Futures at Fenway

My buddy Joe was at the Futures at Fenway game yesterday. For those of you not familiar with the event, Futures at Fenway is a minor league double header at historic Fenway Park. The PawSox and Sea Dogs each played games yesterday and Joe had some observations about the kids down in the minors:

-Catcher Luis Exposito (13 on Soxprospects.com) and shortstop Yamaico Navarro (10 on Soxprospects) recently promoted are looking good in Portland. They played well in their game at Fenway and handled the situation well. Navarro doesn't have great numbers yet, but made good contact and played solid SS.
-1B prospect Lars Anderson (#3 ranked and all the way down to a .243 BA) is struggling and going through a tough stretch. He didn't look confident at the plate (0 for 2 with a K) before being replaced in the 6th. Jon Still, the Portland DH, had a solid approach of working the count and not going outside the zone.
-Felix Doubront (#12) looked filthy. Fastball 93-94 with a good change and curve. He got squeezed a lot, meaning a few more walks than hoped for but lots of Ks and only two runs (made one mistake down the middle for a HR).
-Dustin Richardson got the save and looked solid. Good fastball and location. He seemed to be more advanced than the hitters he was facing. Look for him to make a few appearances in September in Boston (already on the 40 man).
-Ryan Kalish (#7) didn't do much at the plate, but played a good centerfield.
-Charlie Zink (unranked), the infamous minor league knuckle-baller, got rocked again. Definitely a lifetime minor league it looks like.
-Aaron Bates (22, and was up with the big club earlier) didn't start but hit the ball solidly when he came in in the 7th for Jeff Bailey (the 30-year old post prospect) who drove in a couple runs and looked good. When healthy, Bailey could be solid for Boston; potentially adding a solid right-handed bat with the ability to play first and corner outfield (not particularly well).
-I was very impressed with PawSox IF Zach Borowiak. He's not a big name or ranked highly but he put together some solid ABs, took a pitch inside off the ribs to get on base, laid down a solid sac bunt (unlike anyone in Boston in years), and broke up a double play going in hard at second; Real hard nosed kid. Don't expect he'll be in Boston in September, but I wish he had better tools to go with that attitude so he could be a player with the big club.
-Jason Place has been falling down the prospect ranks since he got drafted #1 in '06 (26 now). He did however hit a big HR almost over the monster and hit the ball hard two other times. Hopefully he can turn it around.
-Recent acquisitions Chris Duncan (1B/LF acquired from STL for Lugo) and Brian Anderson (CF acquired from the White Sox for Kotsay) played solid but not great. Duncan hit a double and Anderson maybe an awesome catch against the monster in center. anderson should be up in September.

A very good analysis of our upper level prospects by Joe. Feel free to send in any information like Joe did; I can use your help! As always, check soxprospects.com for rankings, stats, and rosters for all of our minor leaguers. I will try and post about some of our lower level prospects (mainly our study RHP/SS Casey Kelly) in the near future.