Prospect Bottlenecks - Hoarding?

[SeaBeachFred]

I caught the game again last night. Almost the same lineup. Hickey had the night off and the speedster Corey Rosier was promoted to AAA, and probably rightfully so. I hope his batting avg increase stays. 

Rafaela had another tough night. He is pressing to the point it reminded me of Duran during his rough stretches in Boston the past couple of seasons. Undeniable talent, yes, but you know how it goes during these stretches. The Red Sox' patience is understandable based on what I've seen this week.

Boston has really got to like the plate approaches of Mayer, York, Meidroth and Kavadas. Probably Hickey as well. Kavadas needs that adjustment that we've been wanting Casas to make - meaning to recognize a meatball and mash it no matter when in the count you see it. He's got a 50% K-rate and a .215 BA as part of a stat-line that includes a .402 OBP. How in the heck?

My 2nd or 3rd time seeing Gambrell. When he's on, he's on. Blew through the first three innings like nothing. Then came the onslaught. 6 runs combined in the 4th and 5th innings. His crisp breaking balls became cement mixers best I can tell. I don't think he ever throws all that fast. The lady calling their games will blurt pitch speeds sometimes. I think he's throwing 92-93MPH fastballs.

I did get to see their Closer, Guerrero. There's some promise in that arm. Only a strikeout an inning and has 18 BB in 28 innings, but there's some life in that arm (96-97MPH, IIRC) with a hard breaking ball that has a decent drop. 

Meidroth unleashed a couple strong throws from 3B, contradicting what I had thought earlier.

Binellas is an animal when he connects as he did last night. A stunning, eye-popping bad month of May with a .146BA and 62% K-Rate turned into a .356 June with 3 HR and 21% K-rate. He missed over a week (due to injury, IIRC), but lets hope that year long slump he had is done with.   

Thanks Mongo.  I couldn't remember Meidroth and Hickey and was to lazy to look them up under Red Sox prospects.  No doubt because I was too pissed seeing how we let a 2-0 series load blow up in our faces with two crappy losses.  Kavadas impresses me as having some real promise but Binellas to me is shit.  He stunk it up when we got him in a trade and hasn't improved much since then.  But you take Mayer, Yorke, Meidroth and Hickey and you have a nice foursome who could be a strong building block for our next hopefully outstanding team.  Now we have to hope that we can draft some decent pitchers in the flesh derby coming up very soon.

[Sea Dog 23]

Mongo, you and me are going to have our hands full if the playoff odds play out.  Fangraphs now has our Wild Card chances at 11%.  If that is not based on all the new guys headed to the IL, then we are fading fast.

So that means we-re getting closer to the Bloom FA mail order for lottos at the Deadline.  As usual we will have to find the low-down on the A and AA players we get in return for dumping a lot of our starting lineup.  I'm still recalling all the moving parts in the Benintendi trade.  The only plus we got out of the five players in that deal was Winchowski, and it took him a couple years to locate his pitches.

[MongoLikeSox]

Fred, that series was indeed frustrating. It was like two different teams. I hope we sweep the Chisox, but next week starts the real challenges again.

Yeah, Binellas had a decent A+ year going last season before getting to AA. Hopefully he's turning a corner. Plenty of time. Still only 23.

Mongo, you and me are going to have our hands full if the playoff odds play out.  Fangraphs now has our Wild Card chances at 11%.  If that is not based on all the new guys headed to the IL, then we are fading fast.

So that means we-re getting closer to the Bloom FA mail order for lottos at the Deadline.  As usual we will have to find the low-down on the A and AA players we get in return for dumping a lot of our starting lineup.  I'm still recalling all the moving parts in the Benintendi trade.  The only plus we got out of the five players in that deal was Winchowski, and it took him a couple years to locate his pitches.

I think Grambrell, who pitched last night for Portland was part of that prize. We also got De La Rosa in Salem, 20 year old relief pitcher. Still hopes we get a little more from it than residual Franchy damage and Winkowski. Then again, Benny's not been lights out, either. Injuries, but he's been playing most of the year for the Whitesox. I just saw he's hitting .272 and a .339 OBP, but only 1 HR.

I hope this year's deadline is nothing like last year's.

[MongoLikeSox]

Portland had another promotion from Greenville make his starting pitching debut last night. Hunter Dobbins, a 23 year old 8th round pick from 2021 after two years of college. He had an A+ ERA of 2.63 with a ,95 WHIP that included only 5BB in 7 starts. He's average a hair over 1K per IP over his whole college and pro career.

Dobbins pitched 5 innings allowing 1 run on 3 hits with 5K. Unlike Coffey the other night, he did very well in his debut, pitching out of a pair of jams.

Yorke had the night off. I got to see Meidroth play 2B after some pretty good defensive games at 3B. He looked as active, able and ready at 2b as he did 3b. One GIDP turn had a hitch in it. His throw still beat the runner, but the Ump got the call wrong at 1b. An earlier GIDP had a very nice turn and made a semi close play out of a play that was never close to begin with. The play was helped by a quick, bad throwing angle feed from Mayer who had to charge a slow bouncer and was lucky to catch the lead runner. He did well on his popup and ground ball chances.

Rafaela had the night off again, which let me see Sikes in CF again. I saw nothing yet to suggest that he cannot field his position. He's another blazer with 27 SB on the year, but has hit near .250 at A, A+ and AA so far with a small amount of pop.

Binellas had a hit(dble), but had 2K's to resume that trend. Meidroth and Hickey both got 2 hits. If Hickey could throw, we'd be talking a lot about him He was DH last night.

One other guy from two nights ago I forgot to mention. A middle reliever named Spacke. He went in for Coffey and pitched 4 shut out innings of relief with 1H and 0BB, lowing his ERA to 3.03 in 17 games. Not a power pitcher. His opponents batting average was .265 last season, but has dropped to .211 this year. 20 walks in 32 innings is never a good thing, though. If he gets rid of that, who knows?

Lugo, the former SS, played 3B last night and showed a solid arm. His work in LF is a work in progress from earlier games I've seen. His offensive numbers are down this year. I wrote earlier that all of these promotions this year killed his PT in Portland, but he is getting lots of non-SS reps these days. Maybe he'll turn into that super-sub they've been lusting after for so long.

[MongoLikeSox]

Jeees, when it rains, it pours. Koss(SS) in AAA put on the IL. Drohan taken out with the trainer in tow after only 4 innings and 56 pitches. Speiere is reporting it was just cramps. (phew!!!) Also, Valdez left the game early again. He's been in and out after getting a HBP over a week ago.

OK, so The Cedanne Rafaela watch is officially on. He's getting his trip to AAA. I hope whatever was getting him this week is done with.

Need some good news? Yordanny Monegro. 20 years old, 6' 4" had a rough year in FCL last year with an ERA over 7.00. TheSosProspects.com site didn't have a whole lot to say about him. He starts of this year with 3 starts, 20 K's in 15 innings with a 1.20 ERA. He got his Salem debut today going 5-innings with 11K's, 0R, 2H and 0BB. He hit 97 MPH and breaking balls in the upper 80's. 

[Sea Dog 23]

Jeees, when it rains, it pours. Koss(SS) in AAA put on the IL. Drohan taken out with the trainer in tow after only 4 innings and 56 pitches. Speiere is reporting it was just cramps. (phew!!!) Also, Valdez left the game early again. He's been in and out after getting a HBP over a week ago.

OK, so The Cedanne Rafaela watch is officially on. He's getting his trip to AAA. I hope whatever was getting him this week is done with.

Need some good news? Yordanny Monegro. 20 years old, 6' 4" had a rough year in FCL last year with an ERA over 7.00. TheSosProspects.com site didn't have a whole lot to say about him. He starts of this year with 3 starts, 20 K's in 15 innings with a 1.20 ERA. He got his Salem debut today going 5-innings with 11K's, 0R, 2H and 0BB. He hit 97 MPH and breaking balls in the upper 80's.

The only thing I can figure out with the Rafaela move is the Sox will involve him in the Trade Deadline.  As buyers, they need a pitcher.  Team X wants to see Rafaela in AAA before the trade.

If Sox end up being sellers, they are ready to trade Duvall, so getting Rafaela ready to arrive in Aug-Sept as the backup to Duran in CF.  Just a guess on a lazy summer afternoon in the Carolinas.

[MongoLikeSox]

The only thing I can figure out with the Rafaela move is the Sox will involve him in the Trade Deadline.  As buyers, they need a pitcher.  Team X wants to see Rafaela in AAA before the trade.

If Sox end up being sellers, they are ready to trade Duvall, so getting Rafaela ready to arrive in Aug-Sept as the backup to Duran in CF.  Just a guess on a lazy summer afternoon in the Carolinas.

I'm looking forward to seeing how he does in Worcester after the rough week last week. I thought he would have been promoted when Zimmer went down. The Sox can't be playing this more low-key than they are. I think an Alex Speier tweet is the extent of it. No short articles on the MLB Red Sox site that normally happens when a top prospect gets a promotion. Fans will be clamoring for him if he does half way decent like they were for Duran, myself included. We saw how long it took for him to get ready to be even a part-time big league player.

[MongoLikeSox]

We've got 3 guys in the Futures Game. Mayer, Yorke and Drohan.

I'm glad the Minor Leagues get back rolling tonight. Today, actually. 1:05 game time for Worcester. Walter scheduled to start unless Boston has a card up their sleeve. Might even see Rafaela's AAA debut.

[MongoLikeSox]

Over the weekend, Drohan was scratched from his scheduled appearance at the Futures Game. Worcester announced that he will be skipped over his next scheduled start. Makes you wonder if he had figured into the Sox starting plans for the week or if it was coincidence. Someone would have to be released or moved to the 60-day IL, though. (40-man) Worcester also pitched Walter in a relief gig a few nights back, going 3 innings.

All 4 upper levels of the Minors are playing tonight On MILB-TV (Free with MLB package). Of particular interest to me is the 6:05 game in Salem. The Starting pitcher is a kid named Yordanny Monegro made his Salem debut last week with 11 K's over 5 innings with 2H and 0BB.

Another one to watch if you've not done so yet is Meidroth in Portland. He's made exceptional plays at 3B, SS and 2B over the past few weeks and puts together ABs that make you think of a real pro type of hitter. Not quite Justin Turner yet, but a sight better than many we see everyday in Boston. Mayer and Yorke bat in front of him.

Speaking of Mayer, don't be too over alarmed at that .190 BA so far. He's had a lot of loud outs including some great defensive plays made against him. He was a little out of timing the first week to two, but has been lacing some hard hit balls since. A SWEET swing, too.

[Sea Dog 23]

The Sox have reached a point being between a rock and a hard place with pitching.  Today's pitcher is TBD.  The Rangers have their top three pitchers ready this series.  We have TBD, Bello and Kutter.  I suppose Paxton will be ready for Oakland.  They're trying to give Pax some more rest between starts based on his history I guess. 

Whitlock is probably headed to the IL.  Houck, Sale and Kluber (/gasp) are already on the IL.  The Sox are really vulnerable at the ASB for pitching unless the AAA guys will be the fill-ins.  If the OPS guy was Dombrowski, we would be getting a good #4 or 5 guy to add to the rotation at the Deadline.  With Bloom at the controls, who the he!! knows what he's thinking?

[MongoLikeSox]

Paxton's wife was due yesterday. I think he's doing a Paternity leave thing this week at some point. Who knows what they're gonna do. They do have Walter, Murphy and Pivetta. Might not be the best options when trying to establish a bullpen. Perhaps that guy they got out of Indy ball who can all of a sudden start. Barclough. He's due to pitch tonight in AAA.

Turns out Drohan did pitch yesterday in AAA, but not very well.

Yu Chang looked much better, in relative terms seeing as he is still Yu Chang. Right now, that is better than Hamilton offensively. 

Mayer and Yorke both looked great. Binellas might be coming around, though he's still a lot of swing and miss and likely always will. Meidroth was off. Hickey threw out a fast runner, but at least 2 others did get stolen bases.

Before the Portland game, I saw the first 3 innings of Salem's Monegro get his start. He pitched another 5-innings of shutout ball while being effectively wild. Pitched around 3BB, 1HBP and 4H and 56% strikes. He can cover 1B with ease and pitches with an energy Eck would love. Hopefully this not so great outing is the outlier.

[Sea Dog 23]

Some more moves today. Koss to Worcester. He was getting most of the SS starts in Portland before Mayer getting sent to AA. Also, Theo Denlinger going from Portland to Worcester. He's the one we got for Franklin German.

If nothing else, Denlinger sounds more intimidating for batters than Franklin German.  All this alphabet soup of names going up and down the system is really getting tiresome for me.  Maybe some others.

[MongoLikeSox]

Reyes and Chang both did well in AAA rehab last night.

So what is with this Barraclough guy? He had a no-no going until the last out of the 6th. He began to lose it with the 3rd batter. The no-no was broken up by a 2-run dinger. All the typical tired symptoms were there at the end, but his pitch count was efficient going into the 6th. 3 starts now for a 33-year old career reliever with 288 MLB games under his belt. He's allowed 5 hits in 17 innings. The only real blemish is 8 walks in 17 IP.

Binelas continues to be red hot. His BA is now up to .229.

[Sea Dog 23]

I had to make a note of this, the MLB Futures Game is July 16, 7 PM eastern time from Dodger Stadium.  Marcelo Mayer was one of the early names. Maybe more Sox, I dunno. Bello and Raphaela have played in past games.

[MongoLikeSox]

I had to make a note of this, the MLB Futures Game is July 16, 7 PM eastern time from Dodger Stadium.  Marcelo Mayer was one of the early names. Maybe more Sox, I dunno. Bello and Raphaela have played in past games.

Mayer, Yorke and the Portland reliever most often used at Closer named Luis Guerrero are the 'Sox representives. Drohan was on it, but they pulled him and Guerrero gets the nod.