Tag: portland sea dogs

Top #RedSox Pitching Prospect Darwinzon Hernandez Racks up Career-High 11 Strikeouts for Double-A Portland

While the the Red Sox were enjoying an off day on Thursday, the club’s top pitching prospect, Darwinzon Hernandez, put together a career night in his start for Double-A Portland.

Making his sixth start of the season for the Sea Dogs, the left-hander surrendered four runs, three of which were earned, on five hits and two walks to go along with a career-best 11 strikeouts over a career-best seven innings of work against the Reading Fightin Phils Thursday.

Outside of a rough third inning in which all four of those initial Reading runs came around to score, Hernandez did not yield a single hit from the first until the start of the middle of the third, and then again from the middle of the fourth until the conclusion of his seventh and final frame.

In that seventh inning, the 23-year-old hurler capped off his outing on a high note by fanning four Fightin Phils thanks to a wild pitch that allowed one hitter to reach first on his own part.

The Sea Dogs eventually dropped this contest by a final score of 8-2, and Hernandez was thus hit with his third losing decision of the year.

Ranked as Boston’s third-best prospect overall, we have already gotten a sneak peek of what Hernandez could bring to the table at the big league level earlier last month, where in the second of a day-night doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers, the southpaw scattered four hits and one walk while punching out four over 2.1 innings of relief.

He served as the club’s 26th man for the second game of that doubleheader, and was sent back to Double-A Portland right after.

Through the six starts made with the Sea Dogs in 2019, Hernandez has posted an ERA of 4.10 and a batting average against of .198 in addition to 36 strikeouts and 21 free passes over 26.1 total innings of work.

Out of spring training, the plan was to let the Venezuela native develop as a starting pitcher rather than rush him up in a relief role, both of which he has experience in.

As of now, I would say the Red Sox are sticking to this plan, so don’t expect to see Hernandez up in Boston anytime soon barring any unforeseen circumstances.

#RedSox Prospect Bobby Dalbec Has Hit Four Home Runs in Last Two Games for Double-A Portland

While the Red Sox have been in the midst of a five-game winning streak, perhaps you haven’t seen or heard what the club’s third-ranked prospect Bobby Dalbec has been up to lately with Double-A Portland.

Over his last two games, the 23-year-old has mashed four home runs, three of which came in an 8-7 loss to the Trenton Thunder on Saturday, and the fourth coming in a 5-2 win over the Hartford Yard Goats Monday night.

Taken by Boston in the fourth round of the 2016 amateur draft, Dalbec got off to a bit of a slow start with the Sea Dogs after being invited to Red Sox big league camp for the first time earlier this spring.

As recently as May 3rd, the University of Arizona product was slashing just .189/.362/.311 with two home runs and nine RBI on the season, but has since heated up in a monumental way.

Since the beginning of last week, May 6th, Dalbec has gone 9-for-his-last-19 to go along with five homers and nine RBI, raising his slugging percentage to a respectable .519 in a five-game span.

Dalbec was named Eastern League Player of the Week for May 6th-12th on Monday.

Given the amount of infield depth the Red Sox have at the moment, it seems unlikely that we’d see the Dalbec make his big league debut in 2019, but a promotion to Triple-A Pawtucket sometime this summer does seem in reach for Dalbec if this offensive run persists.

#RedSox Halt Dustin Pedroia’s Rehab Assignment Due to Minor Left Knee Soreness

Nearly two weeks after sending him out on one for the second time this season, the Red Sox have returned second baseman Dustin Pedroia from his rehab assignment with Double-A Portland due to what the club is describing as “minor left knee soreness”, per multiple reports.

Pedroia, 35, was scratched from the Sea Dogs’ lineup against the Trenton Thunder this past Saturday for essentially the same reason.

Placed on the 10-day injured list back on April 19th after appearing in six games for the Red Sox, the veteran infielder was sent out to Portland on May 2nd, where he went 4-for-16 with one run and one RBI over a six-game span.

According to the Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham, the plan now is for Pedroia to go back out on another assignment following this delay. This works out for the team, because as Abraham notes, 12 of the 20 days available for a rehab assignment had already been used up, so this now gives Pedroia and the Red Sox more time to prepare.

In Pedroia’s place, the Red Sox currently have rookie Michael Chavis and Eduardo Nunez available to man second base when necessary, while Brock Holt and Tzu-Wei Lin, like Pedroia, remain on Boston’s injured list.

The timetable for the California native’s return to the majors is not yet known, but that doesn’t mean he still can’t contribute to the big league club when healthy.

All on Twitter, I see people indirectly urging Pedroia to retire due to these extended knee issues, hoping the remainder of his six-year, $85 million contract could somehow be voided if he did indeed hang them up.

I don’t know where things took a sour turn, I really don’t. But Dustin Pedroia deserved more respect than that. Literally the best second baseman not named Bobby Doerr to ever don a Red Sox uniform.

The bottom line is: show that man some respect.

#RedSox and Portland Sea Dogs Extend Affiliation Agreement Through 2022.

Earlier Tuesday, the Boston Red Sox announced that they had extended their player development contract with their Double A affiliate Portland Sea Dogs for the next four seasons.

Originally affiliated with the then-Florida Marlins, the Sea Dogs have been affiliated with the Red Sox since the start of the 2003 season.

Since then, the Eastern League club has won a pair of division titles in 2005 and 2014 as well as their lone league title in 2006.

As things stand right now, the Red Sox’s 40-man roster includes 24 players who came up through the pipeline by way of Portland.

Notable alumni include Sea Dogs Hall of Famer Dustin Pedroia, Mookie Betts, Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, Andrew Benintendi, Blake Swihart, Christian Vazquez, and Matt Barnes.

On the same day this news broke, the Sea Dogs also introduced former MLB catcher Joe Oliver as their 13th manager in the club’s history. Oliver, 53, has been with the Red Sox organization in a minor league managing capacity since 2014.

 

Eduardo Rodriguez Officially Set to Rejoin #RedSox Rotation in Chicago This Weekend.

Earlier today, I wrote about how Eduardo Rodriguez looked great in his second rehab start in Portland and how his return to the Red Sox rotation in the coming days was imminent.

Well, now we have confirmation from Red Sox manager Alex Cora himself that Rodriguez will be starting against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field this Saturday.

So, there you have it. After spraining his right ankle on July 14th, it will have taken the left-hander exactly seven weeks to return to a big league mound once we reach Saturday.

In his career against the White Sox, both of which have come at Fenway Park, Rodriguez owns a 3.75 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP in a total of 12 innings pitched.

Opposite of the Venezuela native on Saturday will be another left-hander in Chicago’s Carlos Rodon, who has surrendered two runs or fewer in 11 of his 14 starts this season.

Some other Red Sox injury-related news:

Eduardo Rodriguez Tosses Another Four Scoreless Innings in Second Rehab Start in Portland.

Last Monday, on August 20th, the Red Sox sent LHP Eduardo Rodriguez out on a rehab assignment to Double A Portland.

In his first in-game action since spraining his right ankle on July 14th, the 25-year-old failed to give up a single run on just one hit while walking two and fanning eight in four frames of work against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

Great first step for Rodriguez, and he was back out there Monday night for the Sea Dogs once again.

Pitching another four innings yesterday, the Venezuela native held the opposition scoreless on two hits, two walks, and six strikeouts in a 12-6 win for Portland.

Catching Rodriguez on Monday was Christian Vazquez, who has been on the 10-day disabled list since July 8th and is working his way back from a finger fracture on his right hand.

Batting third in the Sea Dogs lineup, Vazquez went 1/2 with a sacrifice fly and two RBI double to finish with three runs driven in on the night. He also caught the first five innings.

On the season with the big league club, Rodriguez is 11-3 with a 3.44 ERA in 19 games started. He has not surrendered a run in his last 19 innings pitched and is expected to rejoin the Red Sox rotation in Chicago this weekend.

Vazquez, on the other hand, is slashing .213/.249/.300 with three home runs and 14 RBI in 60 games played. He is expected to catch again with the Pawtucket Red Sox tonight and be activated this weekend as well.

#RedSox Top Prospect Michael Chavis Homers in First Game with Triple A Pawtucket.

So, it somehow slipped by me on Friday that 1B/3B Michael Chavis had been promoted from Double A Portland up to Triple A Pawtucket.

That’s on me.

Chavis, 23 and ranked as Boston’s top prospect by MLB Pipeline, has been with the organization since he was selected in the first round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft back in 2014.

Originally starting the 2018 season with the Sea Dogs, the Georgia native received an 80 game suspension on April 6th for testing positive for Dehydrochlormethyltestosterone, a PED.

Since he was reinstated from the restricted list on July 2nd, Chavis has been performing quite well, as he slashed .303/.388/.508 with six home runs and 17 RBI in 33 games with the club.

A right-handed hitter, Chavis batted sixth in his PawSox debut against the Buffalo Bisons on Friday night, and he had himself a night to remember.

Finishing 3/4 at the plate, the top prospect nearly homered in his first at bat before he went deep later on in the top of the fourth.

With one out and a runner on first, Chavis swung at the first pitch he saw from Bisons starter Shawn Morimando and sent it to the opposite field for his first Triple A homer.

Since he’s not currently on the Red Sox’ 40-man roster, a corresponding move would have to be made if Chavis were to be a part of September call-ups at the beginning of next month.

For now though, it should be fun to watch how the corner infielder adjusts to the new level of competition in the International League.

Eduardo Rodriguez Tosses Four Scoreless Innings in First Rehab Start in Portland.

For the first time in over a month, Eduardo Rodriguez saw some in-game action in a rehab start with the Portland Sea Dogs on Monday night.

Out since he sprained his right ankle on a play at first base against the Toronto Blue Jays on July 14th, the 25-year-old’s road to recovery has gone quite well and last night was a big step in the right direction.

Some feared that he may be forced to miss the remainder of the season, but the fact that Rodriguez is pitching, albeit in a minor league setting, just over five weeks after suffering the injury, is pretty remarkable.

Facing off against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, an affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, the left-hander held the opposition scoreless on just one hit and two walks to go along with eight strikeouts in a solid four frames of work. In total, Rodriguez threw 63 pitches, 39 of which went for strikes.

Matched up against another young starter on a rehab assignment in Toronto’s Aaron Sanchez, it was the Sea Dogs who came away with an eventual 4-3 win.

When asked about his outing in Portland’s clubhouse, Rodriguez replied, “Threw all my pitches. I didn’t get tired. Felt really good.”

On the season as a whole, the native of Venezuela owns a 3.44 ERA in 19 games started with the Red Sox. He has not given up a run in his last 19 innings pitched.

Per Alex Cora, “(Rodriguez)’ll come back and we’ll go through PFPs (pitchers fielding practice drills), the plan is for him probably to go another one, and we’ll go from there.”

So there you have it, E-Rod will more than likely make another rehab start sometime in the next week, and the Red Sox will proceed in whatever direction they deem best fit after that.

 

RECAP: Matt Kent Takes No-Hitter into Sixth Inning as Sea Dogs Blank Curve in 3-0 Win.

That’s right, this is a Sea Dogs blog now.

But really, I’ve been able to catch a few games up in Portland, Maine this weekend, so I figured I would share a few thoughts on the team in case you haven’t been paying much attention to the Red Sox’s Double A affiliate.

Entering Saturday with a measly 52-69 record and sitting in last place in the Eastern League’s Eastern Division, the Sea Dogs certainly have not been world burners this season, but they do house two of the Red Sox’s most promising prospects in third basemen Michael Chavis and Bobby Dalbec.

Chavis, 23, is ranked as the team’s #1 prospect and Dalbec, also 23, is ranked sixth, per MLB Pipeline.

Batting third and fourth in the Sea Dogs’ lineup respectively in a Saturday night contest against the 66-54 Altoona Curve, an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, they were who I was looking forward to watching most after neither could do much in a 8-1 loss on Friday.

As it turned out though, the star of the night was Portland’s starting pitcher Matt Kent, who is not ranked in the top 30 of Red Sox prospects.

Kent, a left-hander who was selected by Boston back in the 13rd round of the 2015 MLB Draft out of Texas A&M, entered Saturday with a 3.52 ERA in 23 games (19 starts) with the Sea Dogs in 2018, and he was fantastic.

Pitching into the seventh inning, the 25-year-old Kent sat down the first 11 hitters he faced and proceeded to take a no-hitter into the sixth until Curve right fielder broke it up with a one out single.

Finishing with 96 pitches, 55 of which went for strikes, Kent departed with runners on second and third with two outs in the seventh in his eventual ninth winning decision of the season.

In 124.1 innings pitched with the Sea Dogs in 2018, Kent’s ERA now stands at a solid 3.33 to go along with a decent 1.21 WHIP and .242 batting average against.

According to SoxProspects.com, Kent, “Does not have a typical profile, but has a chance as a lefty who can pound the strike zone, has deception and can manipulate the ball, giving hitters different looks.”

Definitely not a big time prospect, but is still someone you should keep your eye on.

Speaking of big time prospects, Michael Chavis and Bobby Dalbec played Saturday, as I had previously mentioned, and they combined to go 3/7 at the plate with one extra base hit, one RBI, and all three runs scored.

That RBI, one of just three on the night for Portland, came on an RBI single off the bat of Dalbec in the sixth that scored Chavis from first and put the Sea Dogs up 2-0.

Jordan Betts and Danny Mars also drove in runs in a 3-0 shutout win for the ‘Dogs.

On the season, Chavis, a former first round pick is slashing .303/.400/.515 with five home runs and 15 RBI in 27 Eastern League games.

Dalbec, a former fourth round pick, is slashing .320/.407/.720 with five homers and 14 RBI in just 14 games with the Sea Dogs after hitting 26 home runs in exactly 100 games with the High A Salem Red Sox to begin the 2018 season.

The Sea Dogs improved to 53-69 with the shutout win on Saturday. They have won seven of their last nine games and will look for the series win tomorrow afternoon at Hadlock Field.

Michael Chavis and Bobby Dalbec Were at It Again for the Portland Sea Dogs on Sunday.

A few days ago, I wrote about how Michael Chavis and Bobby Dalbec each hit a pair of home runs for the Portland Sea Dogs in Erie, PA this past Thursday.

I talked about how they were two of the more interesting prospects in the Red Sox farm system to watch, and they proved me right once again yesterday afternoon.

Facing off against the Akron RubberDucks, the Eastern League affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, and batting third and fourth in Portland’s lineup, the pair of corner infielders were responsible for all six runs scored by the Sea Dogs on Sunday.

An RBI single from Chavis in the first and two RBI doubles, one of which was good for two runs, from Chavis and Dalbec in the third had Portland up by four runs early.

Fast forward all the way to the top half of the eighth, with two outs and Chavis at first following a HBP, Dalbec put the exclamation point on a fine day for the Sea Dogs by blasting his 31st home run of the season between High A Salem and Double A Portland.

That big fly, Dalbec’s fifth in the past week, put the Sea Dogs up 6-2, which would turn out to be the final score in their third win in the last four days.

Since he was promoted to Portland on August 3rd. the 23-year-old Dalbec, ranked as the sixth best prospect in Boston’s system, is off to a hot start with his new club, as he is slashing .364/.421/.848 over his last nine games with those five homers and 11 RBI as well.

On the other side of the infield, Michael Chavis, 23, has been on a more torrid pace lately, as he was just named Eastern League Player of the Week after hitting .560 in his last six games.

On the season as a whole, Chavis, 23, a Georgia native and ranked as Boston’s top prospect, owns a 1.005 OPS to go along with six home runs in 27 games played between Low A Lowell and Double A Portland.

At 49-68, the Sea Dogs will be opening up the longest homestand of their season starting on Tuesday.