. His Olympic travels in 21, his injury shortened 22.
Quote from: Sea Dog 23 on September 02, 2022, 03:27:41 PM
Where is #2 prospect Casas? A lot of info that he won’t be seen at Fenway in September.
One) his splits show most of his production off RH pitchers, incl all 11 homers.
Against righties, Casas is hitting .290 with 29 extra-base hits, 32 RBIs, a 39-to-34 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a .955 OPS.
From the left side, those numbers dip to .227 with three extra-base hits (all doubles), five RBIs, a 28-to-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a .627 OPS.
It should be noted that Casas has a little over three times the at-bats against right-handed pitching than left but the averages are still notably off and his lack of pop against his own side of the plate is disappointing.
Two) He has never been at one place very long. The short Covid year in 20. His Olympic travels in 21, his injury shortened 22.
Is this the beginning of another No. 1 draft choice going off the rails before he even gets his feet wet in the Majors. Bring Casas up and let him see LH pitching and let him play against all types. This bullshit about Blom believing we are still in the WC race is a crock of poo. It is time to begin the rebuild, get rid of the garbage and start on the road to recovery which will still be hampered by having Bloomer and Cora back, but hopefully when both screw up next year they will finally be gone.
They can only bring up one additional position player and one pitcher. Casas is likely to be up at some point.
The early call ups to Duran and Downs were disastrous. Neither ready. I am in no hurry to see Casas in the bigs. The Sox need to show some patience. There is no reason to rush.