Harvest Moon: Herald Reports Buchholz and Ellsbury to be Promoted
Per the Boston Herald, the Red Sox will take both Clay Buchholz (as expected) and Jacoby Ellsbury (somewhat surprising) from Pawtucket, as they prepare for a tough doubleheader against the Angels on Friday.
We touched on the imminent Buchholz debut here, but let’s talk about Ellsbury.
For all intents and purposes, this likely means the end of the Wily Mo Pena era, and it also means that recently acquired Bobby Kielty won’t be added to the big team. While Ellsbury has been decent in AAA, he still hasn’t shown an acceptable amount of power for a big league regular.
The speedster could fill The Dave Roberts Role on the team for the next month(s): a 4th outfielder who can cover ground, provide contact assurance at the plate, as yes, steal a base when needed. He could also give Coco Crisp some much needed rest, and start some games against right-handers. Then again, he could be sent right back to Pawtucket after the weekend. Stay tuned.
Ellsbury in 2007:
AA: .452/.518/.644 in 79 PAs, 8/9 SBs
AAA: .292/.361/.377 in 337 PAs, 30/36 SBs
MLB: .375/.444/.438 in 18 PAs, 1/1 SBs
Overall: .325 BA, .382 OBP, 39 steals in 46 attempts.
August 16th, 2007 at 10:57 am
I’ll shed a tear for the Wily Mo Era that never was; I think he’ll be an excellent DH in 2008, but I understand why he must go.
I suppose its Ellsbury over Kielty because of centerfield defense, but I’d hate to see them lose WMP and Kielty in the same week. They may have worked out something shady with Kielty to keep him around, but he needs to be called up before sept 1 to be eligible for the postseason roster.
My output at work tomorrow will be minute.
August 16th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Is Hinske ability to play 1b really worth anything at this point? Why not Cora or Lugo in an emergency situation and even Ortiz for a few days if necessary? What value does his lefthanded bring in this lineup? All the righties in the lineup are better than he is against rhps, right?
The whole WMP saga really is sad. Baseball is a business, but he has been screwed by his early signing-callup.
August 16th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
If it were up to me, I’d rather lose Hinske than Pena…but a key factor here is that Pena has requested a trade, and the Sox are probably actively trying to find him a home, as they can at least get something for him, while Hinske has virtually zero trade value.
This leads me to believe that it will be Pena that goes. On the bright side, he’ll certainly play a bigger role in a different city, and hopefully will be able to develop a bit.
August 17th, 2007 at 10:38 am
I believe Ellsbury is being called up for a short stint to help rest people up this weekend. I expect Kielty to be with the team early next week. The Ellsbury era will have to wait…