February 27, 2011 at 3:10 PM
Fort Report: February 27
Today’s minor league notes:
▪ The Sox minor leaguers got a bulk of the work in Saturday's college exhibitions. Stolmy Pimentel opened the first game with 2 strikeouts in 2 perfect innings against Boston College, and he was followed by Michael Bowden, Jason Rice, Clevelan Santeliz, and Matt Fox, none of whom allowed a hit in an inning a piece. Left-hander Randy Williams closed the game, allowing BC's only hit en route to a 6-0 victory for the Red Sox. On offense, infielder Brent Dlugach had 2 singles and an RBI.
▪ Boston topped Northeastern 13-2 in the nightcap, led by SS Jose Iglesias, who put up 2 hits, 3 RBI, and 2 runs. Sox starter Kyle Weiland allowed two hits in two innings, including a leadoff home run to Northeastern pitcher Ryan Maguire. Righty Matt Albers closed the game for the Sox with a 1-2-3 seventh, striking out 2 Huskies in the process. Infielder Hector Luna missed the game with tightness in his groin.
▪ The non major league campers who saw game action on Saturday were Ryan Khoury, Will Middlebrooks, Alex Hassan, Bubba Bell, Aaron Bates, Matt Sheely, David Mailman, Pete Hissey, and Jorge Padron.
▪ LHP Dennys Reyes finally arrived in Fort Myers Saturday morning after resolving his visa issues. While he may take a little longer to get up to speed, Red Sox manager Terry Francona has indicated that he'll add Reyes into the bullpen mix as soon as possible. As first reported by Rob Bradford of WEEI.com, Reyes has a March 26 opt-out, so the club has about three-to-four weeks to decide whether to give the left-hander a major league deal.
▪ Bradford also spoke with LHP Lenny DiNardo on Thursday, and the 31-year-old appears content with his decision to return to the Red Sox organization, despite that he did not get an invite to major league camp. DiNardo is confident that he'll earn a major league shot at some point this season, and he may see action in tonight's game against the Twins.
▪ PawSox broadcaster Dan Hoard brings us some interesting notes on reliever Jason Rice, who's likely slated for an assignment to Triple-A this April. Hoard talked to recently-promoted Red Sox V.P. of Player Development Mike Hazen, who is impressed with Rice's mid-to-high 90s fastball and hammer curveball, but indicated that Rice needs to continue working on being more consistent in the strike zone.
▪ Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal reports on pitching prospect Junichi Tazawa, who is still in rehab attempting to work his body into pitching shape following March 2010 Tommy John Surgery.
▪ Richard Breen of The Examiner talked to RHP Madison Younginer, who is excited about the prospects of playing in front of family and friends for his hometown Greenville Drive this season.
▪ Among the prospects slated to start in tonight's game against Minnesota are Ryan Kalish, Lars Anderson, and Iglesias. Bullpen hopefuls Scott Atchison and Brandon Duckworth are also scheduled to pitch.
▪ Over in minor league camp, about 100 players participated in workouts this weekend, including Bryce Brentz, Kolbrin Vitek, Brandon Workman, Zach Daeges, Garin Cecchini, Anthony Ranaudo, Sean Coyle, Miguel Celestino, and Adalberto Ibarra. The minor leaguers should take over the Player Development Complex tomorrow now that the major leaguers are moving their equipment to City of Palms Park. The players will likely begin participating in informal intra-squad scrimmages soon, until the official minor league exhibition schedule gets underway on March 16.