Red Sox Fall and Winter Leagues Update -- 10/21/10

It's Fall and Winter League time again, which means more frustrating attempts to navigate the Sydney Baseball League website and attempting to interpret Team Renteria's Spanish box scores.

Yay!

So what's the lineup for the year?

Arizona Fall League

The big one, obviously. If you've been following along with the fanposts, you'll know we're a little over a week in. Which means some decent opportunities for our guys.

Juan Carlos Linares has been the story so far. With 8 hits in 14 at bats, including three doubles, Linares is just plain killing it right now. Not far behind is Ryan Lavarnway, whose numbers are rather more sustainable. He only has four hits, but those include a double and a homer, and with six walks in just five games, Ryan is not struggling at all against the AFL's advanced competition. No surprise, I suppose, given his dominant offensive year.

Things haven't been going nearly as well for Jose Iglesias, who is batting a cool .318 in 22 at bats. But that's all he's doing. One walk and no extra base hits are keeping his OPS frozen just over .650. He's not striking out much, though, and he's been showing pretty decent plate discipline if the AFL's Gameday pitch locations are to be believed.

On the mound, Casey Kelly currently leads the team with nine innings pitched, during which time he's given up just one run against a strong group of hitters. A 3.00 figure in both K:BB and GO:AO should keep that ERA low, too. His velocity was up to the mid-90s in the first game before returning to his usual 90-92 range in his most recent start.

Out of the pen, Seth Garrison and Jason Rice have both allowed a lone earned run in four innings. Garrison has been a little wild, but has a few more strikeouts than Rice. Dan Turpen and Eammon Portice, on the other hand...well, let's just say they'll be happy to get their ERAs into single digits.

Columbian Winter League

Reynaldo Rodriguez is the lone member of Team Renteria hailing from the Sox this year. If anyone has a hot streak to keep alive, it's this guy. An absolutely ridiculous rampage through the end of 2010 (including playing the role of the hero in Greenville's playoff run) put Rodriguez on the radar. He'll start his winter campaign tomorrow.

Dominican Winter League

The rest of the bulk of the Red Sox' talent can be found here with Robert Coello, Anatanaer Batista (a relatively unnoticed reliever who has put up some gaudy K:BB numbers during his time in the farm system), Yamaico Navarro, Josh Reddick, and Oscar Tejeda scheduled to play. The league doesn't start until tomorrow, though, so we'll have to wait for any results.

And no, I didn't miss Kris Johnson.

Mexican Pacific League

Only Miguel Gonzalez, the oft-DLed 2008 Rule 5 pick is playing in Mexico. He had a decent year in Salem, but at 26, is way behind the curve thanks to his various injuries. So far he's made it into a couple of games, allowing five hits and two runs over five innings.

Sydney Major Leagues

The Brothers Moanaroa are back in Sydney for the Winter. Boss had a pretty promising start wasted by an early injury. Moko, too, ended up with a relatively low AB count, but did manage a .374 OBP. So far, they've only had one game, with both drawing a walk, and Moko adding a pair of singles.

Venezuelan Winter League

Michael Bowden and a couple of less-heralded arms in Armando Zerpa and Leandro Marin are worth checking out in this league. Bubba Bell and Ronald Bermudez on offense, though? Sorry, but not interested.

So far Zerpa is the only one to see time on the mound, pitching three scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while picking up four strikeouts. Not a bad start.