92 replies to this topic

[SaveBooFerriss]

From Jim Callis ESPN chat:

Adam (Boston): I know this may be a few years off, but J.Ellsbury seems to be a fairly exciting young player...Everytime I look at the box score, he has a stolen base or two, and seems to be hitting for a fair average.(300 something early in the season) So whats the word on him? When do they foresee him moving up to Boston 2007/8? And how would that work with Coco?

Jim Callis: (2:14 PM ET ) I was talking to a scout the other day who was trying to figure out how Ellsbury lasted 23 picks in the 2005 draft. The position players aren't nearly as good this year; if Ellsbury was in the 2006 draft, he could go in the top five or 10 picks. At this rate, he should be ready by Opening Day 2008, if not sooner. Ellsbury is a better defender than Crisp, so Coco would move to right field, probably.

[templeUsox]

To add onto the Ellsbury splooge, here is the excerpt from BA's first Hot Sheet of the year, where Ellsbury comes in at #7:

Ellsbury is doing it with his bat, his glove and his legs, hitting .373 with a .407 OBP, six steals and managers in the Carolina League are already calling him one of the best defenders they've ever seen.

Link

Edited by templeUsox, 19 April 2006 - 04:19 PM.

[Lucen]

From Jim Callis ESPN chat:

Jim Callis: (2:14 PM ET )Ellsbury is a better defender than Crisp, so Coco would move to right field, probably.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Isn't one of the downsides to Crisp his arm? Wouldn't you want him in left, and not right field? I think Pena in right, Ellsbury in center and Crisp in left makes more sense for 2008. Assuming Manny is gone by then.

[Everetts Dinosaurs]

Isn't one of the downsides to Crisp his arm?  Wouldn't you want him in left, and not right field?  I think Pena in right, Ellsbury in center and Crisp in left makes more sense for 2008.  Assuming Manny is gone by then.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree with that. Crisp was rated as the best defensive left fielder in baseball last year, wasn't he?

[SaveBooFerriss]

He was, but who's to say he couldn't be just as effective in right field? 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The issue is his arm. Could he stop runners from going from first to third on every ball hit to him in RF.

I think we are getting a little ahead of ourselves by talking about a Coco-Ellsbury-Pena OF, but if it did happen, I imagine you would want to shade Coco and JE over to RF to cut down on the space Pena would cover in RF.

[David Laurila]

Jacoby left last night's game after colliding with the catcher in a rundown. Afterwards he had trouble putting weight on his leg, and the injury appears to be
on the front/outside of his right quad. I'm not aware of the severity.

[Crazy Puppy]

Before the game Wilmington placed OF Jacoby Ellsbury on the disabled list with a strained right quadriceps and added C Matt Kent from Extended Spring Training.

BlueRocks.com

Edited by Crazy Puppy, 27 April 2006 - 09:50 PM.

[templeUsox]

Lowrie's teammate Jacoby Ellsbury has been out since April 26 with a quadriceps injury, and is still listed as day-to-day. Ellsbury started working out with trainers on Tuesday, however, but will need to complete a running progression program before he is cleared for full baseball activity.

Link

[NDBoston]

Great article on Jacoby. Here's a taste. It would be nice if they got the overall draft number right though.

http://barometer.ors...9/448918e077845

he front of his jersey has sported a variety of names: White Buffalo, Beaver, Spinner, Blue Rock. But the back of the jersey has remained constant because it continues to read Ellsbury.

After helping lead the Beavers to last year’s College World Series, Jacoby Ellsbury is looking to become a great leader and player on the professional level. Last spring, the Boston Red Sox selected Ellsbury as the 33rd overall pick in the 2005 Major League Baseball draft. After spending the end of the season with the Short Season Class A Lowell Spinners, Ellsbury was designated to High Class A, the Wilmington Blue Rocks.

“Being a high pick with the Red Sox, there are definitely a lot more eyes on you,” Ellsbury said. “The fans have a lot more expectations but I love that, you go to an away game and you have some fans cheering you on. It’s fun.”

But for Ellsbury, being in the limelight is nothing new.

Hey now, he’ll be an All-Star?

Highly sought after his senior year at Madras High School, Ellsbury turned down a contract from the Tampa Bay Rays in order to continue his baseball career at Oregon State. Playing in the Pac-10 put more eyes on Ellsbury, as he had an instant impact his freshman year in one of the most competitive baseball conferences in the country. After a strong outing his junior year, scouts and MLB teams were eager to snatch him up as the June draft approached.

“Going from college ball to pro ball I think the biggest difference is using the wood bats with a smaller sweet spot,” Ellsbury said. “Then, playing every day you’re not going to go out there feeling 100 percent. It’s a matter of keeping your body healthy, getting rest and just going out there and playing hard.”

Playing every day has taken a small toll on Ellsbury, as he has dealt with leg injury last season as well as this season. The injuries were minor, but as one of the top prospects in the Red Sox organization it was taken with strong precautionary measures. After returning from Ft.. Myers, Fla., for rehabilitation, Ellsbury used his speed to swipe bases for the Blue Rocks

Edited by NDBoston, 10 June 2006 - 03:37 PM.

[NDBoston]

                 Team       From	To	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG
  Wilmington Blue Rocks	04/06	06/11	37	146	24	50	4	2	4	21	70	14	19	15	6	.411	.479	.342      

http://www.minorleag..._pbp&pid=453056

Edited by NDBoston, 12 June 2006 - 02:53 PM.

[NDBoston]

The Blue Rocks are off for three days as the Carolina League enjoys its All-Star break. Wilmington closer Mike James, third baseman Andrew Pinckney, and center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury will represent the Rocks on the Carolina League squad against the best of the California League on Tuesday at Salem Memorial Stadium

avg-.313
obp-.391
slu- .421

Edited by NDBoston, 26 June 2006 - 09:30 AM.

[Nomars Last Twitch]

Promoted to AA, per soxprospects.com (unofficialy)

Should be announced today officialy

Edited by Nomars Last Twitch, 12 July 2006 - 12:05 AM.

[HighHeat]

Promoted to AA, per soxprospects.com (unofficialy)

Should be announced today officialy

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's official now, reported on the Sea Dogs site. OF Bryan Pritz was sent back down to Wilmington to make room.

Link.

[NDBoston]

NOTES: When the Sea Dogs resume play tonight, they will have a new center fielder and leadoff man - Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston's top choice and 23rd overall in the 2005 draft. Ellsbury was promoted Wednesday to Portland from Class A Wilmington, where he hit .298 with four homers and 32 RBI. He also had five triples and 25 stolen bases. "We haven't had a lot of speed so it will be great to have what he can add to us," said Claus.

http://sports.mainet...13elstars.shtml

[OCD SS]

I was at Ellsbury's AA debut; and can add $.02 worth of observations:

His defense looks really good. On any ball hit into CF he had an immeadiate break in the right direction and covered alot of ground. Whoever was catching the relay did have to go out a bit further onto the OF grass (but we knew that).

The ball was jumping off his bat, even his outs had some extra zip on them (just at someone). He also seemed pretty selective and wasn't going after bad pitches, although my seats on the 1B line made that harder to judge.

[Steve Dillard]

In my mind Ellsbury will forever be linked with Trevor Crowe, a similar outfielder snapped up by Cleveland a half dozen picks before him. So far, their career progression is similar, albeit, Crowe has done better.


A+

Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG
CROWE	60	219	51	72	15	2	4	31	48	46	29	6	.449	.470	.329
ELLSBY	60	242	35	72	6	5	4	32	25	27	25	9	.378	.413	.298

AA

Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG
CROWE	5	21	6	9	3	0	0	2	2	0	6	0	.478	.571	.429
ELLSBY	5	20	3	9	1	0	0	4	2	2	3	0	.500	.500	.450

Edited by Steve Dillard, 17 July 2006 - 01:28 PM.

[thisyearisthe]

Interestingly I saw his picture for the first time and was surprised he was white. For some reason, I thought Ellsbury was black. I wonder where that came from...

[bowiac]

Does Ellsbury really have a whole lot more going for him than say, Joey Gathright?

[Jimy Hendrix]

Does Ellsbury really have a whole lot more going for him than say, Joey Gathright?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Looking at their minor league stats, Jacoby's K/BB ratios are superior, his OBP is less BA dependent, and the low .400s slugging that Ellsbury has been putting up top anything Gathright has ever seen. Also, Jacoby already has hit 5 times as many home runs as Gathright did in 4 years of minor league ABs, with his scintillating total of 5.

Ellsbury is also reported as a plus defender, which I'm not sure if I've heard Gathright as.

[OCD SS]

While he'll never be a slugger, I think most scouts expect him to develop a bit more pop.

[someoneanywhere]

Baseball America [here's the homepage] has had a few articles about JE in the past few issues. The scouts do indeed expect him to have more pop than Gathright; if I infer correctly, his defense is already major-league quality. [The rap on Gathright is that he doesn't know how to use that awesome speed; I seem to recall Piniella cracking him for bad routes and bad instincts, and I know I have read scouts criticize him for the same failures.]

BA has also caught the Trevor Crowe comparison and highlighted the two of them in a recent issue. Crowe admitted that Ellsbury is ahead of him. Here is an excerpt from a scout's take on the two of them:

"Ellsbury, just on a performance-based analysis, has separated himself as a better defensive outfielder," the scout said. "I think Crowe has instincts, but I don't think he has the foot speed necessarily to be an everyday center fielder. I think Crowe has more raw power and will have more power production in the big leagues than Ellsbury, so that probably means he's better suited for one of the corner positions.

"I think Ellsbury is every bit of an everyday center fielder with all-star potential. Just his natural instincts; his natural foot speed to the ball is above-average. I also think that he's a legitimate leadoff guy, where Crowe is more of a No. 3 or 4 guy down the line."

That's all I am comfortable with pulling from BA, but I hope the points come across.

Edited by someoneanywhere, 23 July 2006 - 09:08 AM.

[NDBoston]

Team  From  To    G  AB  R  H  2B	3B	HR	BI     TB       BB      SO    SB   	 CS  OBP  SLG  AVG

Wilmington Blue Rocks	04/06	07/30	61	244	35	73	7	5	4	32	102	25	28	25	9	.379	.418	.299

Portland Sea Dogs	07/12	07/30	18	72	10	24	5	0	0	9	29	5	8	8	2	.377	.403	.333

Edited by NDBoston, 01 August 2006 - 11:39 AM.

[plnii]

BA Minor League POY Watch

Thought it was interesting that Jacoby_Ellsbury is being considered by BA as a minor-league player of the year candidate. Seems like they are not too concerned about his lack of power, and his relatively low OBP (at least relative to his AVG).

[plnii]

Baseball America [here's the homepage] has had a few articles about JE in the past few issues. The scouts do indeed expect him to have more pop than Gathright; if I infer correctly, his defense is already major-league quality. [The rap on Gathright is that he doesn't know how to use that awesome speed; I seem to recall Piniella cracking him for bad routes and bad instincts, and I know I have read scouts criticize him for the same failures.]

I am curious about how Ellsbury is thought to have a good batting eye, but that he doesn't walk too often. I thought maybe that he's just very good at putting the ball in play, but the strikeout rate, while not bad, seems to contradict that theory a bit. Also, I was curious as to why he hasn't hit many doubles, despite his speed.

I couldn't find any P/PA stats, or splits based on counts, which I probably need to get any real statistical evidence of why he doesn't walk more. I'm thinking he's not the type of leadoff hitter and that he goes deep in the count often but I could be wrong.

Anyway, I looked at the only splits I could find (here), and noticed a few things. First, when Ellsbury was slumping a bit in Wilmington, he was hitting a lot of popups, whereas he normally hits very few of those. Second, Ellsbury hits a lot of ground balls but not many line drives. To me, this says singles hitter that is dependent on his speed. Of course, scouts say that he has some power potential but I wonder if he needs to change his swing to do that?

One more thing, Ellsbury hits lefties very well. So far this year he is better vs. lefties in OPS.

[HighHeat]

There's a piece on Ellsbury in the Minor League Notebook of today's Globe:

``I don't even think about where I'm moving up to," said Ellsbury, Boston's first pick (23d overall) in June 2005, prior to last night's game at Erie, Pa. ``I thought in my first year after college I'd be in Double A. This is where I wanted to be and this is where I am. All I can do is show improvement every day I step on the field and the rest will take care of itself. The organization will decide what's best for me. I need to be patient and just show the Red Sox organization the skills that I have."

Full Story

[plnii]

From BP (free):

11. Jacoby Ellsbury, Red Sox

Age: 22.9 Hitting: .303/.374/.408 in 87 G (61 A+/26 AA)

Yet another 2005 draftee, Ellsbury had a storied career at Oregon State and hit .317/.418/.432 in his pro debut with Lowell in the New York-Penn League. He's done many things well this year--reaching Double-A while keeping his average above .300, drawing a decent number of walks and stealing 35 bases. Ellsbury's power is a cause for concern, as 83 of his 107 hits this year are singles, and with just 14 doubles and four home runs, there is little to project in that department. He's a good center fielder with an average-at-best arm, but he'll need to ramp up his on-base skills to profile as an everyday leadoff man.

[Nomars Last Twitch]

Now hitting

AVG OBP SLG
.330 .386 .430


He's been walked more (2 last night) as pitchers are discovering that he hits pretty much every type of pitch, and to all fields.

He's the type of hitter who could win a batting title or two. -_-

[Nomars Last Twitch]

New Ellsbury article:

http://www.oregonliv...4960.xml&coll=7

Ellsbury makes fast impression

The former Oregon State standout is turning heads in the Red Sox farm system with his speed and work ethic

Sunday, August 13, 2006
BRIAN MEEHAN

[steeplechase3k]

A few pictures from the latest article. The Oregonian never puts pictures up on the website...

The Cover of the Sports section:


inside:

[HighHeat]

Ellsbury named, "Eastern League Player of the Week" for the week of August 7-13, 2006.

Link

[CPT Neuron]

The "almost catch" he made last night was UN-FREAKING-REAL........ranging directly back to dead center (ok, a few steps to the right of the 400 FT marker in CF @ Hadlock), going full-bore and leaping into the air, making the catch and crashinging into the wall with enough force to leave a dent.............he lost the ball in transfer (so it looked to me) and it was called a hit. Tremendous line to the ball, tremendous speed, and tremendous athleticism to make the catch. Defensively, he looks ready for the bigs.

[plnii]

From Maine Today:

Outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury sat out Wednesday after fouling a pitch off his left foot Tuesday. He could play today. . .

[underhandtofirst]

Jacoby Ellsbury went 1/5 and was picked off.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ellsbury is one of the players I look for each day in the ml game reports. But I seem to recall he has been picked off a few times this year. I'll take a wild guess of around at least 5. I cant findThis season he has 16 SB and 8 CS at Portland (41-17 overall). Looking at yesterday's boxscore the pickoff wasnt counted as a CS, which I believe they normally are. A 67% success rate isnt that great for a legit basestealer, but I'm worried it is even worse if they arent counting pickoffs.

If he is so fast how does he have such a low success rate (bad jumps?)
Are we to be concerned with his baserunning instincts if he's getting picked off so much?

Can anyone who has seem Ellsbury play illuminate me as to why he gets picked off so often? It seems like all of his CS are when he is picked off.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Using a google search I found he has been picked off on at least these days:
8/31
8/25
8/23
8/9
6/4
6/3

Wiki page talks about POs last year

[redinchicago]

BA chat:

Q:    Nate from Chicago asks:
I was a little surprised to see Ellsbury that high? His tools seem solid, but nothing seems to stand out except his speed? Is makeup and aptitude that high to boost him in the rankings?
 

A:    Chris Kline: That's part of it, but Ellsbury does a little bit of everything. He bunts well, has excellent instincts both on the bases and in center field--the last time I heard field staff and scouts rave about a defender in center like they did this year was Willy Taveras in 2003. He'll be a tablesetter kind of guy that will hit for high average and some occasional pop; but he also brings that intangible of making everyone around him better. Ellsbury isn't the second coming of Johnny Damon, but he has a chance to be a pretty special player.

[Green Monster]

Jacoby heating up in Arizona

  Jacoby Ellsbury-OF-Red Sox Oct. 25 - 3:02 pm et
 
 
Jacoby Ellsbury went 3-for-4 with a double, a walk and a stolen base in Tuesday's AFL action.

Ellsbury got off to a slow start, but after collecting seven hits in his last three games, he's batting .318/.404/.432 in 44 at-bats. Also, he's 4-for-5 on the basepaths.

[The Flying Dutchman]

[Green Monster]

http://mlb.mlb.com/N...rtnered=rss_bos

Former first-round pick Jacoby Ellsbury has gotten off on the right foot in the Arizona Fall League.
Ellsbury boasted a nine-game hitting streak after hitting safely in all but one game this season. He was held hitless in the Arizona Fall League opener Oct. 10.

The 23-year-old center fielder has been especially hot of late, going 7-for-12 with two runs scored and an RBI in a three-game span. He is batting .318 with two RBIs, seven runs scored and four stolen bases in 10 games.

On Monday, Ellsbury was selected to play in the inaugural Rising Stars Showcase game. The game will be played Friday at Surprise Stadium.

Edited by Green Monster, 30 October 2006 - 08:20 AM.

[YAZ]

Saw this today. Ellsbury report from Arizona.
TMR

FREE Article
Boys of Winter
David Young
November 10, 2006
 
This past weekend I attended BaseballHQ’s “First Pitch Seminar” here in Phoenix where we spent three days talking about fantasy baseball, watching Arizona Fall League games, and debating who’s the worst LF in the majors: Adam Dunn or Manny Ramirez (Manny won easily).  The attendees were a veritable salute to multiculturalism with such diverse groups as middle-aged white men from California, middle-aged white men from Ohio and middle-aged white men from Connecticut.  But despite the disparity of our backgrounds, each us of us shared a commonality of being overly obsessed with baseball and its derivative, fantasy baseball.


Actually, I made some new friends and became emboldened to face the 2007 season. Kudos to Ron Shandler and his crew at BaseballHQ for putting together a solid three days of speakers and information (and yes, Ron, if you hold the next one in Hawaii, I’m soooo there). So, for those of you that are creating your strategies for 2007, here’s some of the things we covered:


Jacoby Ellsbury (OF, BOS) – The scouts were drooling all over themselves over this guy. He has a good batting eye and great speed. But a base stealer in Boston is like Superman on Krypton – no matter how hard he tries, he won’t be able to use his powers. But anyone that sneaks into the Red Sox lineup is worth a roster spot. Watch him closely in Spring Training especially in AL-only.

[plnii]

Two trends continue for Ellsbury. First, he is getting picked off or caught stealing too often (7 SB / 3 CS) for someone with his speed. My hope is that he is being asked to steal in situations where it is difficult to steal, or that he is experimenting with different leads off 1B. All CS were against LH pitchers (maybe lack of experience with good lefty moves?).

Second, he has a very significant reverse split at the plate.

Against RH (56 at bats):
.207/.288/.546

Against LH (31):
.419/.486/1.099 !

This continues a trend from this past season (though not as severe).

When I saw him against a LH in the CWS, I noticed how well he hit lefty curveballs- his pitch recognition was very good. I don't understand why this doesn't translate to success against righties, but if it ever does he's going to hit for a very high average.

[Steve Dillard]

BA's #4 prospect in the AFL. Nice review on his plate performance (typical leadoff guy, 70 speed on 80 scale), but says his defense is off the charts. Good reads on hits, speed in outfield, break on balls, etc.

[ThePieSwindler]

BA's #4 prospect in the AFL.  Nice review on his plate performance (typical leadoff guy, 70 speed on 80 scale), but says his defense is off the charts.  Good reads on hits, speed in outfield, break on balls, etc.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

From what i've seen of ellsbury (about 10 games worth last year, 6 in portland and 4 in new britain) the only flaw in his defensive game is his arm - its somewhat weak. Otherwise, he will save us a TON of runs.

Edited by ThePieSwindler, 17 November 2006 - 03:02 PM.

[Hairps]

Rumor has it Ellsbury's defense last season was +19 plays above average in Portland and +25 above average in Wilmington.

Wow.