Papelbon back to his old tricks, the bullpen

It’s official. You won’t see Joel Pineiro, Branden Donnelly, or J.C. Romero coming out of the bullpen in the 9th. You won’t see Mike Timlin or Julian Tavarez either. Instead, it’ll be young Jonathan Papelbon closing Red Sox games again this year.

A lot of people were excited about seeing him start, and about the potential 1-2-3-4 punch that Boston’s rotation would deliver with him in the starting rotation with Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, and Daisuke Matsuzaka.

But there’s no arguing with his past success, and while we can’t expect the same type of dominating performance, Jonathan has the stuff to get the job done.

What do you think of Papelbon’s return to the closer’s role? Leave a comment below!

Spring Training Spinners — DAVID MURPHY

We round out our coverage of former Spinners on the Red Sox Spring Training roster with a profile of the most recent former Spinner to make the Major Leagues: outfielder David Murphy.

David Murphy - 2003 Spinners stats: .346 BA, 0 HR, 13 RBI, 9 SO, 16 BB in 78 AB

On September 2 of last summer, while the Red Sox were falling out of contention, David Murphy made his Major League debut in Boston’s outfield, going 1-for-3 against the Blue Jays. Murphy’s journey to the Majors took off as a member of Lowell’s 2003 roster, where he began his professional career after being drafted 17th overall out of Baylor University.

Murphy was the Spinners best hitter in 2003, batting .346 with a .453 on-base percentage and 13 runs scored in 21 games, the best stint of any length in his professional career. He was quickly promoted to High-A Sarasota where he finished out his 2003 season hitting only .242 as one of Sarasota’s youngest players.

In 2004, Murphy repeated Sarasota with modest improvement, hitting .261 in 272 at-bats in the Florida State League, but the power he’d shown as a senior at Baylor (11 home runs, .614 slugging percentage) had not yet developed. He only hit four longballs and his .346 slugging percentage was not awe inspiring.

Nevertheless, a 23-year-old Murphy spent all of 2005 with Double-A Portland, batting a solid .275 with a resurgent 14 homers and 13 stolen bases. Throw in solid doubles power and some nice centerfield defense and Murphy’s Major League potential was growing. Similar results came from his 2006 return to Portland — a .273/.315/.436 batting line (BA/OBP/SLG) — before a mid-season promotion to Triple-A Pawtucket, where he blossomed into a .267/.355/.447 stat line, his best since his time as a 2003 Spinner.

That success brought him up to Boston in early September as a fill-in while both Trot Nixon and Wily Mo Pena recovered from injury. In his third career start, Murphy led of the game with a home run at Yankee Stadium, endearing himself to Red Sox fans across New England.

With added bulk, Murphy is ready to compete for a bench spot on the 2007 team. Even if he starts the season in Pawtucket, expect to see more than a few highlights of Murphy’s centerfield defense on display at Fenway Park this summer.

Jacoby in the Spotlight of Spring Training Opener

Jacoby Ellsbury, who helped lead the Portland SeaDogs to the Eastern League Championship in 2006, is hopping into the spotlight today.

The 2005 Spinners centerfielder will be patrolling center field in today’s 7 p.m. Spring Training Opener, says the Boston Globe’s Gordon Edes (And so it begins anew).

How many other former Spinners will appear in the game?

Spring Training Spinners — BRANDON MOSS

Today’s installment in the Spring Training Spinners series focuses on outfielder Brandon Moss, who joined the Lowell Spinners in his sophomore campaign in 2003.

Brandon Moss - 2003 Spinners statistics: .237 BA, 7 HR, 34 RBI, 53 SO, 15 BB in 228 AB

Drafted as a second baseman out of Loganville (GA) High School in the eighth round of the 2002 Amateur Draft, Moss had a somewhat disappointing start to his Red Sox career, batting .204 without a home run in 113 at-bats with the rookie Gulf Coast League.

Nevertheless, Moss was bumped up to Lowell as a 19-year-old, joining a 2003 roster that has already featured four Major Leaguers (Abe Alvarez, David Murphy, Matt Murton, and Jonathan Papelbon). As one of the team’s youngest players, Brandon hit only .237, but led the Spinners with a team-high 7 home runs in 228 at-bats, the second-highest mark on the team. Moss hit much better at LeLacheur Park than on the road; all but one of his home runs came at home, where he hit .264.

After his moderately successful season in Lowell, Moss took off with a massive 2004 campaign. He took home South Atlantic League MVP honors after hitting .339 with 13 home runs, 101 RBI, and 19 stolen bases in 109 games with Low-A Augusta. And the season only got better when he was promoted to High-A Sarasota in early August.

In 23 games with Sarasota, Moss continued his hitting barrage, batting .422 with two homers and two stolen bases. It was a season to remember for Brandon, and a season that not only created a whole lot of hype, but also propelled him all the way to Double-A Portland as a 22-year-old in 2005.

Adjusting to Double-A took some time. In his first season with Portland, Moss hit .268 with 16 home runs and 35 combined doubles and triples while leading the SeaDogs in at-bats. It was an All-Star season, but after the hype of 2004, some still considered it a disappointment.

After a lukewarm Arizona Fall League — he hit just .236 — Moss repeated Double-A last year, making substantial progress by hitting .285 with 12 homers and a team-high 83 RBI and 145 hits. He carried Portland with a .361 batting average and 5 home runs in the playoffs, winning playoff MVP honors for himself and the Eastern League Championship for the SeaDogs.

Moss has demonstrated his hitting prowess at Double-A — twice. It’s likely he’ll begin 2007 in Triple-A before making a run at the Red Sox 2008 roster. At 24 years old, there’s still time for Moss to make it big in Boston.

Spring Training Spinners — JACOBY ELLSBURY

Today we profile another former Spinner who’s on the Red Sox Spring Training roster, centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury.

Jacoby Ellsbury - 2005 Spinners stats: .317 BA, 1 HR, 19 RBI, 20 SO, 24 BB in 139 AB

Delayed only by Oregon State’s trip to the College Baseball World Series, Jacoby arrived in Lowell in early July as the Red Sox Number 1 Draft Pick, ahead of fellow Red Sox first rounders on the Spinners 2005 roster Jed Lowrie and Clay Buchholz. Frankly, a few more games with Jacoby leading off could have put the Spinners, who narrowly missed out on the Wild Card, into the playoffs. Drafted just after Johnny Damon departed Boston, fans in Lowell saw the Red Sox centerfielder of the future.

Ellsbury electrified the LeLacheur Faithful with every aspect of his game, hitting over .300 with deft defense in centerfield and a gliding gallop that stole him 23 of 26 bases, including 15 straight before being caught and a Spinners record-tying 3 stolen base performance to end the season.

Jacoby was steady in Lowell, batting over .300 both home and away, and against both left-handed and right-handed pitching. He closed out the season as the Spinners hottest hitter, going 14-for-34 (.412) with eight runs scored in his final eight games of 2005.

Last year, Ellsbury moved straight to High-A Wilmington, where he continued to hit like a pro, batting .299 with 25 stolen bases in 61 games before a promotion to Double-A Portland. Still just 22 years old, Jacoby hit .308 and continued to steal bases, albeit at a lower clip, as the Eastern League Champion SeaDogs lead-off hitter.

Ellsbury is likely slated for Triple-A Pawtucket this season, where he’ll continue to work on his hitting while being more selective on the basepaths. Don’t be surprised if you see him in Boston this fall…if not sooner!

Spring Training Spinners — KEVIN YOUKILIS

Continuing our series profiling former Lowell Spinners on the Red Sox Spring Training roster, we turn today to Boston first baseman Kevin Youkilis.

Kevin Youkilis - 2001 Spinners stats: .317 BA, 3 HR, 28 RBI, 28 SO, 70 BB in 183 AB

“Youk” came to Lowell after being drafted in the 8th round of the 2001 Amateur Draft following an absolute beast of a senior year at the University of Cincinnati: .405 batting average, 18 home runs, and more than two times as many walks (59) as strikeouts (21).

Immediately out of the gate with the Spinners, Youkilis gave the Red Sox just what they expected, batting .317 with an astounding 70 walks and only 28 strikeouts. His adjustment to wood bats was seamless, as he showed decent pop with 19 extra-base hits and led the NYPL with a .512 on-base percentage — a Spinners record that still stands today — en route to Lowell’s Player of the Year honors.

With the Spinners, Youkilis gained two new identities: the “Youk” chant was started by the LeLacheur Park faithful, and his 70 walks — which still stand as a Spinners record — begot his nickname as “The Greek God of Walks.”

As the Spinners season wound to a close, Kevin was promoted to Low-A Augusta, where he would spend his first 15 games of 2002. He made three stops in 2002, eventually spending a solid chunk of the season (44 games) batting .349 with a .462 on-base percentage at Double-A Trenton.

His 2003 season began at the Red Sox new Double-A affiliate in Portland, where he continued to hit well over .300 and got on base at a ridiculous clip. But after a promotion to Triple-A Pawtucket, Kevin fell on hard times for the first time in his professional career. Although he tied then-Red Sox Kevin Millar’s Minor League record for consecutive games reached base at 71, Kevin only hit .165 in 32 games with the PawSox.

Nevertheless, Youkilis was the Red Sox top hitting prospect and he split time between Pawtucket and the World Champion Red Sox in 2004. He even blasted a homerun in his first Major League at-bat on May 15 at Toronto. Spinners fans should remember that injuries slowed him down a bit, and he became the first former Spinner to return to LeLacheur Park as a Major League rehabber on August 30 and 31 (he went 3-for-4 with two extra-base hits).

“Youk” again split time between Triple-A and the Majors in 2005, but he established himself as a Major League hitter, batting .278 and retaining his nickname with an elite .400 on-base percentage in 79 at-bats.

Last season was Kevin’s first full season in the Majors, and despite a shift to first base, his solid season included 13 home runs and 100 runs scored as the Red Sox lead-off replacement for the injured Coco Crisp. The “Greek God of Walks” will be the Red Sox primary first baseman in 2007.

Spring Training Spinners — JONATHAN PAPELBON

After a long weekend, we’re back delivering profiles of former Spinners in Red Sox Spring Training. Today we take a look at a guy you may have heard about last year, Jonathan Papelbon. If you made it to LeLacheur Park last year, you probably saw Jonathan’s brother, Joshua, closing out games for the Spinners.

Jonathan Papelbon - 2003 Spinners stats: 1-2, 6.34 ERA, 36/9 K/BB in 32.2 IP

You can’t judge a book by it’s cover, right? The same goes for minor league pitchers. If the win/loss record and ERA fail to impress, look to peripheral statistics like strikeouts per nine innings (K/9) and strikeout to walk ratio (K/BB).

Jonathan Papelbon’s 6.34 ERA with Lowell in 2003, easily his worst mark at any stop as a professional, didn’t reflect the stellar stuff he brought to the mound. With over a strikeout per inning and single-digit walks, Jonathan didn’t catch the breaks, and was splitting time between starting and relieving. But his strikeout rate was strong, and the second inning of Papelbon’s professional career was an eye-opener. That’s when he became the first Lowell Spinner — and he’s still the only one — to strike out the side on nine pitches.

By the end of his 2004 season with High-A Sarasota, a season in which his strikeout rate climbed to over 10 K’s per 9 IP and his ERA dropped nearly four runs to 2.64, Papelbon’s stock was soaring as a prospect. In 24 starts, he went 12-7, readying himself for a whirlwind 2005 that would take him from Portland to Pawtucket, and then to Boston.

It was just about the same story in the Minors in 2005. His K/9 rate dropped to just under a batter per inning while his ERA stayed steady under 3.00. In fact, after his start with the Spinners, Papelbon’s ERA has never been higher than 2.93.

All of that success brought a 24-year-old Jonathan Papelbon to Boston for his Major League debut on July 31, 2005. After three starts, Jonathan made 14 relief appearances, stiking out 34 in 34 innings with the Red Sox and earning a spot on the Red Sox 2006 roster, where he would become a household name across New England and the rest of the nation.

With Keith Foulke still injured at the beginning of the season, Papelbon was eventually tabbed as Boston’s closer, and oh boy did he not disappoint. He didn’t allow an earned run until May 5th and he didn’t allow a second earned run until June 26th. He was elected to the All-Star game and closed out an incredible 35 games with a brilliant 0.92 ERA before an August shoulder injury cut his season short.

Back in the rotation, Papelbon is one of the cogs in the Red Sox young rotation that also features Josh Beckett, and Daisuke Matsuzaka. If they need him, though, there’s still the off-chance we’ll see Jonathan rescuing the Sox in the 9th inning.

His time in Lowell was a tale of misleading convetional statistics. If you looked at his losing record and mid 6.00 ERA, you wouldn’t necessarily think of him as a prime prospect. But with high strikeout and low walk rates, Papelbon has been a star since his arrival as a professional with the Spinners.

SPRING TRAINING SPINNERS — Edgar Martinez

Today we continue our series on former Spinners on Boston’s Spring Training roster with a look at former catcher and current relief prospect Edgar Martinez.

Edgar Martinez – 2001 Spinners stats: .320 BA, 3 HR, 25 RBI, 23 SO, 10 BB in 175 AB

If you don’t remember Edgar Martinez closing games in Lowell, you’re not alone. That’s because after signing out from his native Venezuela as a 17-year-old in 1999, Martinez spent six years in the Red Sox system as a catcher.

His professional career began in the Gulf Coast League, where he spent parts of two seasons before a promotion in 2000 brought him to (Low-A) Augusta. But his numbers at the plate did not stand out as he compiled a mediocre .184 batting average over those first two years.

There must have been something in the water in Lowell, because Edgar had his best season as a hitter with the Spinners in 2001, when he hit .320 with a solid .370 on-base percentage and .463 slugging percentage. All of those marks stood as career bests through his final season as a catcher at Portland in 2004. After his career year with the Spinners, for which he was named a member of the Spinners 10th Anniversary team last summer, he again struggled to hit, with a .213 batting avereage over the next three seasons in Single-A and Double-A.

But Martinez’s arm always impressed, and in 2004 he was conveted to a reliever. With a mid-90’s fastball, his professional career as a pitcher has been nothing short of dominant: a 2.19 ERA and 9.8 strikeouts per nine innings since 2004. He was even named a Futures Game All-Star in last summer.

His strikeout rate declined in the second half of 2006, but didn’t lose any effectiveness. He was back to his old self with a 2.19 ERA in the Venezualen Winter League, and if he keeps it up in 2007, he may soon become a useful reliever in Boston.

Spring Training Spinners — KYLE JACKSON

Today’s installment profiling former Spinners on the Red Sox Spring Training roster features right-handed pitcher Kyle Jackson.

Kyle Jackson — 2003 Spinners stats: 1-1, 0.93 ERA, 2/2 K/BB in 9.2 IP

A New Hampshire native from just over the boarder, Kyle Jackson was drafted in the 32nd round of the 2001 Amateur Draft by his hometown Boston Red Sox. After making one appearance with the Gulf Coast Red Sox in 2002, Jackson’s 5-2, 1.85 ERA summer with the GCL Red Sox in 2003 brought him home to the Merrimack Valley via a late-season promotion to Lowell. The Alvirne (Hudson, NH) High School graduate allowed only one earned run over two road starts to end the 2003 Spinners season.

Jackson struck out 222 batters in 226.1 innings of work over the next two years at Low-A Augusta and Greenville (the Red Sox affiliate moved to Greenville in 2005). The Red Sox rewarded Kyle with another late-season call-up, this time to Double-A Portland, where he showed good stuff (7 strikeouts in 7 innings without walking a batter) but allowed too many home runs (4).

Last year, Jackson dominated High-A Wilmington with a 6-0 record, 1.59 ERA and a stunning 67 strikeouts in 45.1 innings. A second gig in Portland, covering his final 22 appearances of 2006, went much better than the first. Despite a bit of wildness, the Red Sox added Kyle to their 40-man roster this fall after a 3-1, 2.45 ERA performance with 36 K’s in 36.2 innings as a 23-year-old in Double-A.

Kyle’s Arizona Fall League performance was perplexing: a 5-0 record, but a 6.23 ERA with almost as many walks (10) as strikeouts (11).

Jackson’s addition to the 40-man roster means the Red Sox are serious about his potential. This year he’ll focus on control, and if all goes well, he could soon be the fourth 2003 Spinner to make it to Boston.

Spring Training Spinners — ABE ALVAREZ

As New England wrestles with its largest storm of the season, Spring Training lies just around the corner. We thought we’d warm up your snow day with an eye toward Boston’s Spring Training roster in Florida. We’ll be profiling a new former Spinner each day, updating the blog every business day with a new player profile, starting with the pitchers. Alphabetically, we begin today with Abe Alvarez.

Abe Alvarez - 2003 Spinner’s stats: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 19/2 K/BB in 19.0 IP

The California native started his professional career with a bang by putting up zeros across the board with the Spinners in 2003. He became the fastest Spinner to the Majors when he jumped up from Double-A Portland to start the first game of a July 22 double-header during Boston’s 2004 title run. Since then, he made two big league appearances in 2005 and a third in 2006.

In Pawtucket last year, he started off strong with a 2.78 ERA over the first two months of the season before losing his effectiveness in June and eventually succumbing to a season-ending injury in August. He finished with a 5.64 ERA, regressing slightly from his Triple-A statistics in 2005 with fewer strikeouts and more walks per inning pitched, and a higher ERA.

But Abe is still young — he’ll be only 24 this year — after being the third-youngest player on the PawSox season-ending roster. It’s likely he’ll begin his third straight season in Pawtucket, but a healed broken ankle and another strong start in 2007 would do wonders in his quest to return to Boston.