The Eastern League All-Star break begins today. That gives the Portland Sea Dogs a two-day break from what has been a trying season.
Portland is 35-54, on track to becoming the worst team in franchise history.
Additional Photos
While a minor league team’s record is not vital to the parent club, the Boston Red Sox would like to see their young players winning.
“It’s obviously been a frustrating year,” said Mike Hazen, the Red Sox vice president and director of player development. “Certainly the No. 1 goal is the development of the players. The value of wins and losses at this level can be secondary.
“But we still expect these guys to learn how to win. We still expect these guys to come out as a team. If you’re that good, you should be beating your opponents. They haven’t done that so far.”
Kevin Boles, the first-year Sea Dogs manager, came into this season with a 602-557 career record in the minor leagues. Only two of his 10 previous teams had losing records.
“It does test your patience,” he said.
The Sea Dogs’ offense is not a problem. They lead the league in average (.275), runs (454) and OPS (.779).
But the pitching features a 4.79 ERA, second-worst in the league. Binghamton, which has a worse record than Portland, also has the worst pitching.
And the defense has featured 82 errors in 74 games, along with a lack of range. Balls are grounded through the infield or land in the outfield that could have been outs.
“A lot of the players in the league — it’s gaining experience and catching up to this speed, this level,” Boles said of the jump from Class A to Double-A.
Boles said a positive can come from a losing season.
“We’re finding out who is mentally tough, who can grind it out,” he said. “Are guys going to feel sorry for themselves or are they going to push through?”
Portland shows signs of pushing. After an absolutely brutal May, winning only 6 of 31 games to drop to 14-36, the Sea Dogs actually have a winning record since (21-18).
There have been changes in personnel. Two players were demoted, another released and another retired.
On the other hand, three players have been promoted.
“We’ve seen some nice individual performances,” Hazen said.
FEEL-GOOD STORIES
• Tommy Hottovy began the year with a record sixth season in Portland. The left-handed reliever didn’t stay long, moving to Triple-A on May 14 and to the major leagues on June 3.
• Two starting pitchers have stood out — Alex Wilson (8-4, 2.85) and Stephen Fife (10-4, 3.57). The rest of the starters have totaled seven wins.
• Two catchers began the season with lots of promise and both are delivering. Ryan Lavarnway hit 14 home runs in 55 games and was promoted to Triple-A, where he continues to bash. Tim Federowicz has earned a reputation as the best defensive catcher in the system while batting .268.
• The Taiwan outfield connection was highlighted by Che-Hsuan Lin’s promotion to Triple-A on May 21. In his absence in Portland, Chih-Hsien Chiang has gone on a tear and now leads the team in average (.323), home runs (14) and RBI (62).
• Will Middlebrooks and Alex Hassan have been two of Portland’s most consistent players. Middlebrooks is batting .315 with nine home runs. Hassan has a .309 average with a league-leading .434 on-base percentage.
PROMISING SIGNS
• Oscar Tejeda started slow and has made 18 errors at second base, but his bat is coming around (.325 in his last 32 games).
• Reynaldo Rodriguez has moved into the starting first base job, batting .288 with 27 RBI in 29 games.
• Jeremy Hazelbaker, the new center fielder, has a .355 on-base percentage and 16 stolen bases.
• The bullpen has some solid anchors with Blake Maxwell (1.27 ERA) and Kyle Fernandes (2.15).
STRUGGLES
• Stolmy Pimentel (0-9) is a prized pitching prospect but was demoted Monday to Class A to regain confidence.
• Jorge Padron lost his first-base starting job and was sent to Class A after batting .247.
• Ryan Dent, a smooth-fielding shortstop, has been out since May 1 with a hamstring injury.
• The bullpen has been inconsistent and leads often have been lost. The relievers account for 22 losses.
At 35-54, Portland’s winning percentage is .393. The first Sea Dogs team in 1994 had a 60-81 record (.426). The worst record for a Portland team as a Red Sox affiliate was 2009 (67-74, .475).
This Sea Dogs team needs a couple of streaks to better those marks.
“They obviously have put themselves in quite a hole,” Hazen said.
“I don’t know if they’re going to dig themselves out at the end of the season. But I know they’ll keep working.”
Staff Writer Kevin Thomas can be contacted at 791-6411 or at: kthomas@pressherald.com
Twitter: Twitter.com/ClearTheBases
Copy the Story Link
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.