Greenville Drive update: Pat Light, Kyle Kraus, Mookie Betts

Pat Light, RHP

Light has started three of his four games, but made a 2-2/3 relief appearance back on April 17. It didn't go well, with the righty allowing three runs while walking three and striking out three, but overall things have been going decently in his first taste of full-season ball. He's missing bats, as you can see by the nearly 10 strikeouts per nine, and his walks aren't anything outrageous. He's also been getting outs on the ground more often than not when the ball is in play, so there have been some quality strikes thrown in there as well.

It's so difficult to judge pitchers at the lower levels, especially those just stepping in professionally, but Light's first month in at Greenville went well enough. He hasn't pitched since April 23, as he was placed on the seven-day DL with an undisclosed injury, but he was activated on Sunday. We'll see if the time off does him any good soon enough, when he makes his next start.

*****

Kyle Kraus, RHP

Kraus has relieved exclusively, and has been the last pitcher in each of his seven games. He's walked one batter while striking out 10, has more than twice as many outs on the ground as he does in the air, and has gone the season's first month and change without giving up a home run. Not a bad start to the year by any means, and he now has 26-2/3 career innings for Greenville between this year and last, with 8.3 times as many strikeouts as walks.

He was just a seventh-round pick, but if he can keep the ball on the ground, and throw quality strikes instead of just strikes as he moves up the organizational ladder, then Boston might have themselves a reliever in the making here. Of course, with fewer than 40 innings under his belt in the pros, it's not quite time to be awarding him a spot on a future roster yet.

*****

Mookie Betts, 2B

Betts, like basically everyone at Greenville, is having trouble at the plate. He's getting on base constantly,as his 24 walks in 105 plate appearances show, but he's hitting all of .150, and not showing much pop when he does manage a base hit. As he's all of 20 years old and fresh out of short-season Lowell, it's difficult to be too hard on him for a tough first month. Plus, while you don't want him to sit and wait for a walk each time he's up, it's good to see developing plate discipline in such a young player.

Things will be better when he not only learns what not to swing at, but what to swing at, resulting in more base hits and possible enough pop for a middle infielder to live on. He's in Low-A for a reason, though, to figure those sorts of things out, and sometimes these riddles are solved one at a time.

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