Greg Colbrunn (AP)

In retrospect, the fact that Greg Colbrunn emerged as what Red Sox manager John Farrell referred to as the clear choice for his hitting coach should have come as no surprise. After all, Colbrunn spent the last six years working for the Yankees.

Colbrunn spent 2007-12 on the staff of the Single-A Charleston RiverDogs, New York’s Single-A affiliate, spending all but one of those years (2010, when he was the manager) as a hitting coach. He represents the latest addition to a staff with deep roots in the Yankees’ minor league system.

Pitching coach Juan Nieves got his start in coaching with the Yankees in 1992; he spent five years as a pitching instructor in New York’s minor league system.

Third-base coach Brian Butterfield‘s late father, Jack Butterfield, was a Yankees director of player development. Butterfield got his start in coaching with the Yankees, working as a coach and manager in the minors with them from 1984-1993 before getting promoted to their big league coaching staff under Buck Showalter in 1994.

First-base coach Arnie Beyeler‘s first coaching jobs came with the Yankees from 1997-99 before he joined the Sox in 2000 as the manager of the Lowell Spinners.

Bullpen coach Gary Tuck spent time as both a big league and minor league instructor in three stints with New York between 1989-2004. Read the rest of this entry »

Both PawSox manager Arnie Beyeler and Salem shortstop Xander Bogaerts are representing the Red Sox at the All-Star Futures Game. (WEEI.com)

KANSAS CITY — The Red Sox have a noteworthy contingent at this year’s All-Star Futures Game, a showcase for top talent that is typically close to making a significant impact at the major league level. Recent Red Sox participants in the Futures Game have included Will Middlebrooks (2011), Jacoby Ellsbury (2007), Clay Buchholz (2007) and Hanley Ramirez (2005).

This year, the Red Sox have three members of the organization taking part in the contest:

– Shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who is tearing up the Carolina League. On the year, he’s hitting .286/.364/.478/.842 with 12 homers, and he was just named Player of the Month in June for the High-A Carolina League after hitting .337/.433/.624/1.057 with eight homers. Bogaerts is serving as the designated hitter for the World Team in the contest.

Bogaerts is viewed as the toolsiest Red Sox position prospect since Ramirez. For more on his prospect path, including the fascinating story of his signing, click here.

The 19-year-old said that being named to the Futures Game represented a goal of his entering 2012.

“I worked in my offseason really hard thinking on, if I would have been a part of this one this year,” said the native of Aruba. “I’m really happy I achieved my goal.

“It’s a really big accomplishment for me. All the hard work I put into this whole season, all season last year has been showing up for me this year.”

– Right-hander Matt Barnes, who had the best ERA in the minors for most of the year before a recent three-game skid; still, between Single-A Greenville and High-A Salem, the Red Sox’ top pick in the 2011 draft (No. 19 overall) has a 7-2 record and 2.44 ERA along with 101 strikeouts and just 17 walks in 81 innings. Barnes is available out of the bullpen.

– PawSox manager Arnie Beyeler is a coach for the World Team. He’s in his sixth year as a manager in the Red Sox organization, having spent 2007-10 with the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs before his promotion to Triple-A Pawtucket for the 2011 season. He also managed a remarkable squad in the Arizona Fall League this past offseason that included Will Middlebrooks, Bryce Harper and Mike Trout.

We’ll have plenty from all three of them a bit later, but for now, an artfully (cough) rendered photo of Beyeler and Bogaerts by the cage during batting practice will have to suffice.

Also, here’s some video of Bogaerts taking batting practice:

Ryan Lavarnway has been among the top hitters in the International League since early May (AP)

A quick synopsis of Wednesday’s minor league action in the Red Sox system:

TRIPLE-A PAWTUCKET RED SOX: 6-5 LOSS (11 INNINGS) AT SYRACUSE (NATIONALS)

(BOX)

– The weather is warm, and Ryan Lavarnway is now scorching. The catcher went 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a walk, and in his last four games, he’s 10-for-16 with three walks, a double and five homers. He’s boosted his line for the year to a .306 average, .397 OBP, .481 slugging mark and .877 OPS. While he hasn’t shown the same consistent power that he did en route to blasting 34 homers a year ago, his average and OBP both represent what would be career bests at any level. In his last 33 games dating to May 6, he’s hitting .349/.432/.577/1.009.

– Daniel Bard was summoned to preserve a 4-3 lead with four outs to go for Triple-A Pawtucket against Syracuse. Instead, he suffered his first blown save since being sent to the minors.

Bard entered in the bottom of the eighth with runners on first and second and two outs. He retired the first batter he faced on a pop-out, but then gave up a double (to Chris Marrero, cousin of Red Sox 2012 first-round pick Deven Marrero) and single with a pair of wild pitches en route to a two-run yield over four outs. In addition to uncorking the pair of wild pitches, Bard threw just 11 of 22 pitches for strikes, threw a first-pitch ball to five of the six hitters he faced and got one swing and miss in the outing.

Though the PawSox had scored an insurance run for him after the eighth, Bard’s two-run yield tied the game and ultimately permitted Syracuse to claim a 6-5 walkoff win in 11 innings.

The outing represented something of a reversal, as Bard had delivered four shutout innings with six strikeouts and one walk in his previous two appearances, also out of the bullpen. Overall, he has a 7.36 ERA in five Triple-A games, none longer than two innings, and all but one of which has come from out of the bullpen. Read the rest of this entry »

Jose Iglesias looks to improve upon a weak offensive output in the first half of the season. (AP)

Jose Iglesias is regularly referred to as “the shortstop of the future” for the Red Sox. But the estimated date of his arrival may have shifted.

In only his second professional season since defecting from the Cuban junior national team, Iglesias has struggled at Triple-A Pawtucket. Before suffering a concussion on July 3, Iglesias was hitting .227 with a .275 OBP, .245 slugging mark, .519 OPS, four doubles and 27 RBIs in 248 plate appearances.

No one questions that Iglesias has a stellar glove that can change games. That being the case, it is his offense that will ultimately determine what kind of big league impact the 21-year-old might have in the majors, and when he might be ready to compete at the highest level.

Despite Iglesias’ poor numbers, PawSox hitting coach Chili Davis expects a stronger performance in the second half of the season based on what he saw in the weeks preceding the player’s injury.

Iglesias had just one extra-base hit and five walks in the first two months of the season. In June, Davis suggested, Iglesias showed signs of progress in a month in which he walked five more times while hitting three doubles.

“The difference I saw from the month of May to June and going into this month before he got hurt, was I saw a guy that started trusting his swing more,” Davis said before last Saturday’s game against Buffalo. “He became more confident at the plate. I think he was getting beat a lot in April and early May, getting tied up a lot. He was more of a defensive hitter. I see a kid now who’s ready to become more of an offensive hitter.

“One of the big signs is he’s taking pitches now that he used to swing at. And he’s getting pitches to hit and he’s hitting the ball hard. And he’s not just swinging at the ball, he’s swinging through the ball. He’s trying to hit the ball hard somewhere. So I guess the biggest change I see is just more confidence, more assurance that, you know, he can play here.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Pawtucket Red Sox shortstop Jose Iglesias suffered a concussion in the eighth inning of a July 3 win over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The 21-year-old took an Andrew Brackman fastball off the helmet and fell to the dirt immediately. Now, six days removed from his first-ever concussion, Iglesias is still feeling the effects.

“I feel better,” the 21-year-old prospect said before Saturday night’s game against the Buffalo Bisons. “The swelling is going down. I’m still a little dizzy, but I’m feeling better.”

Added Iglesias: “I’m taking it day-by-day. Whenever I feel better, [when] the headaches and dizziness disappear, I hope after the All-Star break I’ll be ready to get back and start practicing. We’ll see.”

Another player the Red Sox have in their plans, outfielder Ryan Kalish, is also day-to-day, according to manager Arnie Beyeler. Kalish suffered a partial tear in the labrum of his left shoulder in April, and although his recovery from that injury went as planned, he developed stiffness in his neck during rehab.

“He has the good days where he’ll do more the next day, do stuff again the next day,” Beyeler said. “Then he has the bad days. We just kind of wait until he has the good day. So we’re still just kind of kicking around day-to-day.”

In 14 games before being put on the shelf, Kalish was hitting .236 with no home runs and seven RBIs. He hopes to return to the major-league level. Last season, he appeared in 53 games for the Red Sox batting .252 with four home runs and 24 RBIs.

Barring another setback Kalish should return to action fairly soon. Iglesias, on the other hand, can’t even pick up a bat until he’s back to 100 percent.

“He’s getting better every day,” Beyeler said. “With these new rules and things that we have with the concussions, you can’t trust guys until they’re asymptomatic and his head still hurts a little bit and he’s got a little dizziness so we’ve just got to wait for that to go away before we can really progress.”

Added Beyeler: “We can’t even test him until he feels OK. We’re just waiting for him to come in one of these days where he doesn’t have any symptoms. Then we can do some things with him and then if he’s OK the next day, then we can test it and then go from there.”

Hideki Okajima

Reliever Hideki Okajima knew when he signed a one-year deal with the Red Sox this offseason that he was not guaranteed a roster spot. That didn’t make getting sent to Pawtucket to start the season any easier, though. When asked Thursday night how he felt upon being told of the decision, Okajima responded through a translator with a simple “disappointed.”

That said, Okajima recognizes that a call-up to Boston could be right around the corner if he pitches well in Pawtucket, which he has so far. He tossed a perfect inning in the season opener Thursday and followed that up with a one-hit scoreless inning Saturday.

“It’s all about results over here,” Okajima said. “So I’ll do whatever I’m needed to and I’ll do everything that I’m told to do.”

Okajima didn’t produce those results last season, when the former All-Star posted a 4.50 ERA and 1.72 WHIP in 56 appearances. Both of those were easily career worsts. In his first three seasons, he never had an ERA higher than 3.39 or a WHIP higher than 1.26. A poor spring training (5.14 ERA, 1.57 WHIP) didn’t help his cause.

“I just felt that I had lost the battle at that point when I was told,” said the 35-year-old Okajima. “I had been preparing, of course, to start the season up in the majors. So I had been preparing that way, getting my body ready. But since I’ve been told, I’ve had to regroup myself, get myself ready again and start back from [square] one.”

One of the things Okajima said he had been working on was ways to get right-handed batters out. Righties hit an eye-popping .340 off him last season. Okajima said part of the reason for his struggles could be that major league hitters are getting used to his stuff, meaning he needs to make some adjustments.

“I’m sure the opposition has been studying me and the more they see me, the more they get used to me,” Okajima said. “So my plan in preparing for this season, I was studying and developing pitches to attack right-handed batters. I was really looking forward to using that up in the big leagues, but since this happened, I’ll just have to try those out here and hopefully everything goes well and I can make it back up.” Read the rest of this entry »

The Red Sox named the 2011 field staffs for each of their six minor-league teams on Wednesday, an announcement highlighted by the promotion of manager Arnie Beyeler from Double-A Portland to Triple-A Pawtucket.

Beyeler managed the Portland Sea Dogs from 2007-10, posting a record of 282-283. He led the Sea Dogs to consecutive Eastern League playoff appearances in 2007 and 2008. He replaces Tony Lovullo, who joined John Farrell’s staff in Toronto as the first-base coach. Beyeler has managed in the minor leagues for 10 years (seven in the Boston system and three with the Texas organization) with a career record of 642-630.

Pitching coach Rich Sauveur will return to Pawtucket for his fourth season. An announcement regarding who will take over as hitting coach has not been made.

Kevin Boles will replace Beyeler at Portland. Boles managed Single-A Salem last season. Bruce Crabbe, who managed at Short-A Lowell last season, will assume managerial duties for Salem. Billy McMillon will manage Single-A Greenville, Carlos Febles will take over for Crabbe in Lowell and George Lombard will manage the Gulf Coast League squad.

Here is the press release:

BOSTON, MA — The Boston Red Sox today announced the 2011 field staffs for each of their six minor league teams.

The announcement of managers, coaches and athletic trainers was made by Director of Player Development Mike Hazen.

Gulf Coast (Rookie, Gulf Coast League)
Manager: George Lombard — Makes his managerial debut in 2011 after spending the 2010 campaign as hitting coach for Lowell.
Coach: Dave Tomlin — Will serve as a coach after managing the GCL Red Sox over the past five seasons from 2006-2010.
Pitching Coach: Walter Miranda
Hitting Coach: U.L. Washington