Tagged: garin cecchini
Monday Notes: All The Call-Ups!
Hassan and Cecchini taking advice from a good source
With Garin Cecchini and Alex Hassan each making his Major League debut Sunday, alumni from the PawSox continue to directly impact Boston’s recent hot stretch. If/when Stephen Drew is officially re-called on Monday, that will make nine Pawtucket players called up to the big league club in a 17-day stretch!
Many of those former PawSox players have made major contributions to John Farrell’s team during the seven-game winning streak. Check out Hassan’s first hit right here, then a few innings later Cecchini’s.
Infielder Brock Holt started the parade north on May 17th and is batting a cool .337 with Boston. Among the position players, he was followed by Daniel Nava (May 24), Ryan Lavarnway (May 26), Hassan (May 30) and Cecchini (June 1). Drew, who went 5-for-21 with three doubles in seven minor league games, is expected to get the call Monday afternoon.
Brock Holt has been on a tear at the top of the Boston lineup
Among the pitchers to go up, Alex Wilson paved the way on May 23rd (he was just returned to Pawtucket Sunday). Brandon Workman went to Boston on May 25th and has made two strong starts. Rubby De La Rosa followed on May 31st and had a spectacular first start.
Of these nine players reaching Boston over the past two weeks, only Wilson and Cecchini have returned to the PawSox (Lavarnway unfortunately broke a bone in his wrist). As the Red Sox head to Cleveland for three games this week, the PawSox continue their eight-game trip in Norfolk (Monday night) and Durham (Tuesday-Friday).
Rubby De La Rosa tossed seven shutout innings against Tampa on Saturday
Manager Kevin Boles is continuing to deal with the mass exodus as best he can. In addition to the players called up to the major leagues, the squad has been without leading RBI man Bryce Brentz (missed the last 16 games) and part-time closer Drake Britton (four games) because of injury.
Below is my in-depth conversation with the skipper from Saturday’s PawSox Insider show in which we discussed how the club can try and stay afloat amidst all the roster turnover taking place:
Harbor Park is appropriately named…sitting right on the waterfront in downtown Norfolk!
Here are some other notes as we get ready for the finale of the four-game series at Norfolk Monday night at 7:05 pm:
–Ryan Roberts has become the choice to take Brock Holt’s leadoff spot in the order. Roberts has batted first in eight of the team’s last nine games. He got hit in the wrist with a pitch on Sunday, so Roberts may get a day or two off the next couple of nights.
-Since being promoted from Double-A Portland, Travis Shaw and Shannon Wilkerson have provided an offensive spark for Pawtucket. Shaw has started seven straight games since his arrival and reached base safely in all seven, while collecting at least one hit in six. He smashed his first Triple-A home run Saturday night:
Wilkerson has started eight consecutive games since his promotion and has at least one hit in six of those. He recently had a stretch in which he batted 6-for-10 (from Wednesday into Saturday night’s games).
–Christian Vazquez had a good last week at the plate. Vazquez, who has started the team’s last seven games, has a seven-game hitting streak during which he is 10-for-28 (.357) with four runs scored.
-The PawSox are in a stretch of playing 20 consecutive non-division games (16 of them against the South Division). They are 3-4 in the first seven of those against Gwinnett and Norfolk. Durham is up next.
-Pawtucket has now used 57 different starting lineups in 58 games played (batters 1-9 in the order, regardless of position). Incredible!
Hopefully the month of June will be more fruitful on the field than May was for the PawSox. The squad is just 5-14 since May 12th. But hey, a new month brings new hope! Even with the struggles, the team is only two games below .500 at 28-30.
The famous USS Wisconsin sits in the Harbor in Norfolk off the Elizabeth River. Quite a sight!
Have a great start to the week, talk to you on the radio from Harbor Park tonight!
Josh M
Memorial Day Weekend In The ‘Cuse
Wednesday is on off-day for the PawSox – sort of. While it is the first day this month that the team doesn’t play a game, the squad is on the bus traveling to Syracuse, NY to get ready for a four-game series with the Chiefs.
NBT Stadium In Syracuse, NY
Syracuse is now 23-22, which puts the Chiefs in last place in the six-team Northern Division believe it or not. All six teams in the north are currently playing above .500 baseball, while first and last place is separated by only 1 1/2 games. The PawSox (25-22) are 1/2 game behind first-place Buffalo.
Pawtucket, which just lost its first home series of the season by dropping three of four to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, had its lone home series win against ‘Cuse back in early April. Pawtucket is now 1-1-5 in seven home series played.
The PawSox have dropped six of their last eight contests, largely due to some notable absenses in the lineup.
Bryce Brentz has missed the last five games and is currently on the disabled list with a hamstring injury. Brentz was third in the IL in RBI (28) and second in games played (39) when he suffered his injury last Thursday afternoon in Indianapolis.
Brock Holt was promoted back to the big leagues last Saturday and thus has not played with the PawSox over the last four games. Holt, who batted in the leadoff spot in all 27 games he played for Pawtucket this season, was 6th in the IL in batting average (.315) at the time of his promotion.
With those two important bats absent from the lineup, the PawSox have been searching for clutch hitting. We will see if heading on the road gives the offense a jolt as it has in the past several times already this season. Here are a few more Wednesday musings for you:
-Pawtucket welcomed two new faces this week: righty reliever John Ely and utilityman Carlos Rivero. Rivero, who played two games for the PawSox in April, was hitting .214 with two home runs and 17 RBI in 31 games with Double-A Portland.
Ely, who was signed by the Red Sox this offseason while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, made six appearances with Low-A Greenville and went 1-0 with a 5.63 ERA (8.0 IP, 11 H, 5 R). He had pitched in the Majors with the Dodgers from 2010-12.
John Ely while pitching for the Dodgers
-The PawSox have now used a different lineup (spots 1-9, not counting positions) in 46 of their 47 games played. I’m continuously amazed by that stat.
-Opponents are only 4-for-11 in stolen base attempts against the Pawtucket over the team’s last 14 games. That follows a stretch during which teams were successful on 20 of 21 attempts in the previous 15 contests.
–Brandon Snyder is in quite a groove. Snyder has batted 10-for-19 (.526) over his last five games played with three home runs, three doubles, six RBIs and three runs scored. He now leads the team with eight home runs, and on the season 14 of his 23 hits have gone for extra bases.
–Garin Cecchini has now reached base in 28 straight games played (April 18-present), the longest on-base streak in the IL this season. He walked Tuesday against Scranton to extend the streak.
–Anthony Ranaudo continues to pitch well. After allowing at least four runs in each of his first three starts, Ranaudo has only allowed runs in five of his last 38 innings pitched (spanning seven starts). He has a stellar 2.15 ERA over his last seven outings (and a 3-2 record). The big righty had a 13-inning scoreless stretch snapped yesterday.
–Mike McCoy has started 10 of the team’s last 12 games, due in large to the absense of Brock Holt (who missed 3 games due to illness, then got promoted to the majors). McCoy has eight hits in those ten games (8-for-33).
Finally, in case you missed it in last week’s PawSox Insider show, below is my interview with veteran reliever Rich Hill. Rich has had to endure some personal tragedy in the past few months and we have him and his family in our thoughts and prayers as he continues to pitch for Pawtucket.
Hope you have a great start to your holiday weekend. We’ll look for some wins to bring home from Syracuse!
Josh M
Maurer's Musings 