Do not overhype.

Do not overhype.

Do not overhype.

Get Kevin MIllar out of the damn lineup.

Sickels put the Sox big 3 pitching prospects at #7 (Sanchez), #14 (Papelbon) and #20 (Lester).

Now that Hansen has 1 IP above the GCL he'll probably be right there in the next iteration or something.

So... practically 4 out of the top 20 pitching prospects.

He also had Pedroia (28), Ramirez (33) and Moss (48) in his Top 50 hitters list.

I would guess Moss will get dropped on the year end list as he (and others who make these lists) get more comfortable with some 2005 draftees.

I got a chance to see the Pawtucket game live in Scranton. Papelbon looked every bit as impressive as the statistics indicate.

1 IP above A ball? Well, then he's certainly ready for the majors, just like Meredith!

As for those rankings, I'm surprised. Based on the numbers, I think I'd put Lester, Anabel, then Paps.

Paps is a very hard one to figure out. He's been old for his league but he's also had very little pitching experience, which sort of balance each other out. His age also means he's past the age where most pitchers get hurt, and his inexperience means he's had little wear on his arm. I have no idea how to fit these pieces all together.

As an aside, here are some questions that I cannot figure out:

Why the hell didn't we trade Moss after his BABIP-riffic 2004?

Who will we get for Cruz? I'd love Dunlap (ranked #12 in their system by Sickels) or Pimental (#18). Am I setting my sites too high?

Buccholz also had another nice outing: 3 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K. That puts him at 27 IP, 26 K, 6 BB, 2 HR, 19 H, 10 ER, 3.33 ERA.

As for those rankings, I'm surprised. Based on the numbers, I think I'd put Lester, Anabel, then Paps.

Yeah, I don't get how Lester slots in last. It's not a big separation, but I'd like to hear his thinking. He seems to have every indicator that scouts and statheads like - young age, very good stuff, lots of Ks - with no real red flags.

Because of his age and elevated HR rate Paps gives you some easy hooks to knock him down a peg.

I would guess that BA will rank them Lester-Sanchez-Papelbon.

Who will we get for Cruz? I'd love Dunlap (ranked #12 in their system by Sickels) or Pimental (#18). Am I setting my sites too high?

Somebody somewhere (SoSH? here? whereever) had a quote from DePodesta that sort of implied it could maybe be a 40 man roster player, but who knows.

Sox gave up Kyle Bono who was #25 and falling to get him, so you'd have to think something in that range should be coming back.

OTOH, Henri Staley for Dave Roberts? DePo is pretty clearly Theo's #####.

Buccholz also had another nice outing: 3 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K. That puts him at 27 IP, 26 K, 6 BB, 2 HR, 19 H, 10 ER, 3.33 ERA.

Nice thing about Buchholz is the low BB total. He seemed to be a little rough around the edges in terms of his experience and command so that's a nice start on what could have been expected to be a weakness.

Sox gave up Kyle Bono who was #25 and falling to get him, so you'd have to think something in that range should be coming back.

Maybe the Dbacks only other offer was from LA, and they wanted him out of the division. The Red Sox, trying to make yet another enemy, got him with the express intent of dealing him to LA.

Plus, it wasn't just Bono. It was Bono AND Perez! I'm only hoping we get one guy back. Is that so wrong?

Speaking of pitching prospects, I see Petit pitch tomorrow. After one game's observation, I should be able to confidently say he's not as good as our Big 3.

Heh.

1 IP above A ball? Well, then he's certainly ready for the majors, just like Meredith!

that's one more than philip hughes

where's the sickle's top 50's?

Edgar Martinez was a terrible hitting hard throwing catcher last year, right? So we're Raphael Sorianoing him?

Edgar works a fastball around 93-94, and the AA hitters I saw seemed to have trouble making good contact. He threw a slider thast looked like a show-me pitch more than anything, but he's only been pitching for a year now, tops. He probably won't do anything, certainly not soon, but he's fun.

The velocity reports on Buchholz have been really disappointing. His numbers are not that impressive in the context of the NYPL, where average is a 5/2 K/BB, and the vast majority of players go nowhere. I guess he's young and toolsy and the sample is teeny. But there are also reasons to doubt some of his tools, so, well, I don't expect much there.

Speaking of teeny samples and doubtful tools, how about those crazy Greenville kids? Jeffs Natale and Corsaletti are both 22-year-old late draft picks, and both have better BA and OBP than the Sally League leaders so far. They're a 2B from div 3 and a CF from U Florida, respectively, I think. (And VDB is gettin' hot, baby! Up to 350/410 in the extreme pitcher's park in Wilmington...)

I wonder what the NESCAC MLE's look like.

The velocity reports on Buchholz have been really disappointing. His numbers are not that impressive in the context of the NYPL, where average is a 5/2 K/BB

I've read that he throws 90-93 consistently, while working a new motion that isn't as violent as his old. That seems pretty good for a 19 year old who probably won't see AA until late 2007 at the earliest -- it isn't 95-97, as his draft reports said, but it isn't Beau Vaughn range, either His k/bb ratio, at ~ 5:1 (26:6), is also ~ twice as good as the average you post -- 5:2. I think he's done fine and there isn't much to be disappointed in. But, on nice friday afternoons, I feel the spirit of Ole Professor creeping in, so YMMV.

Petit took 8 innings to K 11, while Anibal did it in 7. Anibal's better!

I wonder what the NESCAC MLE's look like.

I imagine they'd ultimately look only slightly better than this.

Hansen went 2 IP tonight with 2Ks at Portland.

It seems pretty obvious at this point that Hansen, Paplebon, Sanchez, Timlin and Lester would make a pretty solid bulpen. Maybe it's not so obvious.

MLE Spreadsheet?

Hansen's pitched all of what, 4 AA innings?

Petit and Sanchez faced each other again today, and Yusmeiro outpitched him again:

Petit 8.0 IP 3 hits 0 runs 0/12 bb/so
Sanchez 6.1 IP 8 hits 4 runs 5/5 bb/so

Petit was great today, absolutely on target. Sanchez wasn't as bad as his final line, as I wrote in chatter (e.g., 2 of his 5BB were IBB). That does't take away from Petit's performance.

(What does take away from it is that he didn't face faced Hanley or, iirc, Murphy. But, that isn't a big deal.)

I don't know why you use the word "again," OFF. The last matchup, Sanchez SO two more and walked one less (i.e., no one, though, iirc, he had a HBP). The first matchup was at best a draw.

Today, Petit also threw harder for longer than I expected -- in the 90-91 range fairly consistently and well into the game. Sanchez's FB ranged from 92-95, but sat at 92-93 more often than not.

Ok, ok. Fine, he didn't "outpitch" him, but he did beat him.

Were you watching the game?

Griffy, have you seen the Sox bulpen lately?

Just listening online. I was really impressed that Petit kept his velocity at 90/91 into the 7th.