Mookie Betts Continues to Impress with Inside-the-Park Home Run

(Photo Source: Yawkey Way Report)

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Another day at the ballpark, another headline for Mookie Betts.

Betts continued his remarkable Spring Training run on last Sunday afternoon (March 22nd) against the Philadelphia Phillies at JetBlue Park in Ft. Myers, FL. The 22-year old infielder-turned-outfielder put up yet another multi-hit performance, going 2 for 2 with a RBI.

In 11 Grapefruit League games, Betts is hitting .471/.471/.853 good for an astounding 1.324 OPS, with nine extra-base hits and two RBIs.

One of his more memorable Spring Training moments came Sunday afternoon when Betts launched a ball to deep center field, and was able to come all the way around the bases on an inside-the-park home run as Phillies' center fielder Odubel Herrera struggled to locate the ball after attempting to catch it over his shoulder.

“I just thought it was going to be a double,” Betts shared with BostonGlobe.com. “When I was getting close to second I figured I might as well go three. When I was going three, Butter had the decision to send me home. I kind of went with the flow.”

With a good mix of power and speed, Red Sox' manager John Farrell sounds more than confident having Betts hitting lead off come Opening Day.

“He’s obviously driving the ball consistently. He gives you a threat even as the game begins,” Farrell told the Globe. “He’s an exciting player. He’s always on time hitting-wise. He’s equipped to hit different types or pitches from righthanders and left handers."

Betts is even receiving praise from some of his veteran teammates, such as left fielder Hanley Ramirez.

“He’s been doing well with the communication, moving me around. I like that, a young guy taking charge,” Ramirez told BostonGlobe.com

“He reminds me of myself in [2006] in Miami,” Ramirez told NJ.com.

With the spring performance he has put up so far, along with the high praise from his coaches and teammates alike, 2015 is shaping up to be a break out campaign for the Nashville, TN native, Mookie Betts.

Christian Vazquez Likely to Begin Season on Disabled List with Elbow Injury

(September 3, 2014 - Source: Rich Schultz/Getty Images North America)

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According to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, Christian Vazquez has been told 'something' was found in the elbow MRI he underwent Friday afternoon, and that he will now be seeking a second opinion.

In an interview with ESPN Boston, Red Sox manager John Farrell was asked if the MRI showed any ligament damage that could require surgery.

"I was not told specifically what's going on there," he explained. "We just know there have been some findings in the MRI. I think before we get too far ahead of ourselves, a second opinion will be had and information compared, but clearly the MRI suggests that there's more information that's going to be had."

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Hanley Ramirez Provides Five RBI in Sox' 7-6 Victory

(March 5, 2015 - Source: Joe Robbins/Getty Images North America)

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After a slow start to Spring Training that saw him entering play hitting .208, Hanley Ramirez showed Sunday afternoon why the Red Sox were willing to make a 4-year, $88 million dollar commitment back in November for the former shortstop to play left field.

Ramirez went 2 for 3 with a mammoth 3-run blast to center field in the bottom of the third inning, his first long ball of the spring. He followed that up in the bottom of the fourth with a 2-run single, to increase Boston's lead to 7-0.

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Mookie Betts' Attitude As Good As His Play

(Photo Source: Yawkey Way Report)

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As each Spring Training game passes, Mookie Betts is leaving little doubt in anyone's mind that he should be the Red Sox' starting center fielder come April 6th.

Betts contributed another impressive performance on Monday, going 2-3 with a double, triple, and a run scored against the New York Mets at JetBlue Park in Ft. Myers, FL. In seven Spring Training games thus far, Betts is hitting an astounding .435/.435/.739, good for a 1.174 OPS.

Equally as impressive as his on-the-field performance, has been his attitude and the way he conducts himself off of it.

Betts began last season on a hot streak as the Portland Sea Dogs' second baseman, but with the Red Sox middle infield seemingly full for years to come, the Red Sox had Betts begin to transition to center field, where they could take advantage of his immense talent.

“It’s had its ups and downs,” Betts said in an interview with Ron Borges of BostonHerald.com. “It definitely hasn’t been as easy as I thought. You’ve got a lot of ground to cover and you have to move around with each hitter and with different counts. There’s so much involved getting ready for each pitch."

“When the first fly came out it was like ‘Oh bleep.’ That’s pretty much exactly how I felt. But after I got the first couple under my belt I felt comfortable.”

Although the transition has not come without its difficulties, Betts seems willing to do whatever it takes to earn a spot on the big league roster.

"The only thing I can do now is fulfill what they need,” Betts shared with Borges. “I 100 percent look at it like they think I’m a good enough athlete to do it, not like they don’t think I can play the infield. Plus, we got a guy at second base who’s pretty good so I couldn't play there."

“My dream wasn’t to play second base. The dream is to make it to the big leagues. I can’t say it didn’t happen as I wanted because I’m in the big leagues.”

With an incredible amount of talent and potential on-the-field, and the maturity and wisdom that makes him seem wise beyond his years, Mookie Betts seems ready to take the MLB by storm. If his spring is any indication of what's to come for the 22-year old Nashville, TN native, we might be seeing a perennial All-Star at Fenway Park for years to come.

Snow Removal Operations Underway at Hadlock Field

(Photos Courtesy of Portland Sea Dogs' Facebook Page)

And with only 25 days to go until Opening Day at Hadlock Field, the Sea Dogs found some fans to share their excitement for the upcomming season:

Post by Portland Sea Dogs.

Henry Owens Dazzles Over Two Innings in 5-1 Sox Victory Over Rays

(Photo Source: Yawkey Way Report)

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Henry Owens, Boston's number one pitching prospect according to SoxProspects.com, raised his stock even further Tuesday afternoon with two brilliant innings against the Tampa Bay Rays at JetBlue Park in Ft. Myers.

Owens entered the game in the 6th inning, and immediately struck out the first batter he faced in Corey Brown. He followed that up with back-to-back fly balls to left fielder Bryce Brentz to end the frame.

The tall 22-year old southpaw then retired Tim Beckham and Hak-Ju Lee to begin the seventh, before setting Steven Souza Jr. down on strikes to finish his afternoon after two perfect innings.

The improvement over last spring training, Owens' first with the major league club, is already evident to Sox' manager John Farrell.

"[His] poise. Confidence," Farrell said in an interview with MLB.com's Ian Browne. "His breaking ball to me this spring is a little tighter and a little more sharp than we saw a year ago. He's starting to, I think, through physical maturity and gaining some weight and overall strength, develop a little better fastball velocity."

The differential between his fastball and change up velocity has played a big part in Owen's recent success.

"He flashed some good fastballs today," Farrel told Browne. "His changeup is always going to be the signature pitch for him. The three pitches that he has have such definition that he can attack a guy multiple ways."

Owens, who is listed at 6' 7", seems to possess all the physical tools one would want in a top of the rotation starter.

He is coming off a season in which he went 17-5 with a 2.94 ERA and 170 strikeouts over 26 appearances (all starts) between AA Portland and AAA Pawtucket. Owens also earned trips to both the mid-season and post-season All-Star games for the AA Eastern League, as well as winning their Pitcher of the Year award.

The Huntington Beach, CA native will have to prove himself against other top lefty pitching prospects Brian Johnson and Eduardo Rodriguez, but many within the Sox' organization feel very highly about Owens, and believe he has the potential to be Boston's ace of the future.

Mookie Betts Looks Poised to Take Over Lead Off Role

(Photo Source: Yawkey Way Report)

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It hasn't taken long for Mookie Betts to go from top infield prospect, to major league outfielder and potential lead off hitter for the Boston Red Sox.

In 52 games with the big league club in 2014, Betts impressed many while hitting .291/.368/.444 with 18 extra base hits, 18 RBIs and 21 walks compared to just 31 strikeouts.

So far this spring, the story has been much of the same.

Betts contributed a hit and a RBI in Boston's 3-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday, and so far is hitting .273/.273/.444 with an RBI and two runs scored in three games this spring. He has also looked good in center field—a position that was totally foreign to him not even one season ago.

"It speaks more to some genuine and natural confidence,'' said Red Sox manager John Farrell in an interview with CSNNE.com. "He's an inquisitive person, so he asks a lot of questions and he's not afraid that he comes across as not knowing something. He wants to know what a certain game situation would cause him to do and he works through it. He's one of those guys who asks a question once, you give him an answer and that question doesn't come up anymore. I think it speaks to how smart he is."

When Farrell was asked by CSNNE's Sean McAdam about Betts' ability to hit from the lead off spot in the order, he seemed more than confident in the 22-year old Nashville, TN native.
"He looks pretty comfortable," Farrell stated. "When you get on base two or three times per game (it helps). It's a spot that he's been most comfortable in, and hit out of. He profiles that spot very well," he stated.

Although it has been rumored that Betts will compete for the center field job with Rusney Castillo during camp, early injuries to both Castillo and Shane Victorino seem to indicate that there's a good chance Betts will make the Opening Day roster.

The Red Sox saw first hand in 2014 how the lack of a lead off hitter can effect an offense's production, and if Mookie Betts can continue to provide contributions from that spot in the lineup, he should see plenty of playing time in Boston this season.

Sean Coyle Misses Game After Taking Grounder to Face During Warmups

(Photo Source: Yawkey Way Report)

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Red Sox infield prospect Sean Coyle was scratched from the lineup in Thursday's contest against the New York Mets at Tradition Field, after taking a ground ball to his face during warm ups.

The injury left Coyle needing three stitches, and Jemile Weeks started in his place at third base.
The 23-year old has driven in one run on a double in three at-bats so far this spring, to go with a walk and a stolen base.

Coyle spent his 2014 season with the AA Portland Sea Dogs, where he hit .295/.371/.512 in 96 games to go with 16 home runs and 61 RBI.

He recently compared his offensive approach to former Red Sox hero, Ted Williams.

“My dad had the Science of Hitting and the pages were falling out,” Coyle said in an interview with WEEI.com. “Me and brother went through it. At first we just liked to look at all the pictures of baseballs and averages. Then we started to read into it. It started there.

“I’m a firm believer in a lot of things Ted Williams had to say about hitting -- the hips lead the swing. Everything starts from the ground up, for sure.”

Due to his lack of physical size, Coyle looks to fellow Red Sox infielder Dustin Pedroia for inspiration.

“I look at him as someone who doesn’t need to be seven-foot tall to act like it,” Coyle stated in the WEEI interview. “I really look up to him and how he goes about things and how he’s unfazed and how he’s confident despite what people have to say about him.”

Although every avenue to the Red Sox infield is seemingly blocked at this point in time, Coyle could represent a valuable trade piece later in the season. Coyle has spent considerable time at second and third base, and if he can replicate his offensive performance from 2014, there should be plenty of teams lining up to acquire his services.

Brian Johnson Tosses Two Innings En Route to 6-3 Sox Victory

(Photo Source: Yawkey Way Report)

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Former Sea Dog Brian Johnson helped contribute to the Red Sox 6-3 victory over the Mets at Tradition Field on Sunday, pitching two innings while allowing one run on three hits and a walk. The 24-year old southpaw struck out 2013 batting champion Michael Cuddyer on three straight pitches in the bottom of the fourth inning.

“He might not have garnered a lot of the same attention outside of the Red Sox, but we value him, and he's a good pitcher,” said Red Sox manager John Farrell according to BostonHerald.com.

Johnson is coming off a stand out year in 2014, one that saw him win the Red Sox Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award, as well as earn a runner-up finish to teammate Henry Owens in the Eastern League Pitcher of the Year voting.

In 25 starts between the Salem Red Sox and Portland Sea Dogs, Johnson compiled a 13-3 record to go with a 2.13 ERA. During one stretch of last season, Johnson held opponents to two runs or less in 22 of 23 starts.

The key to  Johnson's success was his ability to keep runners off the base paths, owning a miniscule 0.97 WHIP and holding opposing batters to just a .197 batting average, all while striking out 132 batters.

Johnson's stellar 2014 campaign earned him an invite to Red Sox spring training this year, where he is working alongside two other top left-handed pitching prospects, Henry Owens and Eduardo Rodriguez.

Instead of viewing the situation as a competition, however, Johnson has tried to learn as much as possible from his colleagues, all three of whom pitched in Portland at some point last season.


“You’re always taking notes in your head while you’re watching [them pitch] or charting the game or scouting the game as a player," Johnson stated in an interview with SoxProspects.com.


All three lefties are presumably slated to begin the year at AAA Pawtucket, but with a lot of uncertainty surrounding Boston's rotation, it would not be surprising to see one or more of these top young arms at the major league level at some point in 2015.

Bogaerts' Power on Display in Sox' 6-3 Victory

(September 6, 2014 - Source: Jim Rogash/Getty Images North America)

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Xander Bogaerts is looking to put and up-and-down 2014 season behind him, one that saw him switch between shortstop and third base several times. So far this spring, he has done just that.

The 22-year old infielder got the Red Sox on the board with a run-scoring base hit in the third inning of Thursday’s contest, and followed that up in the fifth when he took an offering from New York Mets’ Hansel Robles, and deposited it over the left field fence for a three-run homer, his second long ball of the spring.

“The only breaking ball he saw in the whole sequence was a hanging breaking ball he put a great swing on,” Sox’ manager John Farrell said of Bogaerts’ home run per MLB.com. “He recognized it. I think equal to that, there’s so many at-bats where he’s staying back and hitting some balls the other way. He had a long fly ball (Saturday) to move a runner, and today an RBI single the other way when he was down in the count. He looks balanced and he’s waiting for pitches to get to him.”

Bogaerts slammed his first home run of the spring on Thursday, when he launched a two-run home run to straight away center field against the Minnesota Twins.

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Despite Harsh Winter, Sea Dogs Will Be Ready Opening Day

(Photo Source: Yawkey Way Report)

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As all New Englanders are well aware, the winter of 2014-15 has been one of the coldest and snowiest in recorded history. Portland, Maine has received nearly five feet of snow thus far, with nearly half of that total coming in February alone.

It is going to take more than a little snow to stop baseball from proceeding as planned in Portland, however, as the Sea Dogs announced via their website on Wednesday that they guarantee the season opener will be played as scheduled on Thursday, April 9 at Hadlock Field.

"We are ready for spring and confident that it will arrive along with [the] baseball season on April 9th," stated Sea Dogs General Manager Geoff Lacuessa, according to milb.com. "We have the best grounds crew in the league, I have no doubt we will be ready for the season opener, therefore I am guaranteeing Sea Dogs baseball will be played on April 9th in Portland."

To back up their guarantee, the Sea Dogs are doubling their usual rain check from one to two tickets of equal value to any future game, subject to availability.

Even with the guarantee, however, it's tough for anyone to predict what weather will be like along Maine's coast in early April. The Sea Dogs experienced the franchise's first "freeze out" in April of 2013, after temperatures in the mid-twenties froze the turf and made for "unplayable playing conditions".

The Sea Dogs are coming off a historic 2014 season, one that saw them win a franchise record 88 games, and reach the postseason for the first time in six seasons.

Red Sox phenom Mookie Betts began his 2014 campaign in Portland, before making his major league debut on June 29. In 52 games with the big league club, Betts hit .291/.368/.444 with five home runs and 18 RBIs.

Tickets are still available for the Sea Dogs' home opener, with prices starting at just $8.

Daniel Nava Attempting to Abandon Switch Hitting in 2015

(September 11, 2014 - Source: Ed Zurga/Getty Images North America)

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Per NESN.com, Daniel Nava will attempt to abandon his switch hitting roots in 2015, and begin hitting exclusively from the left side of the plate, at least for the time being.

The 32-year old outfielder was demoted to AAA Pawtucket on April 23 last season, after hitting just .149/.166/.269 in his first 23 games, with only four extra-base hits and three runs batted in.

“I struggled from the right side last year, and being that I wasn’t getting consistent at-bats, it’s worth a shot because maybe it’ll allow me to get some more at-bats,” said Nava at JetBlue Park on Saturday.

“My swing is still the same. It’s more or less the setups so that I can see the ball better,” stated Nava. “From the right side, you’ve got both of your eyes. But from the left, from what I’ve seen, it’s just a little more challenging.

“The swing is still the same, and my approach is still the same, as well. So hopefully with the approach, it’ll give me a little bit easier of a transition.”

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