This offseason I had touted Mark Wagner as a potential replacement for Jason Varitek as the back up catcher. Well, that certainly looks pretty silly now. Varitek is leading the team in OPS in limited at bats and is tied for second in home runs. Wagner, on the other hand, continued to struggle at AAA, posting a .226/.295/.396 line before breaking his hamate bone in his hand. This is a fairly common baseball injury, and the usual treatment is to simply remove the bone. Wagner will be out for another 4-6 weeks, but typically it can take a full year for power to return. Wagner will turn 26 in early June, so the window for him to become an established backup catcher is rapidly shrinking.
Jose Iglesias - SS, AA Portland
Jose Iglesias is the biggest international player the Sox have signed since Daisuke. The 20 year old Cuban shortstop held his own in the pitching heavy Arizona Fall League this year, and the Red Sox decided to be aggressive and place him in AA/ The scouting on Iglesias had been that his glove was spectacular and major league ready, but the bat was a question mark. So far in AA, Iglesias is doing his best to answer those questions. Even though he is only 20 years old, which is very young for AA, and is in his first professional season in the US, Iglesias has impressed, putting up a .308/.348/.423 line. I doubt we'll see him in Boston this year, but because of his glove and the lack of other prospects or solid experienced minor leaguers, it wouldn't be shocking to see him fill in for Scutaro if there were a minor injury.
You had to go an say something about Scutaro getting hurt. I think it is probably still too early in the season to call up Iglesisas- have you heard what the So are planning, or do you think they'll just go with Hall at SS?
ReplyDeleteThey haven't called up Iglesias. I forget who, perhaps one of the BP writers, pointed out that he's only 2 month in to his first professional season. Promoting him now would mean he's a bit rushed, plus you don't want to start his service time clock. Instead, the Sox went with minor league journeyman Angel Sanchez. It is a short term fix, as Scutaro is only expected to miss a few games after getting a cortisone shot in his left (non-throwing) elbow. I would expect it to affect his hitting more than anything, as a hard swing and miss can put a lot of stress on the bottom elbow, as anyone who has flailed wildly at a Wiffle Ball pitch can attest.
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