Boston Sports Then and Now

Pawtucket, RI -

The Pawtucket Red Sox Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox certainly provide the entertainment of big league ball games at minor league prices.  The PawSox were 2012 International League Champions and now with many players back from that team and continuing to develop, this years team could be playing well into September as well.  Of course every minor league players focus is to make it to the big leagues and not ever have to come back to the minor leagues.

Jackie Bradley Jr. is on the disabled list due to a right bicep injury.

The Pawtucket Red Sox roster boasts talent like Alfredo Aceves and Jose Iglesias as well as young guns Allen Webster and Rubby De La Rosa.  Jackie Bradley Jr. is on the disabled list after a short sample with Pawtucket that has been good.  Often times we know the names of the hot prospects and fringe players who spend almost the same amount of time on Interstate 95, back and forth, as they do on the field.  Players who are not household names sometimes can provide a spark to a big league club with a brief stint should an injury occur.  Last year Red Sox fans became familiar with Pedro Ciriaco after he mashed against the Yankees.  Now Ciriaco is on the big league club as a utility infielder.  I’m here to tell you about the players who may not be household names.

This year the PawSox have some impressive outfielders and corner infielders.  Late spring training signing Brandon Snyder, who has major league experience with the Rangers and Orioles, has been impressive in 33 games.  Snyder has 7 home runs and 26 RBI’s to go along with a .299 average.  Snyder who plays mostly first base has gotten some time at third base since Will Middlebrooks crashed into David Ross.  Third base is the thinnest depth wise in the organization but, the team should not sleep on Snyder.  The only problem is, Snyder does not have a spot on the 40 man roster should an occasion arise where he is needed.  Putting a player on the 60 day disabled list could create a spot like Alex Hassan who has not played in a game all season.

Mark Hamilton who plays first base and the corner outfield positions also has major league experience with the Cardinals.  He signed a minor league contract during the offseason with the Sox and has looked good as well.  He was recently named the International League Player of the Week.  Last week he hit 4 home runs and had 10 RBI to lead the league.  In 31 games he is hitting .275 with 6 home runs and 27 RBI.  Hamilton could surely provide some insurance behind Mike Napoli and Mike Carp, who has looked good in a small sample size.  Daniel Nava has appeared in a few games at first base but now seems to have unseated Jonny Gomes as the everyday left fielder.

Jeremy Hazelbaker who was drafted by the Red Sox in the fourth round of the 2009 draft has rotated between the corner outfielder positions.  He spent the later part of last season with the PawSox after being with Double A Portland for most of the season.  Hazelbaker has also provided some pop down the order for the PawSox hitting .283 with 5 home runs and 19 RBI.  Hazelbaker is also not on the 40 man roster but could potentially be a piece they trade for some help near the trade deadline.  He seems to me like a Brandon Moss type player.  Provide some pop off the bench and maybe be a average starter for a mid market team.

The PawSox leadoff hitter last night was Justin Henry who was acquired from the Tigers by trade early this past off season.  Henry is a utility player who last night played center field but opening night played third base.  He is a valuable piece of the bench and I think he could potentially replace Ciriaco is he continues to struggle on the field.  Henry has no major league experience.  Henry this season is hitting .315 with 1 home run, 13 RBI and 6 steals.  Henry has speed and as I said can play many positions defensively and play them well.  Last year the Red Sox forced Ciriaco into the outfield and he did not really excel.

Bryce Brentz is ranked as the 7th best Red Sox prospect according to MLB.com.

Bryce Brentz who fits in as a right fielder with a cannon of an arm is ranked as the Red Sox number 7 prospect according to MLB.com.  Brentz missed most of spring training due to a handgun accident which may have set him back with the big league club in terms of path of the majors.  He could have potentially played in more games for the big league club to prove who he is as a player playing against major league talent.  He along with Hazelbaker came up to the PawSox late last season and started this year with the club.  Brentz is hitting .275 with 6 home runs and 26 RBI.  He has a heck of a swing and hits line drives with the best of them.

Those five players could potentially become household names to Red Sox fans.  As I stated all of them are not on the 40 man roster, which makes it harder for them to be called up to Boston.  Should they continue to perform in Pawtucked the Red Sox will have a decision to make.   These players could even come up in September when the rosters expand and more injuries are almost certain.  One thing is for certain the PawSox roster is certainly talented and the players are looking for their chance to prove they can help the big league club.

Allen Webster will be making his second major league start tonight against the Twins.

Injuries are a part of sports.  Expecting every player in the opening day lineup to play 162 games is a dream.  The Red Sox now have seen four players go down in the past week and not many qualified players to fill such positions.  After Tuesday’s collision between David Ross and Will Middlebrooks the Red Sox might not have a qualified third baseman for the time being.  Middlebrooks after having a good first two weeks of the season has been struggling and has become a strike out per game player.  Some time off might help him. Middlebrooks and Ross are both listed as day to day so a disabled list stint might not happen but the bench will be running thin for a few days, which is never good.

Losers of four of five the Red Sox now have entered May which is a show me month.  I call it a show me month because any team could have a good April.  This month is where pretenders fade and contenders rise.  Will this Red Sox team be as good as their record indicates on Memorial Day?  We shall find out.  Other teams who had good April’s such as the Royals and Rockies will have the same responsibility as the Red Sox, prove April was no fluke.

It appears the Red Sox starting pitching will not be the issue.  Clay Buchholz, after the cheating accusations is ready to pitch and hopefully does not have to face Toronto anytime soon.  Jon Lester, needs to come out firing in the early innings where he seems to issue walks and need too take command of the strike zone. This year it appears he is being squeezed and this carries over from last year where he would often whine on the mound if he did not get a call.  Ryan Dempster has settled in nicely as a middle of the rotation innings eater and hopefully the workload doesn’t take a toll on him. John Lackey whose next start will only be his fourth of the season, remains to be seen as I need to see more out of him before I can really judge but has looked good in a small sample size. Felix Doubront, has been moved to the bullpen for the time being with hot prospect Allen Webster getting the ball tonight against the Twins.  This could be a combination of no good relievers to call up on the 40 man roster with Joel Hanrahan going down on Monday. After his one day as closer again with Andrew Bailey on the disabled list.  Also, Doubront hasn’t shown anything lately to prove he deserves to keep a spot in the rotation as he may look great for two innings and horrendous for three.

It is apparent Pedro Ciriaco is not exactly playing well right now.  After getting caught stealing third on Monday as a potential insurance run and two errors at third base on Tuesday, the Red Sox might look elsewhere for some infield help.  Brock Holt, who is on the 40 man roster is not exactly tearing up Triple A with Pawtucket as his average is below .200.  Jose Iglesias has been benched the last few games due to discipline reasons.  Third base is a rather thin position in the organization.  If Iglesias comes up again can Stephen Drew play third base? I hope we don’t have to find out.

With two more games against the Twins and a weekend series with the Blue Jays the Red Sox need to finish the home stand over .500 and go into Monday’s off day with confidence.  This team played really well in April and might have brought some fans back from after last years laugh of a season.  May, is time to prove they are the real deal.  Overcoming these injuries won’t be easy and John Farrell and Ben Cherington might have to get creative but, good starting pitching can cure most problems.

Andrew Bailey has looked good in the closer role for the Sox.

This week Joel Hanrahan returned from his disabled list stint and John Farrell announced Andrew Bailey will remain the closer.  Hanrahan was put right into Tuesday’s game in the eight inning with the Red Sox down one run and allowed a run of his own.  Acquired from Pittsburgh in the offseason Hanrahan did collect three early saves this year but did certainly make it interesting in doing so.  His last game before the disabled list he walked the first two batters he faced and was pulled without recording an out.  With Hanrahan out, the bullpen didn’t miss a beat with Bailey taking over the closers role.

Bailey, a former AL Rookie of the Year with Oakland has done a good job as the closer and has recorded some big strikeouts.  He does not look like the pitcher they had last year.  Most of his year was lost because of a thumb injury in spring training.  While Bailey was hurt, Josh Reddick, who the Sox traded for Bailey put up some great numbers in Oakland leaving Sox fans wondering why this traded was made in the first place.  This year Reddick has struggled and Bailey is looking good.  Bailey has only surrendered two runs in 12 1/3 innings pitched while collecting 20 strikeouts.  Hanrahan on the other hand has given up 7 runs in only 5 2/3 innings pitched.

Going into spring training Red Sox manager John Farrell named Hanrahan the closer leaving it no competition and letting Bailey know he was the 8th inning guy.  On opening day Bailey came in the 7th inning to strike out Kevin Youkilis while Hanarahan closed it out in the 9th.  With Hanrahan not having clean innings and Bailey looking good in the 8th the talk of Bailey closing came up in the first week among media and fans.  When Hanrahan went down with a hamstring injury Bailey stepped in right away.  The team was talking about Hanrahan’s mechanics being effected from his injury while I just think he wasn’t pitching well.  He was shut down right away and kept throwing how bad could it have been? He went down for a rehab assignment at Triple A Pawtucket and surrended a home run in his first appearance.  Not sure this is closer materal.

What the Red Sox gave up for Hanrahan might seem minimal now until we see Jerry Sands in the majors and if Stolmy Pimental develops into what the Red Sox thought he could be a few years ago.  Mark Melancon did not enjoy his stay in Boston all too well and spent most his year in Pawtucket.  Ivan DeJesus, who the Sox got in the Dodgers trade may be a career fringe infielder bouncing between the majors bench and Triple A.  Hanrahan is making $7 million this season in his last year of arbitration before becoming a free agent so this year may be his only in a Red Sox uniform.  Bailey is making $5 million and has one more year of team control.  I see it as easier to keep Bailey happy this year and next and maybe bruise the feelings of Hanrahan as this might be a one and done situation.

The 8th inning seems to be Koji Uehara’s mainstay right now when the team has a lead.  The team however does not want to pitch him in too many back to back days as he is getting up there in age and wants to keep him in position where he will be most effective.  You have to love his attitude on the field getting pumped up after big defensive plays and high fiving everyone and I mean everyone in the dugout after his innings pitched.  Before Tuesday Junichi Tazawa had looked untouchable in the early innings of relief so Hanrahan losing the closer role may put more pressure on him to pitch well if he wants to get into pressure situations or he will be a pitcher who comes in when the team is losing.  Andrew Bailey is the closer right now and that is the right decision.

We are all lead to believe Alfredo Aceves has played his last game in a Red Sox uniform.

With the Oakland A’s coming to town this week after the Red Sox had an emotional weekend series with the Kansas City Royals, the Sox were looking for one more start out of Alfredo Aceves before turning it back to John Lackey hopefully this Sunday.  It could not have gone worse. A rain shortened seven inning game which the Red Sox lost 13-0 with Aceves not getting out of the 4th inning.  Aceves walked four, gave up eight runs, seven of them earned.  Obviously this performance was something no team is looking for when it comes to starting pitching.

After the game Aceves seemed to have a grip on the situation wondering why his team wasn’t hitting.  Can’t blame the weather Alfredo, Bartolo Colon pitched all seven innings and allowed no runs.  Apparently Colon messed up the mound on Aceves and had it filled in the third inning.  Comparing two performances is not hard to do when the weather is the same for both of them.  Everyone saw the conditions, you would have had to pay me to go to that game.

Aceves known for his crazy personality has had multiple run ins already this year.  In early spring training he was lobbing balls into hitters when pitchers were supposed to be giving it a full go. In the World Baseball Classic he was a part of the brawl between Team Mexico and Team Canada.  Larry Walked was quoted as saying he, “saw Satan” in Aceves’ eyes.  After the Classic, Aceves entered a game against the Rays and hit Sean Rodriguez with a pitch, almost causing another brawl.  Entering the season Aceves started as the long man in the bullpen.  John Lackey got hurt in his first start and Aceves stepped in to make three starts, never lasting more than five innings.  Is he a starter? Is he a reliever?

Right now Aceves is a minor leaguer.  After Wednesday’s 6-5 win over Oakland the Red Sox optioned him to Triple A Pawtucket.  Aceves has 72 hours to report to Pawtucket.  The likelihood of him reporting I really don’t know.  Him taking this demotion well is not something I expect.  The Red Sox are trying to get something for him by holding onto him instead of outright releasing him.  He was not good in the clubhouse as we saw.  Hopefully he doesn’t infect the Pawtucket clubhouse as well, having young players who are trying to reach the big leagues.  The team is making an example of him, who not to be like.  Manager John Farrell said the demotion is solely performance based, but I feel it is not.  See how long he can stay down there and not flip a gasket, until you can trade him to a team in need of a reliever for some value.

After a spring training full of incidents I feel Aceves made the team only because of injuries to the bullpen with Craig Breslow and Franklin Morales down.  Now that the team sent him to the minor leagues I believe Alfredo Aceves has played his last game in a Red Sox uniform.  Alex Wilson has looked good in a few appearances and the team recently called up Daniel Bard from Double A Portland.  With Bard passing Aceves on the depth chart that truly tells you something.  Alfredo it was nice knowing you.  He was one of the few players who looked to be trying in the horrible collapse of September 2011.  This years Red Sox are different though, no nonsense, no clubhouse problems.  It’s a Red Sox team I like to watch.

The Red Sox added a black armband to their jerseys in tribute to the victims of the Marathon tragedy.

After the horror of Monday’s Boston Marathon bombings the city of Boston and its fans try to find a distraction in sporting events for three hours or so.  Boston Strong is the way to be and everyone in Boston should be proud of the National Anthem at the Bruins game last night.  Sports really are just distractions to the outside world we live in today.  We all find comfort in being a part of a capacity crowd at Fenway, The Garden or Gillette and feel part of something big.  What happened this week is something bigger than we ever thought would happen to the city of Boston.  Boston’s athletes and athletes around the country truly showed how strong Boston is and that they are willing to help in any way they can.

The Red Sox were the first Boston team to play after the Marathon, but on the road in Cleveland against old friend Terry Francona.  Francona, who managed the Red Sox for eight seasons, did not want the focus of the series to be on him and it certainly isn’t now. The focus is on something much bigger than he could have ever imagined and certainly never wished for.  The Indians and all of Major League Baseball payed tribute to Boston playing songs like  “Dirty Water” and “Sweet Caroline” in the ballparks.  The rival New York Yankees even had a special banner on their scoreboard combining the logos of the two teams saying “Pray for Boston.”  Seeing all of Major League Baseball come together for the city of Boston is a great and when the Red Sox return home on Friday the atmosphere will be similar to The Garden last night.  Former Boston athletes have spoken out as well, including Jonathan Papelbon and Josh Reddick.  Once an athlete plays in Boston he will always be a part of it.

With the emotions running high the Red Sox took the field on Tuesday night looking for a win.  After going down in order in the first the Sox offense came alive and scored seven runs in the second inning.  Those runs stood the whole game as the offense went on to strikeout an astounding sixteen times in the game including Daniel Nava having a quarter of those with four of his own in the 7-2 win.  The win was not as important as taking the field for the city of Boston but it certainly added to the moment.  The personality on this team seems to be a good one amid a horrible tragedy like this, the athletes on the field seem to rally around it.  Boston will fight on.  Will Middlebrooks a young player on the Red Sox seems to have his head in the right place with quotes like “honored to put on this jersey for this city.”  You just feel like the team knows baseball is just a game to the city right now and if they can distract the minds of fans then they are doing their job.

On Wedneday night Alfredo Aceves took the hill and had a typical Aceves outing he looked good for stretches and bad for stretches.  He got through the first five innings without allowing a run until the sixth inning where he allowed home runs to Nick Swisher and Jason Giambi.  He was pulled and from there the cast of Junichi Tazawa, Koji Uehara, and Andrew Bailey slammed the door for the 6-3 win.  Mike Carp in his first start of the season had three hits in as many at bats. The first five hitters in the order all had multiple hit games that being Ellsbury, Victorino, Pedroia, Napoli, and Nava.  Will Middlebrooks continued to struggle going 0-5 and will be on the bench for tonight’s series finale.

Jon Lester takes the mound tonight looking for win number three on the year.  Lester had a great outing against the Rays this past Saturday and looks to keep up with a good start to the year.  Zack McAllister starts for the Indians who put up two quality starts against the Rays and White Sox respectively. With Terry Francona’s new bunch hosting the Red Sox not getting a lot of media attention you bet his return to Fenway in May for a four game weekend set will be huge.  The owners will try to welcome him back in some strange way and he probably won’t want any part of it. His return to Fenway will be a big deal as it is Cleveland’s only visit to Fenway this season.

Friday’s return to Fenway will certainly be a big deal as well.  When Clay Buchholz takes the mound in the top of the first you bet the park will be buzzing with “We Love Boston” chants. Boston is a great city and the people are Boston are great people. Remain Boston Strong.

Will Middlebrooks after hitting another home run on Sunday.

The openers are over Red Sox fans.  Now that the team is 5-2 and ready to focus on just the games this offense has looked pretty good.  They have beaten up on pitchers C.C. Sabathia, Josh Johnson, and R.A. Dickey.  Those pitchers are Cy Young caliber.  Dickey, adjusting to being back to the American League, has not fared too well in his two starts but still he is a good pitcher.  Jumping on him for five runs in the first inning is what Red Sox fans love to see.  In recent memory Red Sox pitchers are the ones getting jumped on in the early innings where the offense can’t seem to catch up.  With Jon Lester on the mound Sunday the Blue Jays offense had no answers for the lefty.

Sunday Will Middlebrooks had a career day going 4-5 with 3 home runs and a double.  He also flew out to deep left in his last at bat sending Red Sox fans to the edge of their seats to see if he could hit a fourth home run.  Middlebrooks is the youngest Red Sox player to hit 3 home runs in a game and is in the company of Jim Rice who also hit 3 in a game at the age of 24. So far this season we have seen Middlebrooks bat fifth and sixth in this Red Sox lineup.  With David Ortiz out for the next few weeks Middlebrooks could be making a statement that he shouldn’t be moved down in the order when Ortiz returns.  Power in the middle of the lineup seemed to be a question mark for the Red Sox this spring training with Ortiz out and Napoli seeming to be the only real threat.  Napoli has done a nice job with 2 home runs of his own with a low average as expected.  Napoli and Middlebrooks batting 4 and 5 in the lineup can be good because they have great swings but they do strikeout a lot so they may be broken up with Ortiz hitting 5th and Middlebrooks moving down in the order or possibly up to third with Pedroia taking the second spot if Victorino is moved down against a righty.

Middlebrooks is still only 24 which is great for the future of the Red Sox.  Having him in the middle of the lineup will truly help out the whole offense especially if he develops more power which I think he will.  Last season combined between Pawtucket and Boston he hit 24 home runs.  He did that  missing the least two months of the year with a broken wrist.  He certainly has thirty home run potential which is perfect for this day of baseball.  Long are the days where 50 home runs leads the league. Last year Miguel Cabrera on his way to a triple crown lead the majors with 44 home runs.  Cabrera has arguably been an MVP candidate since he stepped on the field in 2003.  His second season in the majors he hit 33 home runs.  I’ll hold the comparisons between Middlebrooks and Cabrera for now, after all Middlebrooks has not even played 100 games yet.  Expecting 30 home runs should not be a stretch for Middlebrooks if he can stay healthy.

Power can sometimes be a tough skill to achieve in baseball and a rare one now past the steroid era.  Two seasons ago we saw Jacoby Ellsbury hit 32 home runs and be the runner up for MVP. Ellsbury hadn’t hit over 9 in a season before 2011.  That was one of the only seasons Ellsbury has been fully healthy for in a Red Sox uniform and he produced.  He was 26 during the season and coming off an injury in 2010.  Much can happen in an offseason at Athletes Performance in Arizona.  Many Red Sox players go to Arizona to work out including Dustin Pedroia.  This offseason Will Middlebrooks joined Pedroia which could be a good sign.  I know it has only been seven games and he has 4 home runs but so far I like what I see and other Red Sox fans do too.  Middlebrooks has 30 home run potential which could be scary for the AL East opponents.