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.”

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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

BOSTON – There’s something funny about top Red Sox prospect Lars Anderson.

At 6-foot-4, the 21-year-old first baseman certainly has an intimidating presence on the field. He hovers over home plate, instantly shrinking the catcher and umpire behind him, and any given pitch thrown his way could easily fall victim to his fluid swing and powerful slugging ability. Anderson’s size and frame have been compared to that of Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, but if anything he looks like Dirk Nowitzki up there (give or take about six inches). He takes a strictly business approach to the game as evident from his unyielding work ethic and the results it produces.

Anderson isn't your typical ballplayer.

“He’s a diligent worker who has impressed the organization with his intelligence and maturity,” according to Baseball America, which ranked Anderson first among all Red Sox prospects entering the season.

Up close, however, the highly touted minor leaguer almost seems like a giddy teenager: cheerful, starry-eyed, and simply grateful to be doing what he loves most.

In an odd turn of events, Anderson has seemingly paradoxical character traits: a no-nonsense approach to the game coupled with a happy-go-lucky attitude. He’s youthful but serious, confident yet unassuming, powerful but personable – a gentle giant, if you will. Sure, he could effortlessly launch a ball to right field with sheer force and velocity, but he could also flash you an ear-to-ear childish grin reminiscent of a little kid opening presents on his birthday.

“As a player, that guy does some things that not a lot of people could do,” says Ryan Kalish, the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs centerfielder and Anderson’s longtime teammate and friend. “As a person, he’s just different from everyone else in a great way. He’s got that California bro-dude attitude.”

Anderson typically spares the media from his ‘bros’ and ‘dudes,’ but he is almost always a pleasant subject for interviews.

“He’s one of those guys who could strike out five times in a game and still have a huge smile on his face,” says one Sea Dogs official.

The guy doesn’t assume a new persona simply because there’s a camera or microphone in his face. In fact, he answers reporters candidly, often giving off-the-cuff remarks that are both pithy and clever – like something a charmingly wise-cracking teenager might say.

When asked what he thinks he could improve upon most in the minors, Anderson answered: “Everything.”

When asked what his ideal timetable was for getting to the majors, he said: “When I’m ready.”

This year marks the first year that Anderson would have been draft eligible had he gone to college rather than made the leap to the majors straight out of high school. But when he was asked whether he’s ever “missed” the college experience, Anderson simply replied: “I don’t know how I’d miss it if I never did it.”

Kalish says Anderson is usually “pretty sarcastic,” which is often reflected in his sometimes humorous and offbeat interviews.

“The way he talks to the media, that’s just his style and he likes to have fun with it,” Kalish says.

Baseball skills aside, Anderson transcends his fellow teammates and opponents with his off-field persona. Like Yogi Berra, Shaquille O’Neal, and Rickey Henderson before him, Anderson is a sportsman who entertains with both his athletic ability and his personality.

The young slugger is already widely known to Red Sox fans, and is a big hit at that. During Saturday’s annual “Futures at Fenway” game, Anderson clearly received the loudest ovation of any player at Fenway, both before and during the game. (He subsequently left the game during the fifth inning with an apparent injury to his left hamstring.)

“He’s a guy who’s getting a lot of attention this year, so he’s not just someone coming up that nobody knows anything about anymore,” said Portland Manager Arnie Beyeler.

Anderson has struggled so far this season, hitting a mere .243 with eight homers and 49 RBIs. But it’s also his first full year in Double-A since being promoted mid-way through the 2008 season.

Mostly it’s inconsistency at the plate that has really dogged Anderson this season. In April and June the lefty hit .293 and .298 respectively, whereas his average dipped to .194 and .231 in May and July, respectively. Not to mention he failed to hit a single home run in the month of July – a significant marker of a slump for a prospect known for his power.

“In May I had some physical issues that were a little inhibiting, but in July I just kind of lost trust in my abilities and I got away from my strengths,” Anderson says. “But it’s good to know that and make adjustments.”

There’s a lot of pressure that comes with being the cream of the Red Sox minor league system’s crop. Not only does the team have high hopes for their oversized slugger, but he’s become a prominent name in the greater baseball community as well. Baseball America Executive Editor Jim Callis – one of the more renowned voices when it comes to scouting prospects – ranked Anderson thirteenth among all minor leaguers entering the year, while ESPN’s Keith Law put him at number seven.

In the words of Law: “Anderson is the best of a fairly deep class of first base prospects in the minors right now, separating himself by his relative youth and advanced approach.”

Not too shabby for a guy only three years removed from high school.

Still, the praise and hype doesn’t much faze Anderson. In typical fashion, he’s too nonchalant to get over-excited about a few good ratings and the distinguished honor of being named one of the best young players in the minors.

“It’s a pretty arbitrary and subjective thing,” he says. “I don’t know who’s making those lists but there are a lot of other guys who are pretty good, too.”

Although he’s still young, Anderson appears made for the big leagues. He has the skills to thrive on the field, but more importantly he has the attitude to succeed off of it. Though at times odd and quirky, Lars Anderson possesses qualities typical of a great athlete: a steadfast work ethic, fun-loving with everyone he meets, and humble about his much-heralded success. There is a star quality about Anderson that has convinced his teammates, coaches, and friends that he’s going to make it – it’s just a matter of time.