WORCESTER — Red Sox Director of Player Development Brian Abraham made a stop by Polar Park on Saturday, speaking to a group of fans and WooSox employees (and several family members) as part of the Polar Park Writers Series which highlights experts in and around baseball.
Abraham shared some thoughts with the crowd and later with MassLive about a variety of topics, including what fans can expect when some of the top prospects finally arrive in Worcester. Check out Abraham’s thoughts on prospects and players both in Worcester and Double A Portland.
On the Big 3 (Portland’s Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony and Kyle Teel) and decisions about their promotions:
“There are development opportunities where they are, they’re not finished products. They all have areas that they need to improve upon, and the Double A environment currently still allows for them to improve in those areas. Are they performing really well? Yes. But there are still pieces of their game that they can improve upon there.
“I think there’s a lot of different factors that come into play [for a promotion to Worcester], but we’re excited about the progress they’re all making there. They’re good people, and they work hard, and that I think can go a long way. That’s what really excites me. They’re obviously incredible baseball players, but to me what’s exciting as well, that they’re going to represent Boston and the fan base…really well as well.”
On Marcelo Mayer:
“He’s been playing third base for some exposure…he’s a solid defender, smooth lefty swing. We want him to improve his swing decisions and zone contact and impacting the ball more consistently.”
On Roman Anthony:
“He’s an incredible kid, and incredible worker, it’s hard to find words to describe him sometimes. He’s everything you want out of a young player. We want to see him pull the ball in the air more, pulling the ball in the air results in more power, more home runs.”
On Kyle Teel:
“It feels like he’s been here for 10 years, even though he’s only been here a year. When he’s not playing baseball you might see him playing guitar in the street for spare change. He’s an incredible young man, he calls a good game, he’s a leader, handles the staff, and hits the ball.
“He’s an offensive first catcher who drives the ball to all fields, has a good eye at the plate. He’s only been in pro ball for a handful of months but he’s made significant strides with his bat speed, adding mass to his already-athletic frame to continue to impact the ball very hard.”
On Kristian Campbell:
“I think when he does get to Worcester, he’ll be a fan favorite. He plays game right way, he’s an incredibly hard worker, and I think he doesn’t realize how good he is, but he hits the ball as hard as anyone in the minors and harder than some of our MLB players. He’s made some mechanical adjustments to his training and made some significant strides. We’re excited about where he is”
On Nick Yorke:
“He’s a player who is good example of needing a change of scenery. He performed okay in Double A, maybe not up to huis standards or our standards, but now I think he’s on the cusp of being in that Boston conversation.
“We’ve seen the ability to make some adjustments in Double A that we felt he could continue up here…things that might not be as fan-facing he had improved upon, whether that was barrel percentage or K rate.”
On Richard Fitts:
“Our focus with him has been to maintain his fastball velocity. He’s an incredible kid, stand-up person, and we’re lucky to acquire a good person and good player because that can sometimes be a challenge, but we found someone who works hard and wants to make adjustments.”
On Chase Meidroth:
“He’s a swiss army knife. Above average defense, plays eveyrwhere. Our focus for him is impacting the baseball to the pull side, adding strength and weight, and working on bat speed.”
WooSox 2, Clippers 0
As Abraham mentioned, an area of focus with Fitts has been maintaining his impressive fastball velocity throughout his start. Fitts did just that on Saturday; his last fastball of the game (96.4 mph) was actually faster than the first he threw (95.2) and he threw fastballs of 95 mph or faster in each of his five innings of work. That consistent velocity paid off, as Fitts struck out nine and racked up 14 swings and misses. He allowed just three hits and walked one. His nine strikeouts are his most in 13 Triple A appearances.
The bullpen kept the shutout intact, with Brian Van Belle (2 1/2 innings, two hits, three strikeouts), Luis Guerrero (two-thirds of an inning, two walks, two hits) and Lucas Luetge (two-thirds of an inning, all zeroes) shut down the final four innings against a hot-hitting Columbus lineup.
It was a pitchers’ duel between Fitts and Columbus starter Joey Cantillo, and the WooSox could only manage five hits all game. Jamie Westbrook drove in the first run on a sac fly, and Mickey Gasper launched his second Triple A home run for some insurance in the eighth.
What’s Next
Sunday’s game marks the end of the first half of the season, as the WooSox take on the Clippers at 1:05 p.m. at Polar Park.
