August 3, 2011 at 3:24 AM
Players of the Month, July 2011: Chih-Hsien Chiang & Raul Alcantara
Departing prospect Chih-Hsien Chiang slugged his way out of the system in July and the GCL Red Sox Raul Alcantara continued his dramatic emergence as a prospect en route to SoxProspects.com Player and Pitcher of the Month honors.
Chiang made his last month in the organization an eventful one, posting a .430/.500/.740 line (43/100) with five home runs and 16 doubles in 26 games. He also worked six bases-on-balls, scored 27 runs, batted in 25 and stole three bases. In 88 games with Portland in 2011 Chiang batted .340/.402/.648 with 18 home runs, 37 doubles and 4 triples, and swiped six bases and was caught twice. He also appeared for the World Team in the Futures Game. At the time of the trade he was the eighteenth ranked prospect in the organization by SoxProspects.com.
Alcantara's 1-1 record doesn't begin to tell the story of how effective he was in his five July starts, allowing four earned runs on 16 hits over 27.0 innings, striking out 15 while walking only four and holding opposing batters to an .180 average. On the season Alcantara is 1-1 with a 0.97 ERA in seven starts, alowing four earned runs on 18 hits and striking out 21 while walking only six opposing batters over 37.0 innings. He was also voted SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Week of July 4-10.