Pauley to Make MLB Debut

Sea Dogs right hander David Pauley will make his Major League debut tonight against the strong Toronto Blue Jays lineup. It's a tall order for Pauley's major league debut. The Blue Jays lead the majors with a collective 300/362/499 (861 OPS) batting line and are averaging 5.6 runs per game. The Jays lineup features seven regulars with OPS greater than 850. Pauley is having a fine season for Portland, sporting a 2.39 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 47/17 K/BB ratio in 60.1 innings with a hard-luck 2-3 record. He's a sinker/change/curveball guy who is effective when he throws strikes and keeps the ball on the ground. If he can manage that tonight, he should be fine. John Lester and Abe Alvarez are more major-league ready at Pawtucket, but their pitching schedules didn't work for this start. Best of luck, David!

Mike Rozier was promoted from Greenville and will take Pauley's start tonight. Rozier is a mid-grade prospect. In nine starts for the drive this year he's 3-1 with a 4.01 ERA and 1.38 WHIP. He has a rather pedestrian 31/20 K/BB ratio in 42.2 innings. He's still only 21, so he may be in position to take a leap forward in the next couple of seasons.

Former Sox Prospect Sinks Dogs

A ninth inning homer by Steve Lomasney sunk the Sea Dogs, 6-5 on Saturday afternoon. Lomasney was once a top catching prospect in the Boston organization, appearing in one game with the big club in 1999, but has been bouncing around the minors while dealing with injury problems for the past couple of years. Healthy again, he's in the Twins organization, trying to revive his prospect status with the New Britain Rock Cats. In the top of the 9th on Saturday, he caught up with a fastball delivered by El Guapo, Jr. and bounced it off the Hannaford sign over the left field wall for a two run shot, resulting in Martinez' second blown save of the season.

With tempertures in the 80's, this felt like a mid-summer game. However, the teams were hardly in mid summer form, as the game was rather sloppily played. The teams combined to commit three errors, we saw a failed sacrifice bunt (courtesy of the Sea Dogs) and a runner picked off second base (ditto). Neither starting pitcher lasted through the fifth inning. Portland starter Jose Vaquedano allowed four runs, only one earned, in 4.2 innings, and pitched OK though he was hardly overpowering. Adam Harben, considered one of Minnesota's top prospects, did not impress at all. Harben throws in the low 90's, but had zero command. He was knocked out with two outs in the fourth having allowed three runs on four hits, three walks and two hit batsmen. He failed to record a single strikeout on the afternoon.

The Sea Dogs scored a couple of runs off John Thomas in the 6th, then both bullpens settled down. El Guapo, Jr. was called upon for a two-inning save. He cruised through the 8th, then got into trouble by giving up a leadoff double to Doug Deeds to start the ninth. A sacrifice put the tying run on third, but Lomasney did better than tie the game with his blast. Levale Speigner, who was a starter last season, came on to shut the door on the Dogs in the 9th.

Scorer's Notes:

• Brandon Moss may be showing signs of coming out of his season-long slump. He only recorded one hit in five plate appearances but, importantly, did not strike out. It looks like he's making an effort to hit the ball to the opposite field, which results in far less flailing at outside pitches. If it's good enough for Manny, I guess it's good enough for Moss.
• The Red Sox appear to be making a conscious decision to not have a designated "closer" on their minor league teams. Martinez leads the Sea Dogs with 6 saves, but he was splitting the role with Barry Hertzler prior to Hertzler's promotion. Seven different pitchers have already recorded saves for the Sea Dogs. Meanwhile, the "closer of the future" for the Red Sox is starting games and working multiple innings for Pawtucket. In fact, the Sea Dogs have had several multiple-inning saves. It seems that the organization is finding it more important to develop it's players than to have guys pigeonholed into roles that they may not be filling at the next level. It's good approach.
• In addition to some of the failings noted above, the Sea Dogs twice had hit-and-run singles that only advanced the runner one base, and they left 10 runners on base. Ugh!

El Guapo deals

Two are Promoted

The Red Sox promoted Sea Dogs OF David Murphy (pictured)and Relief Pitcher Barry Hetzler to Pawtucket. Chris Durbin and Randy Beam were activated from the DL to take their places.

Murphy was highly touted after being selected in the first round in 2003. He had a hot start in Lowell and was considered a top prospect. He suffered through an injury-filled 2004 in which he showed no power whatsoever. Last year in Portland he started off slow with the bat, and his prospect status was practically nonexistant. Then he regained his stroke and some power in the second half of the season. Murphy was named the Sea Dogs MVP with his 275/337/430-14-75 performance. Many expected Murph to head to Pawtucket out of spring training, but he returned to Portland. In 42 games for the Sea Dogs this year he hit 273/315/436-3-25 and was leading the team in RBI and with 17 doubles. He had a terrific game last Sunday that may have sped his promotion.

To me, Murphy looks like a good gap hitter with power that continues to emerge. He doesn't walk as much as the Sox might like to see, but he seems like an intelligent player and that may come. He's very good defensively, covering a lot of ground in center field, and he has a strong arm. I think he'll start slowly, but ultimately do well in AAA.

Hertzler I know less about. I think I saw him once this year. He's got a low-90's sinker that seems to be developing. Hertzler has a 1.05 ERA to go along with four saves in 25.2 IP, but his 1.32 WHIP and 17/14 K/BB ratio indicate he's been a bit lucky thus far. At 25 years old, he's a bit old for strong "prospect" status, but he's been a valuable part of the Portland pen.

We wish them both well in AAA.

Sea Dogs host Rock Cats

After completing a four-game sweep of the Binhamton Mets, the Sea Dogs return home for four-game stints vs. the New Britain Rock Cats, which will be followed with a four game set vs. the Trenton Thunder, which includes a Wednesday double header.

New Britain captured game one of the series, 4-0, as Errol Simonitsch blanked the Dogs on three hits over seven innings. David Pauley had another good start go for naught for the lack of run support. He gave up four runs (three earned) in a strong 8 inning outing in which he allowed just six hits and one walk.

Let's take a quick look at the top prospects on the New Britain roster, according (as always) to John Sickels.

RHP Matt Garza is given a B+ rating by Sickels, which is very good. The 22 year old starter made short work of the Florida State League, going 5-1 with a 1.42 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 44.1 innings. He's been even better in two starts thus far for New Britain, allowing no runs in 13.2 innings, surrendering just five hits and two walks while striking out 22 in that time. He will take the mound in Sunday's game.

3B Matt Moses is right behind Garza with a B rating. Just 21 years old, he's acquitted himself well against generally older competition. In 37 games, Moses is batting 289/331/467-7-22 for the Cats.

Adam Harben is another big 22 year old righty. He's 1-2 with a 2.92 ERA on the season, but his K:BB ratio (19:26 in 37 IP) is not encouraging. He starts Saturday's game.

OF Alex Romero is granted a B- by Sickels, though I think he's pretty good player. He's back for his second go-round at AA after having a fine season in which he batted .301 with 15 home runs at age 21 last year. Romero started the season in AAA this year, but was sent back after a slow start. He's been tearing up the Eastern League thus far, batting 312/387/541-4-13 with 10 steals. Romero didn't walk much last year, but he seems to have picked up the rate this year and he doesn't strike out much. I think he's a guy to watch.

LHP Glen Perkins is the third member of the rotation on Sickels' list. The 23 year-old spent half the season last year in New Britain and returns for a longer stint this time around. Perkins has had some poor luck in showing a 1-4 record despite a decent 3.50 ERA and 54/17 K:BB in 46.2 IP. Perkins is also scheduled for this series, pitching in Monday's finale.

OF Denard Span is the final Rock Cat on the list. Another 22 year old, and another guy returning to AA, Span is a speed guy with a decent BA, OK-not-great walk rate, and little power. His numbers this year are 286/335/337-1-10 with 8 steals (in 12 tries).

That's a pretty good list of prospects, most of whom are playing well this year. The Rock Cats are just 21-23 thus far, but if these guys gel and the supporting cast is decent, I expect New Britain to make a run at the playoffs.

Big Inning Leads to Win

It looked like it was going to be a rain soaked loss this afternoon at Hadlock. That was before the Sea Dogs strung together eight straight hits to start an eighth inning in which they would eventually score 11 runs. The final result was an easy 12-5 victory over the visiting New Hampshire Fisher Cats. David Murphy struck two big blows in the inning, a two-run double to narrow the score to 5-3 in favor of New Hampshire, then a bases loaded triple to give the Dogs a save 11-5 lead. Murphy, who scored the final run on Chad Spann's ground out, had a huge game. The lanky center fielder hit three doubles off the outfield wall and the line drive triple in the right field corner as part of a 5-5 performance in which he scored three runs and knocked in five. Murphy moved into the team lead with 24 RBI on the year.

David Pauley got the start for the Sea Dogs and had another fine performance without his best stuff. He pitched six innings and allowed just two runs on six hits with no walks while striking out five. After Jon Searles gave up three unearned runs in the middle of a heavy downpour, Victor Ramos came in to pitch in a mopup role. Ramos has been struggling on the season, but he pitched two shutout innings and found himself with a win at the end of the day.

Scorer's notes:

• Catcher Curtis Thigpen swung the big bat for the Fisher Cats, hitting a home run over the scoreboard in left-center field in the sixth and collecting a double on the afternoon. The top prospect also threw out two of three would-be base stealers on the afternoon.
• Murphy also flashed some leather in tracking down Chip Cannon's deep sacrifice fly ball in the top of the first innings.
• Brandon Moss is really struggling with the bat. He managed an RBI single during the 8th inning rally and collected a walk, but he also looked bad on three strikeouts during the game. After going down in the 6th, Moss slammed his bat into the ground and broke it into two pieces.
• Pauley coaxed 9 ground ball outs in the game. Most went to Spann, who handled 9 chances at the hot corner. He's a fine fielder, however his throwing error spurred the three-run NH rally in the 7th.
• The temparature dropped more than 10 degrees as the dark clouds rolled in early in the game. Rain was falling by the fourth inning. It was too wet to take any further notes.

Storm's a comin'.

Abe Alvarez Promoted

Former Sea Dog Abe Alvarez was promoted to Boston to provide a lefty arm out of the bullpen. This is Abe's fourth cup with the Sox, and he's not had a lot of success (9 runs allowed in 7.1 innings pitched). This, plus the development of studs Jonathan Papelbon and Jon Lester, had many people forgetting about his prospect status. However, despite his 4.85 ERA in Pawtucket last season, he was the best pitcher on the staff at just 22 years of age. We forget just how young he's been compared to the competition ever since he was drafted out of Long Beach State in 2003.

Alvarez is a Bill Lee-type pitcher. Not a great fastball, but a lot of great junk and terrific control. Reports indicate that he's been working on a cut fastball thus far this season. The results have been pretty good. In 7 starts for the PawSox, he's 5-0 with a 2.18 ERA and a WHIP just over 1.00. His K/BB numbers aren't as good as they have been in the past, which may be the result of him working on other pitches, but his results speak for themselves. I think Abe still has a good career as a mid-rotation starter ahead of him, and could be a 15+ game winner with the right lineup around him. Here's hoping he gets a chance to pitch, and that he takes whatever opportunity to show what he can do.

Dogs are Struggling

While the Sea Blog has been away, the Dogs have failed to play . . . . good baseball. The Sea Dogs have lost six of their last seven outings. Following a rain out in Portland, the Dogs dropped the series finale vs. Trenton. They then dropped two to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats before a couple more rainouts. That was followed by a sweep by the Thunder in Trenton. The Sea Dogs then returned to Portland and ended the streak with a 5-2 victory over the Fisher Cats behind another strong outing by Chris Smith on Friday night. Portland was back in the loss column in falling 4-1 this afternooon.

While the pitchers have had a few poor outings, it's the offense that continues to fail the Sea Dogs. Portland has scored just 10 runs in the six losses, with two shutouts in the streak. There are no current members of the team with an OPS above .800, save for Tyler Minges who is hitting 286/375/476-0-3 in eight games since being sent back from Pawtucket. Luis Antonio "Little Papi" Jiminez has been the best overall batter for Portland (264/355/438-5-17), while David Murphy is putting up "OK" numbers (272/318/422-3-19), though he's not walking a ton. Chad Spann (250/357/352) is the only other Portland batter with an OPS over .700. Brandon Moss leads the team with 20 RBI, but his 197/244/333 line and team-leading 33 strikeouts are extremely disappointing for a top prospect in his second year at AAA. Jeremy West and Alberto Concepcion are two other guys who returned and have failed to progress thus far this season.

The fact that the Sea Dogs are 20-18 and in second place in the EL North is directly attributable to the pitching staff. Smith (3-3, 2.01, 0.93), David Pauley (2-2, 2.14, 1.25 WHIP), and Kason Gabbard (4-2, 3.44, 1.20) have all been solid. Phil Siebel has been a tough luck 0-2 with a 1.8o ERA and 0.95 WHIP in four starts since his recall from Greenville. The bullpen has done a respectable job, anchored by Barry Hertzler (1.19 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 4 saves) and Edgar "Guapo Jr." Martinez (1.33 ERA, 0.65 WHIP, 4 saves, 22/3 K/BB ratio in 20.1 IP). Guapo has come from almost nowhere to become a top prospect for Boston. He's now ranked #8 by the folks at SoxProspects.com.

I'll be attending the Sunday game vs. the Fisher Cats, my first in a few weeks. New Hampshire has been a tough rival for the Sea Dogs (and, as a Blue Jays affiliate, a rival through the major league clubs, too) over the last couple of years, but are only 15-24 and last in the North thus far on the season. The Fisher Cats have a few guys who appear on John Sickels' top 20 list - C Curtis Thigpen, OF Adam Lind, 1B Chip Cannon and LHP Davis Romero. All have produced well for NH. Cannon (264/345/481-6-16) and Lind (255/297/416-6-15) lead the team in homers, though Lind doesn't walk much and is making far too many outs. Thigpen's play has been more limited, but his 254/389/475-1-6 line in 18 games shows both good power and good plate discipline. Romero has pitched well (4-3, 2.44, 1.06, 44/12 K/BB in 48 IP) in 8 starts, though he took the loss on Friday night.

Hopefully the Dogs will finish the series with another Sunday special. I expect the hitting to hit it's stride soon. There are a lot of players repeating AA this year, and that's usually a recipe for success. If the struggles continue, it would have to be considered a disaster for the Red Sox farm system.

The Other Portland

I'm freshly returned from the other Portland, the one in Oregon, where my buddy Ralph and I took in a Thursday night tilt between the Beavers (AAA affiliate of the San Diego Padres), and the Albuquerque Isotopes, the Marlins affiliate in the Pacific Coast League.

The venue was Portland's PGE Park. This is an old ballpark (formerly Multnomah Stadium) that is tucked in between on 18th Street at the end of Taylor and Salmon Streets. The approach to the field is terrific. There is a fence beyond the family deck in left field that passers-by can look through to see the park and the field below. The street is close enough that it can be reached by a ball on the fly, as was the case on the night that I was there.

The park also has a manually-operated scoreboard. You can see the "action" from the street.

I'm not sure of the capacity, but it is certainly in excess of 15,000 people, however the park maintains an intimate feel similar to Hadlock Field in Portland, Maine. For one thing, the park is crammed between the city's streets and has a health club looming just beyond the right field fence. While the actual outfield fence is short, the sunken nature of the park leads to an ivy-covered concrete wall in left that attempts to capture the ambience of Fenway or Wrigley, but fails in both endeavors. There is a family section to the left of the foul pole, with table seating and bouncy rides.
Most of the seating is under an overhanging roof. The roof and all the surrounding concrete make it a pretty loud place.

The park was renovated a few years ago, resulting in the addition of the private boxes behind home plate that you can see in the "from the street" photo above. The concourses were expanded, and the place is quite comfortable with a lot of concessions. Some members of our conference attended the Wednesday night game and reported that it was $1 hot dog night. We didn't get that benefit, but were pleased to learn that Thursday night is $2 Miller Lite night. I'm not the biggest fan of Miller Lite, and thus was quite pleased to find out that the microbrews were also $3 off - for the same price as a bag of peanuts, one could purchase 12 lucious ounces of Widmer Brothers Drop Top Amber Ale. Which Ralph and I did, a couple of times over.

There was a ballgame that night, and a pretty good one, too. I'm a bit of a prospect follower, and there wasn't much to follow. The Beavers active roster only featured one player on John Sickels' list - first baseman Paul McAnulty - and he didn't play. The Isotopes have a few more guys who are prospects, but two of them are in the rotatation (Yusmiero Petit and Renyel Pinto) and not pitching. We did get to see an inning from RH reliever Chris Resop at the end of the night.

On the other hand, former prospects were aplenty. Portland started Jack Cust, Terrmel Sledge and Bobby Hill, all of whom were highly touted at one point or another, and none of whom has made much of a mark in the majors. There were a bunch of other guys who have had major league time without a ton of success - Seth Etherton, Jimmy Anderson and Scott Seabol to name three.

It was Etherton and Seabol who had the most success on Thursday, however. Etherton, Portland's starting pitcher, began his outing with three perfect innings before running into a bit of trouble in the fourth. The biggest trouble came from Seabol, who hit two long home runs off the righty. Etherton surrendered just the two runs on three hits while striking out six over seven innings pitched. He was more effective than Albuquerque starter Jeff Fulchino. The big Isotope surrendered eight hits over 5.1 innings, with the big blows being a home run off the concrete by first baseman Jon Knott in the second, and a two run double in the sixth off the bat of center fielder Dustin Delucchi. The last few innings passed quickly, and the Beavers came out on top of a 3-2 score.

I enjoyed the game at PGE park. I was a bit surprised by the lack of turnout. The call of cheap beer brought just over 6,000 fans to the park. The crowd was easily swallowed up by the expanses of the stadium, however (as noted above) the place did get loud toward the end of the night. The Portland, Oregon metro region is probably 10 times the size of Portland, Maine, but the Sea Dogs manage to put nearly the same number of fans in the ballpark. (On Wednesday evening, the Sea Dogs outdrew the Beavers by about 1,000 fans without the call of free hot dogs or beer.) I understand that the Oregon economy isn't all that strong right now, but it seems that a city that makes overtures of hosting a major league team ought to be able to sell a few more $8 - $10 tickets to a AAA game. Parking is limited, but access is very easy - the ballpark is walking distance from the heart of downtown, and the light rail train stops right outside. However, Ralph and I paid $5 each on the street for our $10 seats, and we were just 10 rows from the field. Alas, Portland's loss was my gain.

SeaBlog takes a Break

There will be a brief hiatus here at the SeaBlog. My work duties are taking me to the other Portland for a conference. Fortunately the Portland Beavers will be in town while I am there. The Beavers are the AAA affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, and are currently in third place in the Pacific Coast League's "Pacific North" division with a 16-14 record. I plan to catch the Thursday matchup vs. the Albuquerque Isotopes. The Isotopes, with a 22-9 record, may very well be a better team than their parent club, the Florida Marlins. I'll check in over the weekend with my impressions and some photos.

Sea Dogs are Rolling

The Sea Dogs completed a sweep of the New Britain Rock Cats over the weekend, and now have won nine of their last 10 games to pull into first place in the EL North, 1/2 game ahead of the Connecticut Defenders. Due to two nights of rain, I was unable to catch the Defenders when they were in town, but Portland took two of three in between their sweeps of New Britain and Bowie. Dr. Jekyll has had two terrific starts in the past week, allowing one run on just two hits with seven strikeouts over seven innings yesterday, following a six-inning, two-hit, 10 K stint on Monday night. Gabbard is now 4-1 with a 3.13 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and 32 K's in 31.2 innings pitched on the season.

Portland's bats have started to come around as well, as the team scored 23 runs in the three games at New Britain. The entire starting lineup is now batting over .200, and new left fielder Jay Johnson has been a sparkplug, batting 333-2-9 in his first eight games at AA.

The Sea Dogs return home for a three-game stint vs. the rival Trenton Thunder before heading back out on the road at the end of the week. Unfortunately, travels will keep me from this series, and will also keep me from previewing the Thunder this week.