Hansen Promoted

Craig Hansen's stay in Portland proved to be a short one. He was promoted to Pawtucket after allowing just one run in 11 innings for the Sea Dogs. The run that he allowed in his last appearance was the first of his minor league career.

When Hansen was sent to Portland at the start of the season, Red Sox minor league guru Ben Cherington commented that the Sox wanted Hansen to be on a program of pre-scheduled, multi-inning appearances. The team thought that AA was the best place for this program. While this may be the case, it's also clear that AA hitters aren't much of a challenge for the young fireballer. He's better served to try his luck against the more developed batters in the International League. The way Boston's bullpen is looking thus far on the season, it appears the Sox could benefit from having Hansen make the leap sooner rather than later.

As part of the roster shuffle, Charlie Zink returned to Portland. Also, Devern Hansack was transferred to Lowell and Phil Seibel was promoted from Greenville. Seibel, a lefty who appeared in two games for the Red Sox in 2004, is recovering from Tommy John surgery. He made his 2006 Sea Dogs debut with a start Friday night. I'll write more about that in the game recap.