We begin with the Red Sox' best hitter, third basemen Garin Cecchini.
1. Garin Cecchini, 3B
The 22 year old 3rd sack has been tearing the cover off the ball offensively. He was named to the Carolina League All-Star team. Garin's hitting .350 with 75 hits in 63 games. He has 5 homers, 33 rbi's and is a riverboat gambler on the basepaths with 15 steals in 22 attempts. He does have an injury history, he missed most of his senior year of high school and he was Lowell's best hitter in 2011 before going down with injury. If healthy, he can run and he can hit, if David Ortiz was to ride off in the sunset in a few years, Garin could be Boston's next DH.
Next up is center fielder Keury De La Cruz.
2. Keury De La Cruz, CF
The 21 year old originally came to the Red Sox as a non-drafted free agent in February of 2009 at the age of 17. The lefty is hitting .288 with 76 hits in 68 games. He has 4 homers, 55 rbi's and 5 steals in 10 attempts. At just 21 years old, he has plenty of time to develop and see if he can become a dependable fielder and batter.
On the clock is catcher Blake Swihart.
3. Blake Swihart, C
The 21 year old catcher was named to the All-Star team with Cecchini. He was the "other" first round pick in 2011 besides Matt Barnes. Swihart is hitting .281 with 2 homers and 21 rbi's. He had an above average year for Grenville last year at the age of 20-21 so at this rate he should become a Double A all-star next year. With Lavarnway, Vazquez and Swihart, the Sox have a trio of catchers that can replace Jarrod Saltalamacchia and David Ross in the oncoming years.
Now we take a look at right fielder Henry Ramos.
4. Henry Ramos, RF
The 21 year old was drafted in the 5th round back 2010 and has remained consistent in his hitting. He's batting .269 with 7 homers and 30 rbi's. He's been a riverboat gambler as well on the base paths with 8 steals in 15 tries. I like the way the Red Sox minor league systems is encouraging baserunning, a far cry of the old days of waiting for the 3 run homer that usually never comes. With Ramos at just 21 years of age, he still has plenty of time to develop into a major leaguer.
Next up is the prized short-stop/DH Deven Marrero.
5. Deven Marrero, DH
The 22 year old Marrero marks the beginning of the Cherrington era in amateur talent as he was the first round pick of 2012 out of Arizona State. Unfortunately he hasn't been lighting it up at the plate, batting just .242 with no home runs and just 7 rbi's. Maybe one of the reasons Salem is a .500 team is the lack of offense from Marrero. He does have 7 steals but has just 40 hits in 43 games. Normally he'd have all the time in the world to develop but he's caught in the numbers game as the Red Sox already have Jose Iglesias in the majors and Xander Bogaerts waiting in the wings, Marrero could already be the odd man out. Still, if he keeps plugging and improving, he could find a home elsewhere or make it up to Boston someday.
On the docket is left fielder Brandon Jacobs
6. Brandon Jacobs, LF
The 22 year old outfielder is really struggling at the plate. After tearing up Greenville in 2011, he's struggled the last 2 years in Salem. He's batting just .223 with just 49 hits in 62 games. He does have 7 home runs so he can certainly hit for power. As with everyone else on the team, he has time to develop. Daniel Nava didn't make the majors until he was 28 so there's always hope.
Up next is first basemen David Renfroe.
7. David Renfroe, 1B
Like Jacobs, the 22 year old is struggling at the plate. The 3rd round pick of 2009 (behind Ray Fuentes and Alex Wilson) is hitting just .223 with just 40 hits in 52 games. He has just 3 home runs and 26 rbi's and just 1 steal. He has time to develop, but when you're struggling to hit Single A pitching, things don't look good. We'll see how it turns out.
Batting 8th is second basemen Sean Coyle
8. Sean Coyle, 2B
The 21 year old was a 3rd round pick in 2010 (2 round after Kolbrinn Vitek) and has been a dependable power hitter so far in his career. He's hitting just .248 but has 10 home runs and 20 rbi's so far this season. The 5'8 Coyle reminds fans of Dustin Pedroia and if he can learn to hit consistently as well as for power, he could very well be the next Pedroia.
Rounding out the starting 9 is short-stop Nick Natoli
9. Nick Natoli, SS
The 25 year old Natoli appears heading to the end of the line. He's the oldest of the starting 9 and he's hitting just .177 with 9 errors on the season. If you can't hit or field in Single A, think its time to find another profession.
Switching gears to the pitching mound, let's begin with starter Mike Aguliera
1. Mike Aguliera, starter
The 23 year old 5th round pick of 2012 is currently 5-4 with a 4.63 ERA. He's not a strikeout pitcher with just 39 K's in 70 innings. He does have good control, walking just 16 batters so far. With a below average defense, its easy to see why Aguilera's ERA is so high, however with a better defense he may be more effective.
Next starter is prized prospect Henry Owens
2. Henry Owens, starter
The 20 year old 2011 first round pick (behind Matt Barnes) is currently 5-2 with a 3.03 ERA. He's a power pitcher with 80 strikeouts in 65 innings. He has walked 28 batters in those 65 innings and has kept the longball total to just 6. A 20 year old left-handed power pitcher that does well in Advanced Single A could be a hot commodity in the future. He could be the next Jon Lester if he continues to develop.
Next up is starter Kyle Stroup
3. Kyle Stroup, starter
The 23 year old is 4-4 with a 3.57 ERA. He also is a control pitcher with just 17 walks in 63 innings. He has given up 70 hits but that could be due to shoddy infield defense. Like Aguilera, maybe all Stroup needs is better defenders and he'd dominate.
4th starter on the docket is William Cuevas
4. William Cuevas, starter
The 22 year old was signed by the organization when he was 18. He's currently 3-6 with a 6.07 ERA. He's walked only 17 batters but has given up 61 hits and 41 runs in 56 innings. If he's been around the organization for 4-5 years and is struggling to get Single A batters out, it may be time to move on.
Last is Michael McCarthy, no relation to Melissa.
5. Michael McCarthy, starter
The 25 year old could be at the end of the line. He's 3-2 but with a hideous 4.72 ERA. Still, he was a 14th round pick in 2011 so he was obviously not high in the organization's depth charts. The best we can hope for is Michael to turn it around in the second half of the season to help Salem win the division.
Last, we take a look at 2 relief pitchers. First is Matty Ott
1. Matty Ott, relief
The 23 year old Ott has been a nice little reliever the past few seasons for Lowell, Greenville and Salem. He's struck out 40 batters in 38 innings but unfortunately has given up 14 walks. If he could improve his control a little bit, he could definitely help Salem win the second half division.
Second is Noe Ramirez
2. Noe Ramirez, relief
The 23 year old Ramirez was a 4th round pick back in 2011 and has been pitching well of late. He's 2-1 with a 2.34 ERA with 37 punchouts and just 8 walks in 42 innings. Compared to the younger Owens and Cuevas, its better late than never. He keeps pitching like this, he could be Salem's closer for the second half or earn a call up to Portland.
That about wraps it up for the 3rd edition of down on the farm. Salem is finishing up the first half of their season with a sub .500 record mostly due to shoddy defense. If they can clean it up in the field and Owens, Ramirez and Aguliera step it up on the mound, this could be a contender in the second half. The next off-day is just 7 days from today and we'll look at the lower level Single A team, the Greenville Drive. As for the big club, the Sox play a day-night twin bill against the Tampa Bay Rays with Alfredo "The Vulture" Aceves tossing game 1 and Felix Doubront going in game 2. Better have Beato and the rest of the bullpen ready because that's going to be a long one.
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