Don't have much to say about Pena or Marte. Pena seems pretty redundant with Hinske on the squad - I guess Pena's now the backup 10th man, ready to take on many of Hinske's responsibilities if Hinske has to join the starting lineup. He hit .260 in AAA - that's just not good enough for a major leaguer at almost any position, and definitely not 1B. 2006 is maybe the worst year of his career, though, so hopefully he can turn it around a bit, if he gets a chance.

We've talked on and off about Bowden and Buchholz, and I wanted to bring them up again, just because they've been so consistent. I find that I can become unimpressed with prospects when they don't make big statistical improvements over the year, but just maintaining a 9+ K/9 is a lot of work, and they've both pulled it off.

3.28 ERA, 108 IP, 89 H, 9 HR, 30 BB, 117 K - Bowden
2.62 ERA, 103 IP, 78 H, 10 HR, 29 BB, 117 K - Buchholz

Still, too many homers in the Sally League. For reference, Papelbon allowed 6 HRs in 130 high-A innings. Lester allowed 7 HRs in 106 low-A innings and 2 in 90 at high-A. Allowing Sally Leaguers to hit the ball hard is often a bad sign in terms of future opponents, who will be way better than Sally Leaguers. But there's still a lot to like in these lines - Lester, for example, was not yet a particularly impressive strikeout pitcher until he reached Sarasota, and even there he was a bit too hittable. The K/BB excellence of B'n'B is undeniable.

Also, that's Buchholz' final Greenville line. He makes his Carolina League debut tonight at 7.

As I've argued before, promotions should be treated by fans like us less as a topic for dispute, and more as a piece of data to add to our evaluations. When a very raw pitcher gets a promotion, it strongly suggests that he's made a lot of improvements over hte year and impressed the coaches and scouts. I'm happy about this. Hope Clay gets off on a good foot with Wilmington.

Nice Globe piece today on Zink's recent success:

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2006/08/18/zink_refused_to_knuckle_under/

Lots of other stuff in there I haven't gotten to yet.

I didn't realize Zink was inspired to throw the knuckleball by watching none other than Tim Wakefield (when he was a pirate). I don't see him getting a September call-up unless the Sox need a spot start. But if he can keep it up, maybe he gets a tryout in ST next year.