Thursday, June 20, 2013
Everyone likes to rank prospects, and the minor league baseball website (milb.com) is no exception. It unveiled its top 100 prospects, which features six from the Boston Red Sox (tied for the most, along with Texas, St. Louis, Miami and Minnesota).
The top three of those six Red Sox prospects are expected to begin the 2013 season in Portland - shortstop Xander Bogaerts (No. 20), center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. (No. 32) and right-handed pitcher Matt Barnes (No. 38).
Bogaerts and Bradley finished last season in Portland. Bogaerts had a .948 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) with the Sea Dogs, Bradley an .809 OPS.
Barnes spent his first pro season last year in Class A (7-5, 2.86 ERA, 133 strikeouts in 199 2/3 innings).
Two of three Sox prospects in the top 100 have been through Portland - pitcher Allen Webster (No. 71), who made one start at Hadlock Field after his trade from the Dodgers - and shortstop Jose Iglesias (No. 96), the gifted fielder who still need to prove he can hit, as well as stay healthy.
Left-hander Henry Owens (No. 94) could be in Portland later this season. Drafted out of high school, he spent his first full season in low Class A (12-5, 130 strikeouts in 101 2/3 innings). He will begin this season in high Class A Salem.
Looking for other prospect rankings? There's Baseball America, soxprospects.com and there our own humble take in the Press Herald.
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Kevin Thomas covers baseball and basketball for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. He wisely moved to Maine in 1994 after working for the St. Petersburg Times. He is married to Nancy and they have nine children.
Follow his thoughts on the Boston Red Sox and Portland Sea Dogs on Clearing the Bases
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