Abe Alvarez | SP | Pawtucket Red Sox | 3.82 ERA, 2-2, 37.2 IP |
Alvarez pitched twice this week for the Paw Sox. Alvarez successfully lowered his ERA to 3.82 with two starts that spanned 10 innings and seven strikeouts. MinorLeagueBaseball.com, where I find all my stats, hasn't been updated in a few days so it was kind of hard to find Alvarez's stats for his last appearance. But his last appearance was solid, going six innings and striking out six, but received the no decision.
Jon Papelbon | SP | Portland Sea Dogs | 2.02 ERA, 3-1, 35.2 IP |
Papelbon just continues to get better as the season goes on, and as it looks now he deserves a promotion to Pawtucket. In his last outing, the 10th versus New Hampshire, Papelbon went six innings, struck out five and allowed one run. Paps--as I refer to him occassionally--lowered his ERA to 2.02 and is creeping into the one mark. One more solid start like his last game and Papelbon will reach that mark.
Hanley Ramirez | SS | Portland Sea Dogs | .304 BA, .365 OBP, 0 HR, 13 RBI, 10 SB |
The good news is that Ramirez is still hitting consistently. The bad news is that he is showing absolutely no power at all, lacking a home run through almost a month and a half of the season. Ramirez does have seven triples and 10 stolen bases on the season. So where he is lacking in one area, he is making up for it everywhere else.
Dustin Pedroia | 2B | Portland Sea Dogs | .342 BA, .432 OBP, 2 HR, 20 RBI, 17 BB, 11 SO |
Pedroia is just doing what we pay him to do: getting on base. Pedroia leads the Sea Dogs with a .432 on-base percentage and is starting to take his walks again with eight of them this week. Is Pedroia slowly taking over the "top prospect" roll away from Hanley Ramirez? It sure seems like it.
Sox Prospects Notable Performances:
-Brandon Moss (Portland), who hit .339 and was the South Atlantic League MVP for Augusta last season, is hitting a pathetic .214 this season for AA Portland. Moss has played in most of the games and has yet to find his rhythm against a tougher calibur of pitching.
-Jon Lester (Portland), one of the better pitching prospects in the system, has finally come down to earth after his slow start to the season. Lester is now supporting a 3.86 ERA and is the only Sea Dogs starter that has a K/9 higher than 9. The trio is Jon Papelbon, Jon Lester and Dave Pauley (2.34) is deadly.
-Yes, Anibal Sanchez (Wilmington) is still burning down hitters throughout the East Coast. Sanchez now has 48 strikeouts in 31 innings pitched. Muy en fuego!
-Mike Rozier (Greenville), the high schooler who the Sox drafted in the 12th round last year, is starting to put up some good numbers. After a few starts with an ERA up over five and six, Rozier has dropped his ERA to a 4.40 and is steadily dropping after his last couple of starts.