absintheofmalaise said:Here's the latest minor league weekly wrap up from Cuzittt.
Cuzittt said:Any tool being used would be blunt. Point is, he's progressing in a fairly normal way... and he should not be written off as many have already done.
The Red Sox minor league system has produced playoff teams every season since at least 1994. While Pawtucket, Portland, and Salem (along with the parent club) are all awaiting elimination day, and Greenville desperately attempts to fight their way into the playoffs (6 ½ games back with 25 games to play), the short-season clubs are looking to consolidate their playoff positions.
The Greenville Drive has sported a youthful lineup for the entire season, averaging 20.6-years-old, a year younger than the league as a whole. The Drive have been a must follow for any prospect watcher this season and became even more so this week as Andrew Benintendi, the Red Sox first pick of this season’s draft, got a well earned promotion on Monday.
Benintendi, who finished his stay in Lowell by batting .370/.426/.630 in the month of August, has already made his mark for the Drive. After going 0-for-4 with a pair of walks in his opening game for Greenville, Benintendi picked up his first hit in the first inning of his second game, a two-run home run. He would record his second home run in the 10th to give the Drive a two-run win. Thus far in his 37-game professional career, Benintendi has batted .288/.411/.568 with 28 walks, nine home runs, four triples and seven stolen bases.
In their final season in Savannah, Georgia, the Sand Gnats have decided that they should be the story of the South Atlantic League season. A furious comeback with three weeks to go in the first half of the season earned the Gnats a trip to the playoffs. Not satisfied with one title, the Sand Gnats took control of the second half race with an August streak for the ages. Can the Sand Gnats run through the playoffs and bring a fifth South Atlantic League Title to historic Grayson Stadium?
The answer is Arizona and the Arizona Fall League. For a month and a half, starting on October 13 and ending with a championship game on November 21, the great prospects of baseball will gather in the desert, attempting to work their way into the 2016 plans of their parent club.