Scouting minors for the next Darnell McDonald

Even if they had not heard of him a week ago, most of Red Sox Nation knows well who Darnell McDonald is by now.

The Sox called up the 31-year-old McDonald to fill one of the two open spots in the outfield after Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Cameron were sent to the disabled list on April 20, and he proceeded to hit a tying home run and a winning double in his first game. He followed that up with a game-saving assist from the outfield and a second home run the following night. Since his promotion, he has hit .333 with a 1.074 OPS, and has received the lion’s share of the playing time in center field, starting six of the first nine games after his promotion and coming off the bench in the other three.

McDonald's emergence as a viable major league injury replacement raises the question of who else is standing by in the Sox minor league system in case any of Boston's other starters goes down. Unfortunately, the answer is that there are not a lot of highly-regarded prospects in Triple-A, as many of Boston's highly-touted prospects are playing for Portland right now. However, there are a number of understudies with major league experience waiting for the call from Pawtucket.

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For the rest of the story, check out ESPNBoston: Scouting minors for the next Darnell

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