September 14, 2021 at 4:53 PM
Minor Notes: Seabold debuts, Meneses/Winckowski win Sea Dogs awards
Here are this week's minor league notes:
- This week started off with another amazing guest for the SoxProspects.com podcast crew. Red Sox Director of Amateur Scouting Paul Toboni joined to discuss their approach to the draft as well as the last two drafts where he was at the helm of the team's draft operations.
- The scouting staff was also busy. Earlier this week, they updated Connor Seabold's scouting report in advance of his major league debut on Saturday where he threw three innings, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks. Seabold (pictured, right) was acquried this past season from Philadephia along with Nick Pivetta for Brandon Workman, Heath Hembree, and other considerations. The 25-year-old started the season on the Injured List with elbow inflammation before making his season and Red Sox debut in July.
- Now that the Florida Coast League team is in full swing, the scouting staff also wanted to update readers with some scout chatter on pitchers from the FCL. This edition of chatter included notes on Wilkelman Gonzalez, Luis De La Rosa, Nathanael Cruz, and Juan Daniel Encarnacion.
- With just under a week left in the regular season, the Portland Sea Dogs announced their team award winners. The Most Valuable Player was awarded to first baseman and outfielder Joey Meneses. The 29-year-old was signed as a minor league free agent back in 2020 and appeared in 50 games for the Sea Dogs where he hit .303/.348/.590 with 10 home runs and 22 walks over 188 at-bats. Meneses was promoted to Worcester at the end of July and since has added 4 more home runs and 8 doubles while hitting .256/.313/.426.
- They also awarded the Pitcher of the Year to Josh Winckowski. The 23-year-old was part of the three-team Andrew Benintendi deal this past winter. The righty had volume in his favor as his 19 starts were the most for the team, even if his results didn't jump off the page. Through Monday's games, the 6-foot-4 righty went 7-3 with a 4.31 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, and 8 K/9 over 94 innings.
- Baseball America released an update to its Top 100 and several Red Sox made jumps. The latest rankings put first baseman Triston Casas 15th, shortstop Marcelo Mayer 29th, outfielder Jarren Duran 37th, and second baseman Nick Yorke 64th who made the jump from the mid-90s in their last rankings. After raising his slash line to .332/.420/.528 split between Salem and Greenville, Yorke has also made a big jump up the SoxProspects.com rankings from 10th to start the season to 3rd in the September rankings update.
- Injuries and inconsistency have plagued lefty Jay Groome since he was selected 12th overall in the 2016 Draft. The Boston Globe's Julian McWilliams writes that consistency has come this year thanks to a full year and a developing slider. Groome has definitely shown improvement this year, but has still given up three or more runs in half his starts. However, since his promotion to Double-A, he has been lights out with 11 scoreless innings over his first two starts with 19 strikeouts to only one walk. It is that upside that has him sitting at 9th in the current SoxProspects.com rankings.
- Worcester first baseman Josh Ockimey has had a solid season hitting .230/.363/.430 in his first season at Triple-A. It has been a long road since being drafted in the fifth round by Boston in the 2014 draft. However, Ockimey believes his time in the big leagues will come McWilliams writes.
- Reliever Kaleb Ort was selected from the Yankees in the 2020 Rule 5 draft. This past week, he made his major league debut walking one and allowing a hit while getting one out. He had a year that saw him post a solid 3.12 ERA despite a WHIP of 1.38, striking out 59 in 43 and 1/3 innings but also walking 20.
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Players of the Week (September 6th through 12th):
6 G, 27 AB, 11 H, 1 2B, 5 HR, 9 R, 10 RBI, 2 BB, 8 K, .407/.448/1.000
Dearden (pictured, left) is in his second year at Greenville, albeit their first as the High-A affiliate, and had his best week of an impressive season. He homered in four of the six games and his best game of the week was his first where he went 3-for-4 with two home runs, a walk, three runs scored, and three RBI. It was his second two-home run game of the year with the other coming in the third game of the season.
Dearden, a bat-first outfielder, has had an amazing season thus far that has him near the top of most categories in the South Atlantic League. His 24 home runs are tied for the lead in the SAL and also leads the league in RBI and is top 10 in runs, walks, OBP, slugging, and OPS. His 24 home runs also now stand as the single-season home run record for the Greenville Drive which was previously held by Ryan Lavarnway, Jon Still, and Andrew Pickney. This fantastic week raises his season slash line to .267/.374/.542 and nets him his second player of the week honors with the other coming May 17-23.
Murphy had a fantastic six-inning outing on Friday. His 11 strikeouts and 18 swinging strikes each tied his season-high set only two starts ago. The only damage against the 23-year-old was two scattered singles. While this was his second start in his last three with 11 strikeouts, the other outing was far less successful, giving up five earned runs in 4 and 2/3 innings, and this start snaps a two-game run of allowing five earned runs.
Despite the 10 earned runs over that two-game span, Murphy has had good success after his promotion to Double-A at the end of July. In his first six starts at the level, he has put up a 3.86 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 12.9 K/9. Named the SoxProspects.com Rookie of the Year in 2019, Murphy's stock has been steadily on the rise, starting 2021 ranked 23rd on the SoxProspects.com rankings and now all the way up to 12th.
Photo Credit: Connor Seabold by Kelly O'Connor.
Will Woodward is a Co-Owner and Senior Staff Writer for SoxProspects.com. Follow him on Twitter @SPWill.