Red Sox prospects are rising more each day.
Anthony Ranaudo pitching for LSU
The brightest ones are now in Portland with the Sea Dogs. Anthony Ranaudo was pitching a scoreless ballgame entering the 6th inning on May 2nd against Reading. He gave up a home run to lead off the inning, and left the game.
Ranaudo had four strikeouts and a walk, and now in 27 AA innings he has 30 strikeouts and six walks. His ERA leads all Red Sox minor leaguers at 1.00, and his WHIP of 0.78 only trails Brandon Workman‘s 0.71.
Ranaudo was rated as high as Stephen Strasburg when they were both sophomores in college, and the Red Sox gave this 6′ 7″ pitcher from Belmar, NJ $2,550,000 when Boston selected him with the 39th pick in 2010. That was the Sox’ highest ever signing bonus other than Casey Kelly.
Ranaudo was the winning pitcher for LSU in the final game of the College World Series in 2009. (Jackie Bradley Junior was the CWS MOP the next year for South Carolina)
Four years after winning in Omaha, this 23-year-old tall right-hander should be moving up to AAA by now.
The other two players that should soon see Fenway each hit a home run for Portland yesterday. Xander Bogaerts hit his first home run of the year and quietly is now up to .309.
The other player to watch that homered, is catcher Christian Vazquez, who hit his second of the season. His defense is MLB ready, and if he can hit at least .250 he would be an upgrade over Salty right now.
Vazquez is now at .255 and both him and Bogaerts should see the green monster in 2013.
The only bad part about Portland’s 7-4 victory was the performance by Daniel Bard.Bard entered the game in the bottom of the ninth, and walked the first batter. He threw two wild pitches, and walked another. He threw 15 pitches to four batters and threw only four strikes.
The chances that Bard will ever be back in Boston are now 100-1.
The chances that Anthony Ranaudo makes it to Fenway are even money now.
In AAA, the PawSox have six players hitting over .300. Justin Henry had two more hits to raise his average to .347. He can play everything but catcher and at 28 might be in his prime now.
The player rising fastest though is outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker.
In 2009 Boston selected this kid from Ball State in the 4th round, the 138th overall pick in the draft. I was told Dwight Evans thinks this kid is going to be really good, and now his AAA average is up to .321. This left-hander hitter, and right-handed thrower, is hitting .375 against right-handed pitching.
Brandon Snyder played his first game at third for Pawtucket, and his OPS still stands at 1.046 to go with his .325 average. A former 1st round pick in 2005, he might even be better than Middlebrooks now. He can play every position that Henry can, plus he can catch as well. Last year for Texas he played first, third, and caught a game too.
With Andrew Miller having control problems in Boston, a lefty that throws strikes is needed quickly. Craig Breslow will get the call soon, but he might not be the best choice.
No left-handed pitcher in the Red Sox system is pitching as well as Ryan Rowland-Smith. To be rejected by Houston and then the Cubs, and find a home in Pawtucket, how can you not root for the 30-year-old southpaw from down under?