Prospect and Minor League Discussion

[Bleeding Green]

So it looks like maybe Masterson will be called up to AA soon. By the way, Lancaster just won the first half of the Hi-A season behind Masterson's strong outing.

7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 5 K, 0 BB, 10/6 GB/FB.

So he spends the rest of the season in AA, maybe a few weeks there starting next season, half a season in AAA and Boston by September 2008.

Please god yes. Next year is going to be so nice with Buchholz, Bowden and Masterson hopefully all getting some burn with the big club. When was the last time the Red Sox had three pitching prospects pushing the big club with good scouting reports and good stats to back them up?

Roy Halladay II.

[The Rondo Show]

So it looks like maybe Masterson will be called up to AA soon. By the way, Lancaster just won the first half of the Hi-A season behind Masterson's strong outing.

7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 5 K, 0 BB, 10/6 GB/FB.

So he spends the rest of the season in AA, maybe a few weeks there starting next season, half a season in AAA and Boston by September 2008.

Please god yes. Next year is going to be so nice with Buchholz, Bowden and Masterson hopefully all getting some burn with the big club. When was the last time the Red Sox had three pitching prospects pushing the big club with good scouting reports and good stats to back them up?

Roy Halladay II.

Well, you got your wish/prediction. Both Masterson and Bubba Bell have been called up to Portland.

Think this means Clay gets promoted to Pawtucket now? I hope so.

[Bleeding Green]

Gotta be. Either that or to Boston.

[Dirty Water]

Looks like Buchholz is moving up soon. Fro MLB.com

It was a day in which the future looked exceedingly bright for the Boston Red Sox. Ellsbury, the top position prospect in the organization, was joined in San Francisco by the rocket right arm of Clay Buchholz, who might be Pawtucket-bound after the All-Star break.

All-Star Game Coverage

"I've been told that I might be going to Pawtucket; that would be great," said Buchholz. "That's what you want to do in Minor League Baseball, move up in the ranks. That would be fun for me. If it doesn't happen, I'm happy pitching in Portland. It's a great place to pitch."

Buchholz is 7-2 with a 1.77 ERA for Double-A Portland.

[The Rondo Show]

Jed Lowrie went 3-6 with 2 HR's and a double yesterday. He started out awful his first 14 games but here are his numbers the last 64 games (stolen from soxprospects):

Last 64 games:
80/237, 135TB, 38/41 K/BB, HBP, .338 AVG/.437 OBP/.570 SLG/1.007 OPS.
He now has a .924 OPS on the season; good for 3rd in the Eastern League.

Buchholz pitched in the futures game (in relief). He allowed an opposite field homer to Joey Votto to open up his outing but was dominant after that. The pitch to Votto was not bad at all, 93 MPH on the corner and just above the knees that Votto went the other way with for a homer. He struck out 2 and got a very weak groundball to the shortstop. His changeup was just disgustingly good (think James Shields esque; hopefully it is always like that) yesterday and he got (I believe) 5 swings and misses on it. His curve had its usual sick drop to it but he had a tough time controlling it, his fastball velocity and command (92 was the lowest he hit, hit 94 a few times) was very good yesterday. I think he only threw 1 slider but it was very nice. It was to a right-handed batter (might've been Max Ramirez) who gave up on it but it caught the corner for a called strike. I was pretty impressed with his stuff and he clearly (to me) had the best secondary offerings of the pitchers in the game.

Bleeding Green's boy, Justin Masterson, makes his AA debut in a little more than an hour.

[The Rondo Show]

Bleeding Green's boy, Justin Masterson, makes his AA debut in a little more than an hour.

Well, he had a "decent" debut.

6 2/3 IP, 0 hits, 2 walks, 9 K's, 8 groundouts to 3 fly outs and 85 pitches thrown.

[Bleeding Green]

Roy Halladay.

[The Rondo Show]

Buchholz named the most impressive pitcher at the Future's Game by the scouts BA talked to:

1. Clay Buchholz, rhp, Red Sox

[Bleeding Green]

How bad is Bryce Cox now? Started the season in AA, now he's in Low-A Greenville and he's just getting lit up.

The only positive is that he's still getting groundballs. But damn, I expected this guy to fly through the system and basically be in Boston by now.

Also, Felix Doubront left today's game with an apparent elbow problem. But maybe it's just a precautionary move.

[Bleeding Green]

You guys should watch the AAA All-Star Game on ESPN2. Brandon Moss just cranked an opposite field homer in the first inning.

.303/.392/.528, 13 HR. He's a lefty who hits lefties well (.346/.409/.596 in 104 AB), he's only 23, he'll have a full year of AAA experience when camp breaks next year.

He's legit. The thought of him potentially replacing Manny next year is very exciting.

[Markos]

at this point I could replace Manny

[Bleeding Green]

OK, Justin Masterson is officially amazing.

6 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 7 K. 10 GO/FO. All 7 strikeouts were of the swinging variety.

Just straight up dominant. He's better than Bowden. 12.2 IP of scoreless pitching to start his AA career. Plus he's Jamaican and his legs are made of redwood.

Please be excited. Roy Halladay II is upon us.

[Markos]

OK, Justin Masterson is officially amazing.

6 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 7 K. 10 GO/FO. All 7 strikeouts were of the swinging variety.

Just straight up dominant. He's better than Bowden. 12.2 IP of scoreless pitching to start his AA career. Plus he's Jamaican and his legs are made of redwood.

Please be excited. Roy Halladay II is upon us.

ok i am

[The Rondo Show]

Ryan Kalish.

[Bleeding Green]

YES! 25% line-drive rate and he doesn't strikeout. Always a good combination.

Also, he's fast and plays CF.

[The Rondo Show]

Yep, Kalish is definitely becoming a fav. of mine. Gotta love the potential of the outfielders in the low minors. Place, Kalish, Lin, Beltre then some guys who have been solid producers so far like Reddick and Engel.

Hagadone will make his pro debut for Lowell tomorrow. Should be interesting.

[Bleeding Green]

Yeah, I love Reddick and Kalish. Contact is king in the low-minors. And to have some power with it, too. Hell yeah.

[The Rondo Show]

Lowell was rained out so Hagadone's pro debut moved back a day.

Tomorrow should be a fun day to follow in the minors with Hagadone making his pro debut, Buchholz his AAA debut and Bowden turning things around starting tomorrow.

[The Rondo Show]

****. Due to the rain outs, neither Bowden or Hagadone pitch today and Clay will be on a pitch count of 50. This went from a great day in the minors to a rather boring one pretty quickly.

Lars went 2-5 with a 2B in a day game for Greenville. Place was 3-5 with a 2B.

[The Rondo Show]

Clay's AAA debut: 3 IP, 5 hits, 2 earned (3 total), 0 walks, 4 K's, 1 3-run homer allowed.

Kris Johnson: 7 IP, 4 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 7 K's. He appears to be pitching much better lately (except that last brutal start), should be interesting to see how he does when he gets out of Lancaster.

GCL Sox stomped the Pirates 15-0. Lin went 4-6 with a double, triple and 4 RBI's. He is starting to rake after a **** start. Tejeda, 2 more hits. Beltre 2-5 with a double; hitting better last few games.

Hagadone goes Wednesday, Bowden tomorrow.