There continues to be movement among our top prospects list.
Struggling outfielder Josh Reddick moved up to the big club for about a week but was optioned back down Saturday. It’s been a bit of a grind for Reddick this year, and he needs at-bats to get going at some point. They just weren’t coming at the major league level.
Here is the rest of the story among our top 10.
- 1
Last week: No. 1
Casey Kelly, RHP
The 20-year-old picked up his first win at the Double-A level when he threw six shutout innings against Reading last weekend, and followed it up by giving up just a run in five frames at Akron on Friday. More importantly, Kelly struck out nine and walked just two in the starts.
- 2
Last week: No. 2
Ryan Kalish, OF
The jump to Pawtucket has yielded a bit of a slowdown for Kalish. The 22-year-old is 2-for-15 over his last four games entering Saturday and had six strikeouts in a four-game stretch earlier this week. The mini-slump is of no concern, however. As the PawSox see other outfielders come and go, they just want Kalish to get regular at bats, and he is.
- 3
Last week: No. 3
Lars Anderson, 1B
There are milestones each prospect needs to hit, indicators that he has accomplished what he needs to accomplish at a certain level or righted a wrong that had dogged him in the past. If and when Anderson hits lefties at the Triple-A level, he will have attained another milestone.
Anderson is just 1-for-27 against southpaws since his promotion to Pawtucket. That one hit was a home run, but 12 of the 26 outs have been strikeouts. This wasn’t an issue at prior levels, so it could just be an aberration, but it bears watching. Anderson is hitting .233 with four homers overall for the PawSox.
Pawtucket was scheduled to face Reds top prospect Aroldis Chapman, a lefty, on Saturday night.
- 4
Last week: No. 4
Anthony Rizzo, 1B
The 20-year-old Rizzo has five home runs in 29 games since being promoted to Double-A Portland, but he is positive it should be six. Rizzo was ejected from a game Friday night after arguing that a double he hit high off the center-field wall in Akron’s Canal Park had cleared the yellow line denoting a home run.
"I asked the umpire to get some help from another umpire, but he did not," Rizzo told reporters. "This is the first game I have been ejected from. I don’t lose my temper."
It still goes into the books as a double, Rizzo’s third in the last five games.
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Last week: No. 5
Jose Iglesias, SS
A right hand injury suffered when he was hit by a pitch has kept Iglesias sidelined longer than originally thought. Initial reports said the 20-year-old might only miss a few games, but he has not played since May 29. Certainly no need to rush him back, but stay tuned.
- 6
Last week: No. 7
Felix Doubront, LHP
The Venezuelan lefty continues to dominate since his promotion to Triple-A and may be a candidate to get a start with the Red Sox after Daisuke Matsuzaka went on the disabled list Saturday. Doubront, who was very impressive when pitching with the big club during spring training, is 2-1 with a 1.08 ERA in four starts for the PawSox.
And to update our favorite Doubront stat of the year, he has still yet to give up a home run in 59 2/3 innings over two levels.
- 7
Last week: No. 6
Josh Reddick, OF
In his second stint with the big club this week, Reddick went 2-for-11 with a triple, but was losing valuable playing time. He was expected to be in the lineup for Pawtucket’s Saturday night contest with Louisville.
Despite Reddick’s prolonged slump (.191 batting average, .241 on-base percentage at Pawtucket), he was given a verbal boost from Terry Francona upon being optioned back to Triple-A on Saturday morning."I think we all felt, as we told him last night, he needs to play," Francona said of Reddick. "He’s such a terrific prospect and there’s times when he’s come up and helped us win games, but when we feel like he’s starting to sit a little bit we need him to go play. He understands that."
Now it’s time for Reddick to get going. Just breaking .200 would be a nice first step.
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Last week: No. 8
Luis Exposito, C
The hits have been slow to come for Exposito, but when they do, there always seems to be runners on base. Entering Saturday, the burly backstop had recorded eight RBIs in a span of five games and he has three three-RBI efforts since May 31.
The 23-year-old Exposito is batting .159 this year with the bases empty, but .300 (36-for-120) with runners on and .288 (230-for-80) with men in scoring position.
His 46 RBIs ranked second in the Double-A Eastern League entering the weekend.
- 9
Last week: No. 9
Stolmy Pimentel, RHP
The up-and-down Pimentel has had a pair of pedestrian starts in June after two of his last three starts in May saw him flirt with greatness (six perfect innings in one, six innings of one-hit ball in the other). But within his 0-2, 4.50 mark in June lies a promising trend.
The 20-year-old Pimentel has struck out seven and walked none this month after posting a solid 22-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio in May. It was 13-to-9 in April, but that may have just been an aberration as he has not had any major control issues in the past. Regardless, he is throwing strikes.
- 10
Last week: No. 10
Reymond Fuentes, OF
The team’s No. 1 pick in 2009 remains hot, batting .381 (16-for-42) in his last 11 games. Once the plate selection improves for the 19-year-old, he’ll be even more dangerous. Entering Saturday, Fuentes had struck out 48 times and walked only seven times. That is a common issue in youngsters, but something to watch for going forward.
Fuentes was caught stealing for the first time in 21 attempts Thursday.
