No-no Caps Sweep

Miguel Pinango put an exclamation point on Binghamton's four-game weekend sweep of the Sea Dogs with a seven-inning no-hitter in the nightcap of Sunday's double header. The Mets right hander didn't appear to be overpowering, however he changed speeds, hit his locations and kept the Portland batters off balance all afternoon. Pinango came within two outs of a perfect game before Matt Van der Bosch reached on a questionable error charged to shortstop Corey Ragsdale. Apparently the ball throw drew the first baseman off the bag, allowing the speedy VDB to reach, however I've seen much more egregious misplays be scored as a hit. Nonetheless, Pinango was masterful, allowing just one hard hit ball (a liner to center by Chad Spann in the 7th) and striking out seven. Center fielder Carlos Gomez, the BMets' top prospect, preserved the no-hitter with a diving catch of a flare off the bat of Jacoby Ellsbury leading off the 7th, the only real threat by the Sea Dogs other than the error.

Pinango warms up.

Pinango apparently was once a bit of a prospect for the Mets, but had Tommy John surgery and is on the road to recovery. Following yesterday’s game, his stats this year are in line with his pre-injury numbers (ERA in the mid-3.00’s, WHIP around 1.25, very low walk rate), except for his strikeouts. Pinango is striking out about 1 batter every two innings, whereas his rate was greater than 7 per 9 innings pre-injury. He’s still only 23 years old, so he may be re-establishing his stock for the future.

Portland pitching was pretty good in the game, considering that they lost 7-0. Save for a six-batter burst in the third inning, capped by Jay Caligiuri’s grand slam that made the score 6-0, the Bingamton bats were pretty quiet throughout the nightcap.

The opening game featured a theme that has become all too familiar of late for the Sea Dogs, and particularly starting pitcher Chris Smith. Smith allowed a long home run to Michel Abreu in the first, then settled down while the Sea Dogs took a 4-2 lead after four innings. Smith struggled a bit in the fifth and the Mets closed it to one run. It looked for all the world like Smith should probably come out of the game, but he had only thrown 77 pitches to that point and came out for the sixth. He responded with a walk, a single, and back-to-back homers over the left field wall by Ragsdale and 37-year-old veteran Mike DiFelice. Li'l Papi brought the game back to one run, but Abreu hit an identical blast over the center field wall in the 7th to preserve the three run victory.

Notes:

• Abreu had a big day, also coming up with two hits, including an RBI double, in the nightcap.
• According to the scoreboard, Ragsdale is the #28 prospect in the Mets system. Well, too bad for the Mets, I guess. Ragsdale has some pop, but he's hitting .195 with 136 strikeouts in 93 games. Guys who can't make contact in AA don't make the majors. Oh, I recall Russell Branyan striking out at prodigious rates when he played for Akron way back when. Looking at his minor league stats, however, reveals the difference: Branyan struck out 114 times in 84 games in the EL over two seasons. He also hit 28 home runs and drew 63 walks in that time. Ragsdale barely has 28 walks (29 total) and has hit but six home runs. Co-scorers Nick and Rob dubbed Ragsdale "Corey with a K" earlier in the series.
  
• Gomez reminds one of Hanley Ramirez. He's an athletic 20 year old, tall and skinny, who swings hard at everything and doesn't take a lot of walks. Ramirez' discipline numbers were a little better than Gomez', but the kid has a chance to be an exciting player like the Florida shortstop.
  

Gabbard To Make Major League Debut

Kason Gabbard has been pegged by the Red Sox to fill in for Tim Wakefield. The erstwhile Mr. Hyde will make his major league debut this afternoon in Seattle. Wakefield apparently has a broken rib. Gabbard started the season in Portland and pitched very well: 9-2, 2.57, WHIP just over 1.00, and 68/23 K/BB ratio in 73.2 innings pitched. He started slowly for the PawSox, but had a couple of nice outings recently, and he currently stands at 1-3, 4.97 ERA, WHIP of 1.38 and 23/10 K/BB ratio in 29 innings pitched. His W/L record and ERA aren't impressive, but the ratios are all pretty good. Congrats to yet another Sea Dog on his way to the majors!

Here's a more extensive article from Minor Leage Baseball.com

Last Year's Prospects

Last year was an exciting year for the Sea Dogs, with a bunch of top prospects coming through town, with a handful of middling prospects along for the ride as well. Let's see how they are all doing this year.

1B Jeremy West: Earned a return trip to Portland, where he has hit 294/364/462-8-46 in 85 games, mainly as a DH. He needs to hit for more power to make an impact in the big leagues, I believe.

2B Dustin Pedroia: He was promoed to AAA mid-season last year and remains there this year. Started slowly this year following a Spring Training injury, but has heated up lately: 307/382/431-3-32 in 80 games with an impressive 35/24 BB/K ratio. He should be in Boston in September, and I expect him to start for the BoSox next season.

SS Hanley Ramirez: Traded to Florida in the offseason as part of the package for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell, Ramirez has hit 271/336/433-9-30 with 26 steals over 90 games as the Marlins starting shortstop. That's pretty darn good for a 22 year old middle infielder.

LF Chris Durbin: Durbin performed well for the Sea Dogs last year and made the EL all star team. He was returned to Portland and has been plagued by injuries for much of the year. He is hitting 261/348/394-4-23 in 62 games on the season. His power numbers are down, which could be a result of the injuries. He was always a C/C+ prospect and I think he's still there, meaning he'll probably be 4th/5th OF in the majors some day.

CF David Murphy: He was also returned to Portland at the start of the season, but was promoted to Pawtucket after a month. He's really taken a shine to AAA, hitting 306/391/543-6-28 in 48 games for the PawSox. He's truly re-established his prospect status this year, after looking like a first-round bust as recently as last June.

RF Brandon Moss: He's sort of the opposite of Murphy. Moss had a huge year in 2004, then was OK in Portland last season (making the EL All Star game), leading many to assume he would be promoted to AAA. Instead, he was returned to the Sea Dogs, for whom he started very slowly. He's rebounded to hit 275/339/425-8-60 in 91 games. Moss has turned into a bit of an enigma, with impressive power numbers (including 29 doubles), but quite a bit of trouble with contact (75 K's). At 22 he's still quite young, and doubles at this age often translate to home runs in a couple of years. I believe that he can still establish himself as a solid major leaguer.

SP Jonathan Papelbon: When he left Portland last June he was known simply as Jon. Started a few games for the Sox last season, then came back as a setup man at the end of the season. He was quite effective in that role, but was given the keys to the closer's job when Keith Foulke proved not to be ready. He's been pretty good in that role: 44 G, 50 IP, 2-1, 0.54 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, 29/32 in saves, 50K/9BB. Simply dominant. I still believe he'll be in the starting rotation as early as next year - his stuff is too good to limit to 80 innings per year.

SP Jon Lester: Yet another 22 year old. Lester didn't lengthen his name upon his promotion to Boston in June, but otherwise has also shown himself to be major league ready. In 8 starts for the Red Sox, he's 5-0, 2.38 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 37K/29BB in 45.1 innings. The walk rate (and, as a result, WHIP) is too high, but Papelbon's was pretty high last year, too. As Lester gains confidence, I think the walk rate will come down, and then look out. He's already proven to be a battler, bearing down with runners on base and keeping runs off the board despite allowing quite a few base runners. His ceiling is very very high.

SP Anibal Sanchez: He also went to the Marlins in the Beckett/Lowell trade. Sanchez started the year in AAA, but was recalled to Florida at the end of June. Sanchez has allowed just three hits and zero runs total over his last two starts, and is now 3-0, 3.41, 1.24, 15/12 in 29 innings. Sanchez doesn't have a history of walking a lot of batters, so I expect the K/BB to improve quite a bit. He's a month younger than Lester and another high-ceiling guy, though prior injuries are a concern for him.

SP David Pauley: He's sort of the pitching version of Durbin - a pretty good AA player who probably is in line for a bullpen or 5th-starter role in the majors. Pauley dominated the Eastern League, was called to Boston for three spot starts with limited success (7.88 ERA, 2.31 WHIP), then returned to Pawtucket where he has continued to struggle: 6 starts, 34.1 IP, 1-2, 5.24, 1.66, 11K/15BB. Not too good, but he's young for the league at age 23.

RP Cla Meredith: He was here for a very short time at the beginning of 2005 (in fact, I never got to see him pitch) but looked pretty good at that time. He had his struggles in Boston and Pawtucket after leaving Portland, then he was sent to San Diego in the deal to return Doug Mirabelli to the Red Sox this spring. He finally regained his form pitching for the Portland Beavers (3-0, 1.39, 0.93, 24/4 in 32.1 IP), and he's gone 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in 8 innings pitched for the Padres.

RP Manny Delcarmen: He spent half the season playing for the Sea Dogs in 2005 before shuttling between AAA and the majors over the last couple of months. This year he seems to have established himself as one of Terry Francona's top setup men, appearing in 25 games with a 1-0 record, 3.25 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, and 24/8 K/BB ratio in 27.2 innings pitched. He's gained confidence in his ability to get major league batters out, and it shows in his July numbers: 1 run, 11 K's in 10.2 innings.

RP Edgar Martinez: El Guapo, Jr. is a raw pitcher with a lot going for him, including a mid-90's fastball and good control. He's been given the opportunity to be "the Man" in the Portland bullpen and has been mostly up to the task: 2-3, 8 saves, 45.2 innings, 2.96 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 42K/14BB. He got bit by the home run bug and struggled for a few weeks in June, but seems to be back on track.

RP Craig Hansen: The prize from the 2005 draft, Hansen started the season in Portland to pitch on a program to develop his repertoire beyond a 97 mph fastball and 88 mph slider. (Why he would need more than that, I don't know!) When AA hitters proved to be no test, the program was moved to Pawtucket. When "Proven Veterans" proved to be ineffective in Boston's bullpen, Hansen was given a chance for the big team. He's done OK so far: 15 IP, 1-0, 4.20 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 13/3 K/BB ratio. He's a few innings behind Delcarmen and Lester in learning to trust his stuff to be good enough in the big leages, but he's getting there. Hansen is the guy that I believe will allow Papelbon to return to the rotation.

Wow! That's 14 top prospects who came through town in 2005. Of those 13:

• 7 are currently contributing to major league teams, four with Boston, and one has established himself as a bonafide star (Papelbon). I believe all seven have solid major league careers in front of them.
• 2 have been promoted to AAA and are playing very well at that level, possibly setting dates for their major league debuts before the end of the season.
• 1 has made his major league debut and is currently adjusting to AAA.
• 4 remain in Portland, where all have played well if failing to tear up the league. I believe that two of these guys (Moss and Martinez) are still in line to make significant contributions at the major league level.

Not taking anything away from this year's team, which remains in first place in the EL North, but last year at Hadlock was a special time to watch some terrific prospects come through town. The Red Sox continue to draft good players, however, and perhaps it won't be long before we have another house full of up-and-coming stars in town.

Dogs Take Finale from Connecticut

The Sea Dogs broke a three game losing streak and took the finale of a five-game series against the Connecticut Defenders with a convincing 10-1 victory on Sunday afternoon. It was another sweltering hot day at Hadlock Field and balls were flying around the park, at least while the Sea Dogs were at bat. Portland scored early and often, posting four runs in the bottom of the first and extending the lead to nine runs in the bottom of the sixth. Of course, no lead seems to be too big for the Sea Dogs to blow lately, at least while I'm in attendance. However, Luis Mendoza was in command throughout. He overcame errors that put the first two batters of the ballgame on base, and managed to finish seven innings with seven strikeouts and only one run allowed to collect his first AA win. Mike Bumatay pitched the last two innings for Portland. He struck out the final four batters he faced as the home plate ump was clearly ready to shower up after sweating for 2 1/2 hours. Chad Spann (2B, 2 3B, 4 RBI), Luis "Li'l Papi" Jimenez (2B, 3B, HR, 3 RBI) and Brandon Moss (4-5, 3 runs scored) swung the big sticks for Portland as they pounded Connecticut starter Geo Espinelli for nine runs in 4+ innings pitched.

Job well done.

Notes:

• This was my first look at Jacoby Ellsbury (shown batting above), who was recently promoted from Wilmington. Ellsbury is ranked as Boston's #3 prospect by Soxprospects.com, and he has hit the ground running, hitting .450 (9-20) after today's 2-5, 2 run effort. Ellsbury has good speed, hits the ball with authority (at least he did so today), and covers a lot of ground in the outfield. He was compared to Johnny Damon when Boston drafted him last year, and the comparison looks apt.
• Mendoza sported a low-90's fastball that he located well today, as well as a nice changeup that resulted in a handfull of called strike threes.
• After Spann hit his second triple of the afternoon in the fourth inning, we decided that if he managed a home run before the game finished that we would award him with a "Yahtzee" cycle. In the game of Yahtzee, a player can use a second Yahtzee of the game to fill in a lower box. Using that logic, we were ready to credit one of his triples as a single to complet the cycle. Alas, the home run never came.
• Li'l Papi was also just a single away from a cycle following his fifth inning triple, but he struck out in his final plate appearance.
• Dunkin' Donuts gave away some god-forsaken, headache-inducing noisemakers before the game. Gone are the days when it's satisfactory to make noise with one's hands and one's voice. Now we need cheap plastic crap with a corporate logo on it to make the noise for us. Feh!

Smith Set to Start All Star Game

Portland's Chris Smith has been named the Northern Division starter in the Eastern League All Star game on Wednesday. This according to a note at the bottom of the above-linked story. Smith is tied for the EL lead (along with former teammate Kason Gabbard) with 9, and following a couple of bumpy starts now stands 11th with a 3.19 ERA. Smith also has a fine 1.16 ERA and 68 K's vs. just 22 walks in 101.2 innings on the season. Congrats to Mr. Smith.

Wild Sunday at Hadlock

Even Slugger was exhausted by the end of this one.

OK, so it's taken me two days to recover and post about Sunday's game between the Sea Dogs and the Thunder. It was a wild one - 14 innings, 60 baserunners (34 hits, 20 walks, 3 HPP, 3 ROE), 27 of whom ended up scoring; 5 total errors, three combacks, one at bat by a pitcher, and several players out of position at the end of the game. Oh, and five and a half hours of playing time. I was joined by my buddy Ralph, with whom I took in the game in Portland, Oregon a couple of moths ago. Portland to Portland - it seemed like such a good idea! However, Ralph could only stick around for four hours before leaving to catch a ferry. That seemed like plenty of time, but unfortunately he only caught the first nine innings. He saw a lot of baseball, but missed all of the lunacy at the end.

In the end (not that Ralph saw this), Trenton simply threw in the towel and conceded the game to Portland, putting infielder JT Stotts on the mound in a tie ballgame rather than further tax their bullpen. The empty bullpen, combined with injury and and an already shorthanded bench, led to a truly bizarre lineup taking the field for Trenton in the bottom of the 14th. Stotts had already made one position change in the game, moving from third to shortstop when starting shortstop Felix Escalona was injured while attempting to score on a base hit in the 12th. DH Eric Duncan took over at third at that time, putting the pitcher into the batting order. When Stotts took the mound in the 14th, Gabe Lopez moved from second base to SS, and left fielder Justin Christian moved to second base. To fill the spot in left field, Trenton Manager Bill Masse chose Matt DeSalvo, who was the starting pitcher on Friday night.

Stotts managed to retire David Bacani to lead off the 14th, but then walked two and hit a batter to load the bases before Brandon Moss ended matters with a fly ball off the left field wall that went down as a long single that scored Portland's 14th run for the victory. This concluded an extremely unlikely series of events that saw Portland blow a big lead for the second time in three games.

This time the Sea Dogs sped out to a 9-run lead, primarily courtesy of a 7-run second that knocked out Trenton starter Danny Borrell, and were cruising ahead 11-2 with ace Chris Smith on the mound. Dusty Brown had two two-run doubles to pace Portland's offense. Smith quickly lost it in the 6th, however, allowing a walk and four consecutive doubles before being replaced. Kyle Jackson, recently recalled from Greenville, proceeded to walk the next three batters, forcing in a run, and allowed a run-scoring single to Bronson Sardinha to cut the lead to 11-8.

In the 7th, Justin Christian scored while stealing third base for the second time in three games, this time on a Dusty Brown throwing error. Then in the 8th Trenton took the lead on a Randy Ruiz two-run homer and an RBI single by Christian. Meanwhile, Charlie Manning was throwing 3 2/3 innings of shutout relief. It looked bad for the Sea Dogs when Trenton closer Justin Pope took the mound with two outs in the 8th, however the home team rallied to tie it on Tyler Minges' double in the bottom of the 9th. Pope managed to strand Minges on third to send things into extra innings.

Things moved pretty quickly from there until Escalona reached on an error in the 12th, however he tried to score on a single by Omir Santos, but was gunned down by RF Bryan Pritz to end the threat. Trenton did score in the 13th on a couple of walks and a single by Bronson Sardinha (his fifth hit of the night). Jonathan Searles walked Eric Duncan to load the bases before pitcher Scott Patterson was forced to bat. He struck out to diffuse the rally. However, in an unusual move, he was then taken out of the game (I think we saw the Portland Beavers do this, too) in favor of Jeff Kennard, another Thunder pitcher having a terrific season. He too blew the save, however, allowing a long home run by Chris Durbin leading off the bottom of the 13th.

With blown saves by their two best relievers in the books for the game, Trenton then decided that 5:30 was enough playing time and called it an afternoon with Stotts on the mound. According to the game notes, the 27 total runs and 5 hour 30 minute playing time were both Sea Dogs franchise records.

Notes:

• Too much wierdness for notes.

Sea Dogs All Stars

Four members of the Sea Dogs were named Eastern League all stars this week.

RHP Chris Smith is the most productive pitcher remaining in Portland, exclusive of the injured Phil Seibel. Following Sunday's bumpy ride, Smith is now 9-3 with a 2.79 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 61:20 K/BB ratio in 96.2 innings pitched. Smith was injured in 2004 and doesn't appear to have his full velocity back, but his arm strength is returning and he records a lot of strikeouts with his offspeed stuff. Still, he was averaging over a strikeout an inning before the injury, which has dropped to 6 K's per 9 innings pitched. Regardless, he's pitched very well and was a key part of a very strong staff through the first half of this year.

3B Chad Spann is hitting 303/367/465-7-38 with 21 doubles on the season, and playing pretty good defense at third base. His status as a prospect slipped after an injury in 2004, but he seems to be back on track an is still just 22 years old. Spann has turned into one of Portland's top hitters and he plays good defense at third base. He has good reflexes and good range, though he does sometimes make a sloppy throwing error. That's the sort of thing that I expect him to improve upon with experience.

1B/DH Jeremy West has posted numbes similar to Spann's: 303/380/490-8-40, also with 21 doubles and only 36 strikeouts in 72 games played. West is no defensive genius, however, playing primarily as DH while Luis Jimenez covers first base. West's bat has clearly improved from last year, but if he's not going to have any defensive value, I think his home run production is going to have to improve. Hadlock Field (and the Eastern League in general) isn't the best place to hit home runs, so perhaps his production will improve with a promotion to AAA.

OF Tyler Minges played the first month of the season in AAA, but struggled a bit before being assigned to Portland. The speedy center fielder hit the ground running here, and has batted an impressive 310/365/465-3-32 with 18 doubles in just 46 games played. Minges doesn't walk a ton, but he has terrific gap power (as well as right-field line power) and hustles on every play. Unlike the other three Sea Dogs reps, Minges doesn't carry any sort of prospect label, but he's a very good AA player.

Also, Edgar "El Guapo Jr." Martinez has been selected to appear in the Futures all star game. Martinez is still a novice on the mound, but he's put up pretty good numbers in just his second full season as a pitcher. Martinez most closely represents Portland's closer this year, and has reponded fairly well with 2-3 record, 8 saves, 3.23 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 38 K's vs. 10 walks in 39 innings pitched. Martinez is a hard thrower who is still working to be more consistent with his breaking pitches, but I think he's got a good future ahead of him.

Other Portland players who were promoted before receiving consideration are lefty Kason Gabbard (9-2, 2.57, 1.03, 68 K, 25 BB in 73.2 innings pitched); righty David Pauley (only 2-3, but with a 2.39 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and 47/17 ratio in 60.1 innings); and outfielder David Murphy (273/315/436-3-25 with 17 doubles in 42 games played). Seibel (2-3 in 9 starts, but with a 1.20 ERA, 0.80 WHIP and 42 K's in 45 IP) would likely have also received consideration had he not gone on the disabled list.

Two current Sea Dog outfielders appeared in the 2005 All Star game but were not selected this year. Chris Durbin missed some time to injury and has struggled a bit, hitting just 247/344/377-3-17 in 46 games. Brandon Moss struggled mightily for two months, but had a very hot June to bring his numbers back to respectability. However, his 256/323/427-8-52 batting line is not overly impressive despite his being among the league leaders in RBI and doubles (24 on the season).

Red Sox prospect review

Here is a link to Jon Sickels' review of the progress of his top 20 Red Sox prospects from the preseason. Most of the guys on the list either were in Portland last year or will be in a year or two. Moss and Martinez are the only two of the top 20 on the current roster, though Hansen and Murphy started the Sea Dogs. I think Ellsbury and maybe Bucholz or Bowden will be here in the next month or so, and a couple of the other Wilmington players could also finish the season in Portland. In reading the list, it's pretty impressive how many good prospects are in Boston's system, and how many of them were in Portland last year.

Sea Dogs Squander Big Lead

Portland built up a six-run lead over the Trenton Thunder through five innings, but squandered the advantage over the final four to lose 7-6 on Friday night. The Sea Dogs rallied for five runs off Matt DeSalvo in the fourth and extended the lead on Little Papi's long home run in the fifth before the pitching fell apart and gave the game away.

Luis Mendoza started for the Sea Dogs and pitched well at the start of the game despite being felled by a line drive off the bat of one-time Yankee top prospect Eric Duncan in the top of the second inning. Mendoza recovered and had allowed just three hits and no walks with three K's through the fifth. Mendoza, a 22-year-old righty who resembles a high school sophomore, was having success combining his low-90's fastball with a sharp breaking ball. Things started to break down with Duncan's three-run blast in the sixth, but the wheels really began to fall off in the 7th.

Mendoza walked the 7th and 8th batters in the lineup to start the 7th, then gave up an infield single to the number nine hitter, ending his outing. Mike Bumatay came on and allowed Trenton's fourth run on a fielder's choice grounder by speedy Brett Gardner, who beat Zach Borowiack's throw and avoided a DP. Bumatay walked the next batter to re-load the bases, then threw a wild pitch on his first delivery to Randy Ruiz to make it 6-5. Bumatay then intentionally walked Ruiz and escaped further delivery following a nifty play by Jimenez to start a 3-6-3 double play.

The pitching trouble continued in the 8th, as Bumatay hit SS Felix Escalona with a pitch that would have been ball four. Escalona advanced on a passed ball before coming home with the tying run on a two-out single by #8 batter JT Stotts. Randy Beam allowed the winning run in the 9th, allowing a two-out double by Ruiz (last year's EL Batting Champ while playing for Reading). Speedy Jason Christianson came on to pinch run, and he subsequently scored from second when Beam threw a wild pitch while Christianson was stealing third base. It was the ugliest of the ugly runs allowed to cough up the game.

Luis Mendoza tries to draw a yellow card.

Notes:

• Gardner's game is similar to that of Portland's Tyler Minges. He's a speedy outfielder who hustles on every play, as evidenced by his keeping a rally alive by beating out a double play ball. He also reached on a bunt single. Unlike Minges, the 22-year old Gardner is a rising prospect in just his second year of professional baseball.
• Minges was the batting champ in the Texas League last season, meaning two 2005 AA batting champs were in the game. Minges was 3-5 with a double and a triple, while Ruiz was 3-4 with two doubles and an intentional walk in the game.
• DeSalvo is another of the Yankees better prospects, but he really struggled in AAA and hasn't improved any since his return to AA.
• Trenton relief pitcher Scott Patterson is an Independant League refugee whose herky-jerky motion is painful to watch. It's a wonder that he has any control, but he managed three K's in his 2.1 innings of relief.
• Duncan looks to be losing his prospect status following his return to Trenton and his switch to first base, but he's still very young (21) and he has good power and plate discipline. I believe he'll manage a decent major league career.
• There was a large contingent of Trenton Thunder fans on hand for the game. Fortunately Portland fans were able to drown out any chants of "Let's go Thunder" as they arose.