4/9 MiLB Gameday: A New Year Begins

Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat · Apr 8, 2015

Baseball season is now officially here!

Thanks for doing this again, Cuzittt. This really may be the best thing on the site.

TimScribble · Apr 8, 2015

Cuzittt is so dreamy.

Plympton91 · Apr 9, 2015

Is it surprising or disappointing that Henry Owens or Rodriguez didn't get the opening day start for Pawtucket? Johnson had a nice big league camp, but ...

Cesar Crespo · Apr 9, 2015

I think Johnson is going to have a huge year but he probably got the nod because he's the most Major league ready.

esaskysinnerear · Apr 9, 2015

Woo! Minor league games are back, time for daily visits to this page again.

Excited for Johnson's start and... well, that's about it for the starters. This is what happens when the top 4 pitching prospects in the system are all on the same team.

Plympton91 · Apr 9, 2015

I'm a little bummed that Margot didn't make it to Portland to start, with the Portland outfield having only 2 other players who are remotely prospects in it.

A little surprised that they have Chavis, Doubon, and Guerra all at Greenville; at least one of them isn't going to get a lot of time at SS there.

JBJ_HOF · Apr 9, 2015

Plympton91 said:
I'm a little bummed that Margot didn't make it to Portland to start, with the Portland outfield having only 2 other players who are remotely prospects in it.

A little surprised that they have Chavis, Doubon, and Guerra all at Greenville; at least one of them isn't going to get a lot of time at SS there.

Margot had 50 PA in Salem and Chavis is not a SS.

Detts · Apr 9, 2015

esaskysinnerear said:
Woo! Minor league games are back, time for daily visits to this page again.

Excited for Johnson's start and... well, that's about it for the starters. This is what happens when the top 4 pitching prospects in the system are all on the same team.

I'm more excited to see Kopech. Callahan is scheduled for tomorrow, so crossing fingers for Sunday afternoon game.

Plympton91 · Apr 9, 2015

JBJ_HOF said:
Margot had 50 PA in Salem and Chavis is not a SS.

I know, but Margot is awesome, and Chavis is listed as a SS on Greenville's website.

Darnell's Son · Apr 9, 2015

Plympton91 said:
I know, but Margot is awesome, and Chavis is listed as a SS on Greenville's website.

Chavis was a SS in HS, he's been moved to 3B as a pro.

Manzivino · Apr 9, 2015

Portland has been postponed due to snow.

Manzivino · Apr 9, 2015

Margot is 3 for 3 with 2 SB through his first 5 innings of the season.

Crazy Puppy · Apr 9, 2015

8 Ks for Buttrey in 4IP.

TimScribble · Apr 9, 2015

Johnson goes 5 scoreless, 6 Ks.

koufax32 · Apr 9, 2015

Where is Moncada supposed to start bis career? I though I saw Greenville.

Merkle's Boner · Apr 9, 2015

Nice way to start the season on the farm. Sweep.

Darnell's Son · Apr 9, 2015

koufax32 said:
Where is Moncada supposed to start bis career? I though I saw Greenville.

Extended spring training

JBJ_HOF · Apr 9, 2015

Hazen basically said 10-14 days in XST for Moncada on WEEI the other day.

wade boggs chicken dinner · Apr 9, 2015

sweep with 2 shutouts. Red Sox have a ton of pitching prospects.

also wanted to say thanks to Cuzittt for all of this. Only forum where I read every thread.

Drek717 · Apr 10, 2015

esaskysinnerear said:
Woo! Minor league games are back, time for daily visits to this page again.

Excited for Johnson's start and... well, that's about it for the starters. This is what happens when the top 4 pitching prospects in the system are all on the same team.

Why no interest in Dahlstrand and Buttrey? Both have gotten some good comments coming out of camp.

Portland isn't exciting by any means this year but between those two, Ball, Kopech, Whitson, and Stankiewicz there are some interesting low minors guys to follow. Add Gunkel, Pat Light now as a reliever, and seeing if Haley can build on a strong 2014 and you've got a nice mix of AA and lower pitching prospects. That is even before we see duo of Espinoza and Acosta in the DSL this summer.

Portland is lacking pedigree to be sure but it does have some interesting story lines. Asuaje, Gragnani, and Witte all had strong 2014s as older low minors guys, especially Asuaje. De La Cruz and Ramos are both toolsy but unpolished OFs who were finding themselves in their first shortened tastes of AA last season. None are beating down the door for a job in Pawtucket, let alone Boston, but I wouldn't be surprised if at least one from that group put themselves on the radar this year. Asuaje is the obvious favorite.

LondonSox · Apr 10, 2015

Baseball is really back now! Damn I missed these daily threads.
Nice first day really.

esaskysinnerear · Apr 10, 2015

Drek717 said:
Why no interest in Dahlstrand and Buttrey? Both have gotten some good comments coming out of camp.

Portland isn't exciting by any means this year but between those two, Ball, Kopech, Whitson, and Stankiewicz there are some interesting low minors guys to follow. Add Gunkel, Pat Light now as a reliever, and seeing if Haley can build on a strong 2014 and you've got a nice mix of AA and lower pitching prospects. That is even before we see duo of Espinoza and Acosta in the DSL this summer.

Portland is lacking pedigree to be sure but it does have some interesting story lines. Asuaje, Gragnani, and Witte all had strong 2014s as older low minors guys, especially Asuaje. De La Cruz and Ramos are both toolsy but unpolished OFs who were finding themselves in their first shortened tastes of AA last season. None are beating down the door for a job in Pawtucket, let alone Boston, but I wouldn't be surprised if at least one from that group put themselves on the radar this year. Asuaje is the obvious favorite.

My comment was meant to highlight how stacked Pawtucket looks to be. I'm certainly impressed with the outings from Buttrey and Dahlstrand. Buttrey was highly regarded in the draft, so we could have something there if he puts it together. I didn't realize until I looked into Dahlstrand's history that he was drafted from a high school 20 minutes from where I live. That gives me some incentive to keep an eye on him.

I think Asuaje is the real deal, I expect big things from him this year. For me Ramos is the other one to watch in Portland... he was really performing well last season before the injury ended his year.

mjohnson406 · Apr 10, 2015

Is this a sign that Gunkel is a bullpen arm now? He was used exclusively as a starter during his stint in Salem last year and Sox prospects lists him as a piggyback starter but seems to be an odd usage if that's the case.

Drek717 · Apr 10, 2015

mjohnson406 said:
Is this a sign that Gunkel is a bullpen arm now? He was used exclusively as a starter during his stint in Salem last year and Sox prospects lists him as a piggyback starter but seems to be an odd usage if that's the case.

Could be the same as last year though where he started out in the bullpen/as a piggy back starter in Greenville, kept blowing guys away to where his performance dictated more innings, and handled the larger workload without a decline in performance. He went from otherworldly in Greenville to mediocre in Salem last year, so I'd imagine the goal is to find if he can get back to that god-tier production and then see about working his innings count up.

I do suspect that they ultimately view him as a reliever though. He's 23, basically a two pitch guy (fastball/slider), and a lot of his success in Greenville has been attributed to his arm slot and poor view it gives RHBs. It's entirely likely that as he faces more advanced opposition LHBs will tee off on him and her currently is lacking the versatility in his arsenal to go through a lineup of professionals multiple times. Also, he could move up fast as a bullpen guy so there is tangible benefits to focusing on his per batter productivity over the ability to give total innings.

On that subject, this might be the most intriguing mL bullpen depth we've seen in quite a while. Pat Light is being given a good challenge being assigned to Portland for his first taste of the high minors, but the raw stuff has always been there so maybe this makes it click. Noe Ramirez has always gotten it done out of the 'pen and is now within reach of Boston. Jonathan Aro looks like he's following in Noe's footsteps with more Ks. Then you have Gunkel rounding out the not really on the radar guys, meanwhile Pawtucket has Noe buried behind Escobar, Workman, Hembree, Hinojosa, and Spruill. Plus Barnes might well see his next ML stint out of the 'pen.

The ML bullpen has some questions for sure but lord knows they've stocked plenty of arms from Salem to Pawtucket that they can reinforce from. It will be very interesting to see how they all fare this season.

4/9 MiLB Gameday: A New Year Begins

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