March 27, 2014

Minor League Update

Spring Training Games of March 26

by Jeff Moore

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• Allen Webster, RHP, Red Sox: 5 2/3 IP, 11 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. Pitching depth should be one of the strengths of the Red Sox organization with pitchers like Webster and Anthony Ranaudo sitting in Triple-A ready to compete at the major-league level, but Webster hasn’t done anything to instill this spring. He may still end up as a potent bullpen arm, but he’ll return to Triple-A for the time being and work on refining his pitching approach to give him a chance to stay in the rotation long term.
  
  
• Xander Bogaerts: 1-3, R, HR. Bogaerts has come on strong of late and will be just fine. Everyone in New England, please just take a deep breath and relax.
  
  
• Carlos Martinez, RHP, Cardinals: 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K. Martinez’s first outing as a reliever since the news that he would not make the Cardinals rotation did not go well. We can only speculate as to why—though I won’t—but regardless of the reason, it clearly wasn’t his best performance.
  
  
• Jose Abreu, 1B, White Sox: 2-5, 2 R, HR, K. I haven’t talked about Abreu in this space because I don’t think 27-year-olds belong in a space reserved for prospects, but he is technically a rookie (another designation I don’t like), and things are slowing down in spring training, so here he is. Abreu has had a strong spring and looks like the middle-of-the-lineup bat the White Sox were hoping for. He may not be an upper-echelon bat at first base, but he shouldn’t have any problem living up to his contract, especially the first two years at $7 million per year.
  
  
• Mitch Haniger, OF, Brewers: 2-2, R, HR. Hainger didn’t get a ton of at-bats this spring, but he made the most of them, going 8-for-16 with a pair of home runs. After some mild struggles in High-A ball last year following a mid-season promotion, he could head back to the Florida State League for a few months, but an assignment straight to Double-A wouldn’t be crazy either. He’s one of the few prospects in the Brewers system who profiles as an everyday player and isn’t light years from the majors.
  
  
• Chris Owings, SS, Diamondbacks: 2-3, 2 R, 2B, HR. Will somebody just take Didi Gregorius off of the Diamondbacks hands already so we can watch Owings play everyday?
  
  
• Mark Appel, RHP, Astros: 1 IP, H, 2 K. Appel made his Grapefruit League debut with an effortless inning on Wednesday, throwing a scoreless seventh. He also picked up the win, because wins are stupid.