August 31, 2015 at 3:02 PM
Weekly Notes: Greenville makes playoff push, GCL Sox reach finals
Here are this week's minor league notes:
- SoxProspects.com's Chris Hatfield, Matt Huegel, and Ian Cundall sat down and discussed some questions to the mailbag from fans on episode 84 of the podcast. They talked about some of the best arms in the system, which players rank the best in each of the five tools, expectations from Dave Dombrowski, and the recent offensive outburst from Jackie Bradley Jr.
- The Greenville Drive are making a playoff push, and are currently tied with the Asheville Tourists (COL) for a playoff spot. Yoan Moncada and Andrew Benintendi have been leading the way for the Drive. Benintendi is hitting .341/.423/.568 in 11 games with Greenville and Moncada is hitting .352/.465/.606 in August.
- The GCL Red Sox won the semi-final game on Sunday against the Cardinals and have moved on to face the Blue Jays in the finals. They have been led by a tremendous pitching staff, including Anderson Espinoza, who did not allow an earned run in August.
- Ryan Hannable of WEEI wrote about Espinoza and Logan Allen in his Minor League Notebook. One of the GCL pitching coaches, Nick Green, was interviewed and said that Espinoza is very competitive and reminds him of Pedro Martinez. Espinoza said his favorite pitcher to watch is Felix Hernandez. Hannable also looked further into Allen's decision between the Red Sox and the University of South Carolina.
- Julian Benbow of the Boston Globe wrote about PawSox pitcher Jorge Marban and his path to where he is now. Marban started 2015 in Salem and worked his way up to Pawtucket.
- Eric Wilbur of Boston.com wrote a piece detailing Andrew Benintendi and the Spinners' attendance. He notes Benintendi's success with both Lowell and Greenville, and mentions how he met with Red Sox baseball operations people at the SEC tournament and again at Fenway Park, and how Dave Dombrowski coming on means that he has no personal ties or connections with Benintendi or any of the new draft picks. Lowell has been able to maintain good attendance numbers, drawing an average of 3,816 fans per game, which is fifth in the league.
- Jessica Camerato of Boston.com wrote a terrific story on SoxProspects.com's 14th ranked prospect Travis Shaw. Shaw has been raking for Boston since his call-up to the tune of a .303/.352/.576 line in 108 plate appearances. The story details his life and how he grew up around the game, with his father being in the big leagues. He also loves Rihanna, hamburgers, pizza, and numbers, as he even taught Mookie Betts about on-base percentage.
- Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com writes that Boston could move to a six-man rotation, with Steven Wright and Matt Barnes in contention for the sixth spot.
- Meredith Perri of MassLive.com wrote that Peter Gammons reported that Red Sox director of pro scouting, Jared Porter, is leaving and will join the Chicago Cubs. He had been the director of pro scouting for the past four years, and Dombrowski said the change was in place before his hiring.
- Christopher Smith of MassLive.com wrote a story on Henry Owens and his family growing up in California.
- Paul Grimaldi and Kate Bramson of the Providence Journal wrote about how the federal government would request to be reimbursed if the land usage of where the PawSox want to build changes. See more about the PawSox new plans at the Providence Journal.
Players of the Week:
5 G, 20 PA, 7 H, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 4 R, 2 SB, 5 BB, 1 K, .467/.600/.600
With a majority of the attention on guys like Yoan Moncada, Andrew Benintendi, and Rafael Devers, it was Bryan Hudson (pictured, top) who stood out this past week for the Greenville Drive. The 20-year old, 2013 15th round draft pick posted a 1.200 OPS this past week, leading Greenville to a 4-2 week. Hudson spent 2013 in the GCL and 2014 in Lowell. This year, he began his season on June 19 with Lowell, and then was called up to Greenville just six days later. Hudson has yet to hit a home run this year, but he has still managed to post some very solid numbers.
Season Stats (Lowell and Greenville): 51 G, 216 PA, 7 2B, 1 3B, 38 R, 15 RBI, 18 SB, 29 BB, 35 K, .308/.405/.357
2 G, 0-0, 11 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 1 R, 7 H, 2 BB, 8 K
In a loss on Tuesday, Kraus (pictured) was terrific out of the bullpen. He managed to log 5 1/3 innings in that outing, relieving Trey Ball, and allowed just four hits, one walk, and no runs to go along with five strikeouts. It's rare to see a relief pitcher go five or more innings, but Kraus was certainly up to the task. Yesterday, Kraus made a start and went six innings. The Red Sox lost the game, but it wasn't Kraus' fault. He allowed just one earned run on three hits and a walk in that outing. The 2012 seventh round selection has had an interesting season, bouncing around three different levels, including one relief appearance in Pawtucket.
Season Stats (Salem, Portland, and Pawtucket): 29 G, 3 GS, 1-3, 95 1/3 IP, 2.93 ERA, 31 ER, 89 H, 20 BB, 58 K
Photo Credit: Bryan Hudson and Kyle Kraus by Kelly O'Connor