Down on the Farm

It was raining Cats and Dogs last night in Manchester. (The Cats being the AA affiliate of Toronto Blue Jays and the Sea Dogs being the Boston Red Sox farm club.) Actually the rain was light... The game was played under a persistent mist with temps in the low 60s... In other words, a typical April evening in July.

As I am wont to do, being the fantasy baseball addict that I am, I like to watch these games with an eye toward the future. My future. Like, who on this field could be helping my Flyin' Squirrels in a couple years?!

Unfortunately, my two best prospects have performed so well this season that they were promoted to Triple A before I could get a chance to see them in my home state. They are OF Jacoby Ellsbury and RHP Clay Buchholz.

Ellsbury, in fact, got all the way to the Show, filling in last month with the big club and chipping in admirably. In 16 at-bats, he had 6 hits, scored 3 runs, drove in 1, and had a steal. He demonstrated his tremendous speed by coming home all the way from 2nd on a wild pitch. Perhaps most impressive however was the fact that he didn't strike out once. With Coco Crisp, Wily Mo Pena, and J. D. Drew all under-performing this season, there's considerable buzz about bringing Ellsbury back sooner rather than later. A center-fielder with tools, he's most commonly compared to Johnny Damon, sans the long mane and beard. And Baseball America has him rated as the Sox top prospect. Definitely one to keep an eye on, especially if the Sox deal Pena or Crisp before the trading deadline.

Buchholz, meanwhile, is an ace in waiting. He's too skinny yet (6-3, 190) and only 23 as of next month. He can bring it in the 90s, but his real weapon is a 12-6 curve that "Buchholz" the knees of opposing batters. The lanky righty is sometimes mentioned in the same breath as Chris Carpenter, who is was announced today is undergoing Tommy John surgery and is out until next year's All-Star break. Maybe we should find another comparison pitcher? In the film I've seen, he looks more like Bronson Arroyo, only with the curve instead of a slider. Check these stats from Portland: 1.77 ERA, 116 Ks, and 22 walks in 86 2/3rds. Yow! ESPN's Nate Ravitz loves him.

Who did I get to see? 2005 first-rounder Jed Lowrie was at second and he looked good. He's got potential, as evidenced by his mention here on ESPN. Lowrie leads the team in HRs, RBI, total bases, and walks. The guy I thought looked the best, however, was 3B Chad Spann. He scorched the ball every time he was up, handled everything hit his way smoothly, and just carried himself with the confidence of a ballplayer who's going places. Little did I realize, he was going places -- he just got sent back down to Portland last week after struggling (.222, only 17 RBI) in Pawtucket. But he was an Eastern League All-Star last season with the Dogs, and he's hitting .320, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him back up in Pawtucket by the end of the year.

On the Fisher Cats side of the diamond, I was most impressed with the big, lefty 1B Chip Cannon. He had 27 homers last year and has 15 so far this year, including one last night.

And on the lighter side, my group and I did a double-take when we heard the name "Beau Vaughan" on the PA. Did they just say Mo Vaughn?!!! Then we did a triple-take when we looked up at the scoreboard for his picture. Instead of the bald-pated, pirate-earring-wearing former Sox MVP, we saw this!

Yikes. Beau? Keep the name but lay off the caffeine, man!