With the minor-league regular season over, it's time to look back at what the farm has accomplished in 2012. The plan is go to team-by-team, as we did for our daily prospect updates, but this time around, we'll review by position, so you get a sense of where the Red Sox are strong and where they are lacking depth.
Previous entries: Lowell Spinners, Corner Infielders
Garin Cecchini, 3B
Year | Age | Tm | Lg | Lev | PA | 2B | 3B | HR | SB | CS | BB | SO | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | 21 | Greenville | SALL | A | 526 | 38 | 4 | 4 | 51 | 6 | 61 | 90 | .305 | .394 | .433 |
2 Seasons | 659 | 50 | 5 | 7 | 63 | 8 | 78 | 109 | .304 | .395 | .446 |
By the time Greenville's season was over, and the multitude of promotions had occurred, Cecchini was one of the only prospects worth writing about consistently left. That's not to say Greenville lacked anything of substance, but much of the level's talent ended up elsewhere before the year was out, giving Cecchini that much more of a spotlight he deserved. The power isn't there yet, but there's already plenty that is.
The 21-year-old posted a .394 on-base percentage in his first season at Low-A, drawing free passes nearly 12 percent of the time. It wasn't a passive 12 percent, either, as he struck out in just 17 percent of his plate appearances: Cecchini put the ball in play, and often, and came away with both an impressive average and OBP because of it. The steals and baserunning were also a huge plus -- success in 51 of 57 attempts, or steals 89 percent of the time -- and his defense continued to look like that of someone who is going to be able to stick at third.
More power could come -- Cecchini, though just 21, isn't a little guy, coming in at 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds. Even if he doesn't develop a ton of home run power, though, there's a lot to like here, especially if more doubles come.
Boss Moanaroa, 1B
Year | Age | Tm | Lg | Lev | PA | 2B | 3B | HR | SB | CS | BB | SO | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | 20 | Greenville | SALL | A | 448 | 20 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 77 | 113 | .262 | .391 | .365 |
4 Seasons | 1018 | 44 | 5 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 151 | 247 | .262 | .373 | .386 |
Things didn't go nearly as well for 20-year-old Boss Moanaroa, who, besides his impressive walk rate, didn't do much worth discussing in his first season outside of short-season ball. Moanaroa was signed as an undrafted free agent back in 2008, and has spent four years in the Sox system, posting lines that look a whole lot like 2012's. He was younger than your average Sally League position player by nearly two years, and his 756 OPS is actually better than the league's 718 mark, so don't take this as a total loss of a year. It's just less than what you'd hope for from someone who isn't quite a prospect.
The Australian-born first baseman has fringy tools, and Sox Prospects describes him as having a below-average hit tool. The patience is nice, but it might be passiveness more than anything, given his relative lack of baseball experience, as well as his 25 percent punch out rate. One wonders whether he's going to be in Greenville once more, to see if the second time around is better for him, especially given Lowell hasn't produced any significant first base prospects this summer.
*****
David Renfroe, 3B/1B/DH
Year | Age | Tm | Lg | Lev | PA | 2B | 3B | HR | SB | CS | BB | SO | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | 21 | Greenville | SALL | A | 397 | 27 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 33 | 69 | .256 | .330 | .417 |
2012 | 21 | Salem | CARL | A+ | 38 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 | .182 | .263 | .212 |
3 Seasons | 1080 | 59 | 3 | 20 | 9 | 5 | 84 | 250 | .234 | .301 | .362 |
Renfroe finished the year up at High-A Salem after spending his time in Greenville jumping around the corners of the diamond. His Greenville line wasn't great, but it was above-average for the level (.258/.334/.384), and did come from a 21-year-old. Renfroe's issue in 2012 was consistency, as sometimes he would put things together and hit for a bit of average with power, and other times, he couldn't do a thing right at the plate. His short stint at Salem was more of the latter, as he finished up the year hitting .182/.263/.212, but that's not entirely unexpected, given it was his first taste of ball above Low-A.
Renfroe will likely begin 2013 at High-A Salem once again, though, it's likely he'll be flanked by Garin Cecchini once again as well. Boston already prepared him for this inevitability, giving him just two starts at the hot corner, with the other eight coming at first. He'll likely spend his time there in 2013, as well as DH, with the how often dependent on whether someone like David Chester was at Salem to stay or not.