Robby Scott did not have a chance to emerge from the Portland Sea Dogs’ bullpen Thursday night because the season opener was snowed out. Scott wanted a chance to show his new approach, which he hopes is a career boost.

If you read the name Robby Scott and wondered who he is, you either did not follow the Sea Dogs last year or you only pay attention to the prospect rankings from various publications and websites.

But Scott, 25, is not just another reliever – not after putting up the numbers he did last season, including a 1.96 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in 35 appearances (59 innings).

Yet Scott is ignored in all the well-known prospect rankings – Baseball America, milb.com, and soxprospects.com.

Not only is Scott under the radar, his stellar 2014 numbers did not earn him a promotion to Triple-A.

“At the end of the day, would I like to be in Pawtucket? Absolutely,” he said. “That time will come, sooner rather than later, hopefully.”

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Scott has one issue to take care of before he moves on. He is a left-handed pitcher who has struggled against left-handed hitters.

While right-handed batters flailed with a .186 batting average against Scott last year, left-handers batted .417.

“Obviously getting left-handers out is very important from the left side,” said Sea Dogs pitching coach Kevin Walker.

The only Red Sox reliever to have a better ERA last year than Scott, in Triple-A or Double-A, was left-hander Tommy Layne (1.50 in Pawtucket). And Layne eventually reached Boston, where he held left-handed batters to a .159 average.

Layne is still with the major league club, which, as Scott puts it, “is obviously the end goal.”

If Scott makes the majors, it will make for a great story. A Miami native, he pitched for Florida State, but sparingly. He was not drafted. The Red Sox discovered him in the independent leagues in 2011. He has put up solid numbers since, including a breakout season with the Sea Dogs. He was invited to the Arizona Fall League, posting a 1.38 ERA in 10 appearances, and played in the Rising Stars game.

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“Robby had a really good year last year and a good fall league, too,” Walker said. “Now he’s trying to do everything he can to add more value to himself.”

And that includes getting out lefties. Scott is already tough on right-handers with an excellent change-up.

“It’s not easy to pick up,” said Sea Dogs infielder Mike Miller, a right-handed batter who has faced Scott in batting practice.

But the fastball, change-up and curve were not good enough against lefties.

So Scott is occasionally adding a side-arm fastball and slider.

“Mixing up arm slots, working on dropping down a little bit, especially left-on-left stuff,” Scott said. “It’s kind of like what Tommy Layne does.

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“There wasn’t a desperate need for it, but if it works, then fine. I feel really comfortable with it.”

Maintaining different arm slots may take time to master. It is one reason Scott is still in Portland. But if he can do to left-handers what he already does against right-handers, he won’t be here long.

THURSDAY’S GAME against the Reading Fightin Phils will be made up as part of a doubleheader on May 23.

For those who had tickets to Thursday’s game, the Sea Dogs will honor their “guarantee” promotion, meaning every ticket to Thursday’s game can be turned in for two tickets of equal or lesser value to a future game.

The Sea Dogs will attempt to open Friday at 6 p.m. against Reading at Hadlock.


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