BOSTON — Anthony Rizzo has received plenty of notoriety in San Diego for his quick rise to the majors following the trade from Boston.
However, there were two other big names in that swap for Adrian Gonzalez, and both figure to factor prominently in the Padres' future.
San Diego general manager Jed Hoyer, the man who pulled the trigger for Rizzo, right-hander Casey Kelly and outfielder Reymond Fuentes, was on hand Monday at Fenway Park to discuss his trio of young stars. After much discussion of Rizzo, the Padres' starting first baseman, Hoyer gave insight on the other two.
First came Kelly, widely considered Boston's best prospect at the time of the trade.
"Casey's pitched well," Hoyer said. "He had a couple starts where he got knocked around a little bit in the Texas League. But his velocity's really spiked up this year. He's been up to 95 every start. Had a couple times touching 96, 97, which is up from his days in Boston."
Kelly, 21, is 5-2 with a 3.72 ERA in 14 starts for Double-A San Antonio. He had a 5.31 ERA in 21 starts for Double-A Portland in his last year with the Boston organization. Aside from the improvement in the numbers, Hoyer sees Kelly beginning to round into form as a pitcher.
"He's only been pitching for a little while," Hoyer added. "Happy with his progress. He's still developing. We see him as a guy that can be a very solid rotation pitcher for us for a long time. When that starts, we're not sure. But we're excited about his progress."
As for Fuentes, who turned 20 in February, he is doing everything the Padres could ask for in Lake Elsinore of the advanced Single-A California League.
Entering Monday, Fuentes ranked third in the league with 30 steals and had a very solid .294 mark.
"Reymond's going to take some time, also," said Hoyer, who paid a recent visit to Lake Elsinore. "He's a work in progress but the defense has been excellent, the base running's been excellent. For a young player, I think he's done a really good job making adjsutments as a 20-year-old in High A."
