2003 Wrapups: Boston Red Sox

With the 2003 minor league season coming to a close, we will be providing a brief wrapup of the season for all 30 minor league teams. In each report, we will take a look at how the team's Top 10 Prospects performed, identify some emerging prospects and organizational leaders, and report on the performance of their top draft pick.
Complete index of Team Wrapups               2003 League Wrapups

By Kevin Goldstein
September 22, 2003

Season Results

Level Team League W L PCT AAA Pawtucket International 83 61 .576 AA Portland Eastern 72 70 .507 A+ Sarasota Florida State 63 67 .485 A Augusta South Atlantic 49 87 .360 SS Lowell New York-Penn 39 34 .534 R GCL Red Sox Gulf Coast 33 26 .559 TOTAL 339 345 ..496

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Performance of Top 10 Prospects

Here's how our top 10 prospects entering this season performed in 2003. Major league statistics through games of September 16th.

1. Hanley Ramirez, ss      Age: 19

Inconsistent performance from five-tool shortstop who rebounded from early discipline problems that found him suspended and sent to the instructional league. Had real problems vs. lefties, batting just .208 (16-for-77) with no homers.

TEAM G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG OBP SLG Augusta (Low Class A) 111 422 69 116 24 3 8 50 32 73 36 .275 .327 .403

2. Kelly Shoppach, c      Age: 23

Minor rotator-cuff surgery kept Shoppach out of the lineup for the first month of the season, but he returned to show top-flight defensive skills and an advanced approach at the plate to establish himself as one of the better all-around catching prospects in the game.

TEAM G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG OBP SLG Portland (Double-A) 92 345 45 96 30 2 12 60 35 83 0 .282 .353 .488

3. Kevin Youkilis, 3b      Age: 24

Stathead favorite reached base in 71 straight games, but struggled mightily after a promotion to Triple-A, going 6-for-56 (.107) in his first 16 games at Pawtucket. Has yet to show the power one normally associates with a corner infielder.

TEAM G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG OBP SLG Portland (Double-A) 94 312 74 102 23 1 6 37 86 40 7 .327 .487 .465 Pawtucket (Triple-A) 32 109 9 18 3 0 2 15 18 21 0 .165 .295 .248

4. Freddy Sanchez, ss/2b      Age: 25

Flirted with .400 through late May, and then was used as the key player going to the Pirates in the Jeff Suppan deal. Played just one game for Nashville before being lost for the season with an ankle injury.

TEAM G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG OBP SLG Pawtucket (Triple-A) 58 211 46 72 17 0 5 25 31 36 8 .341 .430 .493 Red Sox (MLB) 9 16 3 3 2 0 0 2 0 3 0 .188 .188 .313 Nashville (Triple-A) 1 5 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .400 .400 .600

5. Phil Dumatrait, lhp      Age: 22

First-round pick in 2000 struggled with control but came on very strong, allowing just two earned runs in his last five starts for Sarasota before being traded (with Tyler Pelland) to the Reds for reliever Scott Williamson. Won his first four starts for Potomac.

Team W-L SV ERA G IP H R ER BB SO Sarasota (High Class A) 7-5 1 3.02 21 104.1 74 41 35 59 74 Potomac (High Class A) 4-1 0 3.35 7 37.2 36 17 14 14 32

6. Manny Delcarmen, rhp      Age: 21

Struck out eleven over seven shutout innings in his second start of the year, but lasted just two more outings before requiring Tommy John surgery, which forced him to miss the remainder of the season.

Team W-L SV ERA G IP H R ER BB SO Sarasota (High Class A) 1-1 0 3.13 4 23.0 16 9 8 7 16

7. Billy Simon, rhp      Age: 20

Promising righty went on the DL in April with a neck strain, and was later diagnosed with a hereditary vertebrae condition that cost him the entire season.

Team W-L SV ERA G IP H R ER BB SO Did Not Pitch

8. Jon Lester, lhp      Age: 19

Last year's top pick (second round), Lester had an inconsistent season at Augusta. While he allowed one or fewer earned runs in 15 of his 24 games, in his remaining nine starts he had an 9.82 ERA.

Team W-L SV ERA G IP H R ER BB SO Augusta (Low Class A) 6-9 0 3.65 24 106.0 102 54 43 44 71

9. Jorge de la Rosa, rhp      Age: 22

Once dubbed "the Mexican John Rocker" by former GM Dan Duquette, de la Rosa enjoyed a fine season, dominating in his final five starts (0.72 ERA) for Portland to earn a late-season promotion to Triple-A. Will continue to project as a reliever unless he finds a way to be more effective vs. righthanded hitters.

Team W-L SV ERA G IP H R ER BB SO Portland (Double-A) 6-3 1 2.80 22 99.2 87 39 31 36 102 Pawtucket (Triple-A) 1-2 0 3.75 5 24.0 27 14 10 12 17

10. Aneudis Mateo, rhp      Age: 20

Missed two months with elbow troubles, and when we was healthy, he wasn't effective.

Team W-L SV ERA G IP H R ER BB SO Augusta (Low Class A) 0-5 0 4.89 13 53.1 62 33 29 16 34 GCL Red Sox (Rookie) 0-0 0 1.80 2 5.0 4 1 1 0 6

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Top Draft Pick:

David Murphy, of    Baylor U.   Bonus: $1.525M

The Red Sox were looking for a polished college hitter in the draft, and they got just that in Murphy, who has solid tools across the board and is being tried in center field after playing primarily right field in college. Was an on-base machine at Lowell, but fell into a 1-for-26 slump after a promotion to the Florida State League.

TEAM G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG OBP SLG Lowell (Short-Season) 21 78 13 27 4 0 0 13 16 9 4 .346 .453 .397 Sarasota (High Class A) 45 153 18 37 5 1 1 18 20 33 6 .242 .329 .307

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Emerging Prospects:

Chad Spann, 3b: One of the few bright spots for a miserable Augusta team that finished with the worst record in franchise history, Spann finished sixth in the Sally League batting race while showing excellent defensive skills.

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Statistical Leaders

Batting Average	Sean McGowan	.320
Home Runs	Earl Snyder	22
Runs Batted In	Andy Abad	93
Stolen Bases	Anton French	40
Earned Run Average	Jamie Brown	2.95
Wins	Bronson Arroyo	12
Strikeouts	Bronson Arroyo	155
Saves	Juan Perez	18