Bates Ties Sea Dogs Single-Game RBI Record

Aaron Bates, who started his career as member of the Lowell Spinners in 2006, has always been a fast riser. After just one month in Lowell, Bates was promoted to Greenville where he continued to do nothing but hit. In 2007, after starting the season in Lancaster, Bates found himself in Portland by the end of the season as California League pitchers proved to be no-match.

Off to a slow start in Portland to begin the 2008 season, Bates broke out of a season long slumber in a big way with his first home run, a grand slam, of the season and a single-game record tying SEVEN RBI on Tuesday, May 6 against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

The 14th ranked top prospect in the Red Sox organization (per SoxProspects.com pre-season rankings), Bates is no stranger to records. During the 2006 season with the JetHawks, Bates homered four times in ONE GAME, becoming the first player in the 66-year history of the California League to do so.

Congratulations, Aaron!

A JetHawk One Inning, a 66er the Next

To say it has been a crazy couple of days for Christian Lara (2004 Lowell Spinners). Lara was assigned to the Red Sox Class-A Advanced affiliate Lancaster Jethawks to start the season, his fifth year in the Red Sox organization. On Monday, April 7, Lara found himself on the bench to start the game as the Jethawks took on the Inland Empire 66ers, a Los Angeles Dodgers affiliate (managed by former Red Sox infielder John Valentin). With the game tied at three with 15-innings completed and the 11:50 curfew approaching, the game was suspended to be continued the next day.

In the locker room after the game was suspended, Lara was summoned into manager Chad Epperson’s office and informed he had been traded to the Dodgers organization and being assigned to Inland Empire, the team he was just cheering his teammates on against. For the first time in his professional career, Lara had been traded, only his travels would only take him to the visiting club house.

To complicate matters even more, Lara spent the evening after he was traded in his apartment he shared with now former teammates Jimmy James (2007 Spinners) and Jorge Jimenez (2006/2007 Spinners) in Lancaster. However, because of the liability issues and the fact Lara was now a member of the Dodgers organization, he was unable to travel on the Lancaster team bus back down to Inland Empire for the conclusion of the suspended game and the regularly scheduled game to follow. After a clubhouse staffer arrived in Lancaster to pick Lara and his belongings up, he was finally able to settle into his new surroundings and started the next game.

When the game was resumed on Tuesday, Lara was an eligible player, though he did not get into the game. After spending 15-innings rooting for the Jethawks, he was now supporting his new teammates in Dodger blue. Lara didn’t get into the game, won by the Jethawks, but did start later that evening at shortstop for the regularly scheduled game.

Certainly a strange couple of days for Christian, but we wish him the best in the Dodgers organization.

To read more about Christian’s odyssey, click here.

Photo Courtesy of Minor League Baseball (http://milb.com)

Spinners make top ten

Every year, Baseball America — the preeminent source for baseball prospect information — publishes it’s top ten prospects in each organization. This year’s Red Sox top ten list includes a whopping seven former Spinners.

Following are quotes on the former Spinners ranked:

Ranked #1: Clay Buchholz, 2005 Spinner. “There’s some thought that he’s more athletic and faster than Jacoby Ellsbury.”

Ranked #2: Jacoby Ellsbury, 2005 Spinner. “But he’s clearly their center fielder of the future, and the future is soon.”

Ranked #4: Justin Masterson, 2006 Spinner. “He has the power sinker and the mentality to close games, though in Boston he’d be a set-up man for Jonathan Papelbon.”

Ranked #5: Jed Lowrie, 2005 Spinner. “Lowrie’s bat will play at second or third base, but there are no infield openings in Boston.”

Ranked #6: Ryan Kalish, 2007 Spinner. “Kalish’s approach and plate discipline are quite advanced for his age, which combined with his sweet lefty swing should mean he’ll have little trouble hitting for average.”

Ranked #8: Nick Hagadone, 2007 Spinner: “If he moves to the bullpen, he could rocket to the majors quickly.”

Ranked #9: Oscar Tejeda, 2007 Spinner: “His arm strength first drew the interest of scouts when he was 14, and he makes accurate throws as well.“

Winter League Baseball Update

 

When the minor league season concludes in early September, the work is not done for many of the Red Sox top young prospects, including many former Spinners. With the end of the Red Sox instructional league, many of your favorite Spinners hit the road, traveling to Arizona, Hawaii and various locales throughout the Caribbean and South America to continue their journey to the big leagues.

In the Zone

The Arizona Fall League has become known as a launching pad for big league prospects to make the leap to Major League stars. As Spinners alumni Freddy Sanchez and Jacoby Ellsbury have done in the past, Jed Lowrie is out to make a name for himself after a breakout 2007 season. Lowrie, a 2005 Spinners teammate of Ellsbury and Clay Buchholz, seems poised to be the next prospect to join the Red Sox. Playing for the Mesa Solar Sox, Lowrie has been playing both shortstop and second base, batting .157 with one home run. While Lowrie has struggled thus far with the Solar Sox, 2002 Spinner catcher Dusty Brown has seen his stock rise substantially. Added to the Red Sox 40-man roster following the World Series, Brown is batting .294 and was selected to the AFL’s Rising Star All-Star game. Other former Spinners playing in Arizona include: Hunter Jones (’05), Jose Vaquedano (’03/’04) and Randy Newsom (’04). Not to be forgotten, 2006 Spinners’ intern Ben Baroody is making a name for himself as the Phoenix Desert Dogs’ operations manager.

Hawaii 5-0

Jimmy James (’07) dominated the New York Penn League competition during his brief time in Lowell to start the 2007 season, earning him a quick promotion to Greenville. James has been equally impressive in Hawaii, compiling a 2-2 record with a 3.69 ERA, with 37 strikeouts and just 10 walks, pitching for the Honolulu Sharks. James is making a strong case to be considered for a quick jump to Portland, should he get off to a fast start in Lancaster in 2008.

2006-07 Spinners table-setter Ryan Kalish was scheduled to join Jimmy in Hawaii, but suffered a setback in his recovery from a broken hamate bone and was forced to skip the league to be ready for the start of the 2008 season.

Spicing it up

While the prospects playing in Hawaii and Arizona are assigned to the leagues by the Red Sox, several players have taken it upon themselves to head to foreign countries further their baseball goals. Leading the way is 2007 World Series Champion and 2003 Lowell Spinner, Brandon Moss, learning how to play first base with Aguilas in the Dominican Winter League. Moss is batting .326 with four RBI in 11 games.

Another former Spinner off to a fast start this winter is Carlos Fernandez-Oliva (’07), who is 8-for-22 in 12 games playing with the Tiburones de La Guaira in the Venezuelan Winter League. Additionally, 2005 Spinners teammates Christian Lara and Harvey Garcia are together again for the Leones del Caracas in the VWL with potential 2008 Spinner Luis Sumoza.

You Saw the Best in Lowell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Lowell just two years ago, Clay Buchholz graces the cover of this month’s Baseball America as this year’s top Double-A Eastern League prospect, and Jacoby Ellsbury received a write-up in the Red Sox section.

But that’s not all the accolades the Spinners garnered in the issue. Three 2007 Spinners were named the top prospects of the year in the New York-Penn League, meaning Spinners fans saw some of the most exciting players in the league every night:

• No. 6 - CF Ryan Kalish
• No. 8 - SS Oscar Tejeda
• No. 12 - SS/3B Yamaico Navarro

That’s three of the top 12 New York-Penn League prospects in Lowell, according to Baseball America.

The following former Spinners were also recognized:

• Overall Minor League All-Star and top Double-A Eastern League prospect RHP Clay Buchholz (2005)
• No. 8 Eastern League prospect SS Jed Lowrie (2005)
• No. 5 High Single-A prospect RHP Justin Masterson (2006)
• No. 4 Gulf Coast League prospect CF Che-Hsuan Lin (2007)
• No. 7 Gulf Coast League prospect SS Oscar Tejeda (2007)

Congratulations to all of them!

Harvey Garcia Makes Major League Debut

Harvey Garcia, a Lowell Spinners starting pitcher in 2004, made his Major League debut earlier in September with the Florida Marlins, bringing Lowell’s toll of Major Leaguers all the way up to 32, including seven this year, by far the most ever. Garcia was 4-6 with a 5.16 in his time in 14 starts for the Spinners and struck out 54 batters in 61.0 innings. Part of the trade that sent Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell to Boston before the 2006 season, Garcia split time between Double-A and Triple-A before his promotion to Florida as a September call-up. Congratulations, Harvey!

Dan Giese Makes MLB Debut

Former Lowell Spinner Dan Giese made his Major League debut on September 8 as a relief pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, striking out one batter in two scoreless innings. He became the 31st former Spinner to make the Majors and the sixth this season, the most ever in a year.

Giese appeared in 33 games as a Spinners reliever and closer in 2000 and 2001, going 3-0 with 11 saves and 47 strikeouts in 54.0 innings pitched with Lowell.

Congratulations to Dan and the rest of the Spinners crew to make it to the bigs this season!

Read about Giese and his interesting road to the Majors (which included a temporary retirement and time as a car salesman) in this article from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Bell Earns All-Star Top Performer Honors

The California League All-Stars defeated the Carolina League All-Stars 10-5 in the Carolina-California All-Star game and 2006 Spinner Bubba Bell won the California League All-Star MVP award.

Bell started in center field and was 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs and a run scored in the victory.

Bell, a 42nd-round selection from Nicholls State University by the Red Sox in the 2005 draft, hit .429 in 23 games for Lowell last year.  This year with Lancaster, the Red Sox High-A Cal League affiliate, Bell is hitting .371 with 22 homers, 83 RBIs, and 10 steals through 73 games.

Bell, along with former Spinners stars Justin Masterson and Zach Daeges, led Lancaster to a tie for the first-half title with a 39-31 record.  The JetHawks have continued their winning ways by starting the second half 9-1.

Ellsbury Called Up to Boston

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe is reporting that the Red Sox have called top prospect and ‘05 Spinner Jacoby Ellsbury up before tonight’s game. Ellsbury is in the lineup playing centerfield and batting eighth in place of Coco Crisp, who has a thumb injury.

Joel Pineiro was placed on the disabled list to make room for Ellsbury.

Do you remember Jacoby from the Spinners 2005 season? Leave a comment…!

Bates Named TOPPS May Player of the Month

It was just announced that 2006 Lowell Spinner Aaron Bates was named a Minor League player of the month by TOPPS. The official release reads:

Aaron Bates (23) of Los Gatos, CA, set a California League record when he homered four times in a game on May 19. The Lancaster JetHawks first baseman hit .340 in May with seven doubles and 24 RBI. The cleanup hitter also showed a keen eye, walking 21 times in 28 games. The Boston Red Sox picked Bates in the third round in 2006 out of North Carolina State University.

Congratulations, Aaron!