Outfielder Keury De La Cruz (Darrell Snow / Greenville Drive)

Keury De La Cruz has never been prominently mentioned as a Red Sox prospect. He signed for just $120,000 out of the Dominican as a 17-year-old in early 2009, having been passed over as a 16-year-old the previous summer. But his performance to date in the Sox system — particularly in a 2012 season that has represented a breakout seasonto date — has served as a reminder of the unpredictable nature of the market for Latin American amateurs, for whom multi-million dollar bonuses have been anything but a guarantee of success, while far more modest bonuses have netted quality big leaguers.

The Sox scouted De La Cruz a number of times before signing him in Feb. 2009. Despite a 5-foot-11 frame and a lack of strength at the time, the Sox were impressed by a swing that suggested projectable power once he filled out.

“He wasn’t strong then, but he had natural loft and showed the ability to drive the ball. He just didn’t have muscle behind it to make it go anywhere,” said Sox international scouting director Eddie Romero. “[Former Sox international scouting director Craig Shipley] said, ‘You can project power on this guy. He was right.”

That is certainly proving the case this year. On Friday, De La Cruz continued his phenomenal season in Single-A Greenville, going 3-for-5 with a double and triple to improve his line for the season to .329/.374/.579/.953. The left-handed hitter continued to do damage against southpaws (all three Power pitchers were left-handers), improving to .347/.439/.612/1.051 against them. His .579 slugging percentage is the third best among the organization’s minor leaguers, behind only Will Middlebrooks and Mauro Gomez (counting only the minor league stats for both). He has seven homers, nine doubles and four triples, averaging better than one extra-base hit for every two games.

His strong performance this year is impressive enough in its own right, but it is even more significant in that it demonstrates a prospect who endured struggles, learned from them and went on a mission to get better as a results of those lessons. De La Cruz, a strong performer in both the Dominican Summer League in 2009 and the Rookie Level Gulf Coast League in 2010, struggled in 2011 against more advanced pitching in a New York-Penn League that is loaded with college arms making their professional debuts. His numbers weren’t disastrous, but his line of .263/.292/.390/.682 was hardly head-turning.

But he used that experience as the basis for improvement.

“He didn’t look at it as a bad season. Usually, players look at the numbers and say, ‘I stunk.’ But he said, I didn’t hit what I wanted to and didn’t hit as many homers as I wanted to, but I learned a lot,” said Romero. “He went in with his old approach and realized it wasn’t working and that he needed to work on it in the offseason.”

That work has yielded a greater commitment to driving the ball to all fields and hitting the ball where it’s pitched. With positive results in that regard has come greater confidence and a more consistent approach in the box.

“When he was younger, he liked to tinker,” said Romero. “Now, he’s kind of focused on one, and he’s seeing the results.”

The results have been eye-opening for a player described as a hard-nosed gamer who plays the game with a positive intensity. De La Cruz did not enter the year with a prominent place on anyone’s prospect radar — he fell outside Baseball America’s top 30 prospects in the organization, for instance — but he is quickly making a case to move up quickly, at a time when his performance at a relatively young age (20) suggests that he could emerge one day as an everyday big-league corner outfielder.

TRIPLE-A PAWTUCKET RED SOX: 6-5 LOSS AT DURHAM

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– In his first game at third base on his rehab assignment, Kevin Youkilis went 1-for-3 with a single and two strikeouts. Defensively, he had three assists (starting one double play turn) and caught a pop-up. Read the rest of this entry »

Garin Cecchini delivered a walkoff double on Wednesday (Darrell Snow / Greenville Drive)

In all likelihood, Gavin Cecchini will not be a member of the Red Sox. The highly regarded shortstop is a near lock to be off the board by the time the Red Sox have a chance to make their first first-round selection at No. 24 overall.

Of course, the fact that the Red Sox have another Cecchini — third baseman Garin Cecchini — in their system required a special confluence of circumstances. Garin Cecchini entered 2010 as one of the most highly regarded amateur prospects around. On a Team USA squad in 2009 that featured Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, there was a case to be made that Cecchini outperformed both, going 8-for-24 while leading the team in OBP (.529) and slugging (.708).

But he blew out his ACL before his senior year, and so with medical questions surrounding a player who was content to go to college at LSU if his first-round price tag wasn’t met, he slipped in the draft. He was there for the taking in the fourth round, and the Sox were thrilled to get an extremely advanced high school hitter with a significant offensive ceiling.

Cecchini has been slowed by injuries — because of the ACL repair, he was unable to play in games after the Sox signed him for a $1.31 million bonus in 2010, and last year, after a strong showing at Lowell, his season ended after just a month when he suffered a hairline fracture after being drilled on the wrist by a fastball — but when on the field, he has looked like everything that the Sox thought they were getting.

On Wednesday, he delivered a two-run, walkoff double with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, turning a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 victory. It was Cecchini’s second hit of the game, giving him six multi-hit games in his last nine contests, a stretch in which he is hitting .385/.442/.641/1.083. For the year, Cecchini is now hitting .301/.367/.434/.800. Cecchini’s numbers against right-handers are particularly impressive this year, as he’s hitting .344/.402/.527/.929 against them, with 14 of his 15 extra-base hits coming against righties. In his last 27 games, Cecchini is hitting .349/.408/.495/.904, looking very much like the advanced player who was named the second best prospect in the New York-Penn League last summer.

TRIPLE-A PAWTUCKET RED SOX: 5-4 WIN AT DURHAM (RAYS)

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– Kevin Youkilis, serving as the designated hitter in the first game of his rehab assignment, drew a six-pitch walk, fouled off a pair of 2-2 pitches before flying to deep right in his second plate appearance and then doubled off the glove of the Durham third baseman to finish his day 1-for-2 with a double and walk in his three plate appearances. Youkilis is slated to be back in the PawSox lineup while playing third base on Thursday, a game in which Daisuke Matsuzaka will be on the hill. Read the rest of this entry »

Lars Anderson had a big day against left-handed pitchers. (AP)

The members of the Triple-A Pawtucket lineup had an interesting barometer of sorts in the form of a 240-game winner.

Left-hander Andy Pettitte was on the hill for Scranton Wilkes-Barre on Sunday, and while it would be a mistake to read too much into one outing as the 39-year-old continues to work his way back into big league shape, it was notable to see what the PawSox did against him. Pettitte allowed five runs (three earned) on eight hits in five innings. While Pettitte told reporters that his command wasn’t as sharp as it needs to be and that he’s having a difficult time maintaining the necessary start-to-start focus in the minor league setting, from the vantage point of members of the PawSox lineup, there is also something to be said for enjoying success against one of the best pitchers of the last baseball generation.

Lars Anderson, Jose Iglesias and Ryan Lavarnway all had notable performances for the PawSox, while further down, left-handers Drake Britton and Henry Owens both had, in their own ways, dominant performances, and in Greenville, outfielder Keury De La Cruz continued one of the most interesting performances by a relatively unheralded Sox prospect at the start of this season.

TRIPLE-A PAWTUCKET RED SOX: 7-5 WIN AT SCRANTON WILKES-BARRE (YANKEES)

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– Jose Iglesias very well may be amidst the best offensive stretch of his career. He doesn’t need to hit for power to be a very good major league shortstop. He simply needs to spray line drives around the field, deliver the occasional double, take the occasional walk and get on base at a respectable rate. Right now, he’s doing that.

On Sunday, Iglesias had his fifth straight multi-hit game, getting a single (a comebacker) and a walk before flying out to right in three plate appearances against Andy Pettitte, and later adding a single on a line drive to right. In his last five games, Iglesias is now 10-for-18 (.556) with a double, a triple and three walks. He is reaching base at a .619 clip in that span. In the process, he’s elevated his average (.253) and OBP (.330) to roughly league average numbers in the Triple-A International League, where the average batting average is .250 and OBP is .330. His power (.293) remains deficient (league average is .379), but the Red Sox would gladly take a shortstop with average on-base skills, below-average power and outrageous, game-changing defensive skills.

Prior to this stretch, Iglesias had never before had multiple hits in more than three straight games (a stretch that came in May 2011 in Pawtucket). Right now, his results suggest someone who is developing an approach at the plate that has him closer than ever to being ready to break through into the major leagues. There is more development in front of him, of course, and there is benefit to having the shortstop further solidify the offensive gains that he’s making. And the likelihood is that even with the progress he’s shown, there will be a transitional period of struggle whenever Iglesias does reach the big leagues.

That said, for perhaps the first time in his Triple-A career, Iglesias has been performing at a level that suggests that he is not overmatched by the advanced pitching that he is facing and, on the contrary, that he is capable of being on the other side of the development curve, even against a pitcher of considerable profile such as Pettitte.

– Lars Anderson also had a strong day against Pettitte and fellow left-hander Juan Cedeno. He collected two hits in as many plate appearances against Pettitte (a single to right, a double to center) and later added a double to left against Cedeno. That performance made Anderson’s season against southpaws look dramatically different. He is now hitting .292/.379/.375/.754 against lefties, and the doubles were his first two extra-base hits in 29 plate appearances against lefties.

Anderson has had two doubles in each of the last two games, going 5-for-10 and improving his season-long totals to .274/.353/.438/.791. Though he has just one homer so far this year, he does have 10 extra-base hits in 19 games. Read the rest of this entry »

Jose iglesias hit the ground running in his return to Triple-A. (AP)

Jose Iglesias did not appear in either of the two games for which he was summoned to the majors, and so with Will Middlebrooks now up in place of Kevin Youkilis, the Red Sox moved swiftly to option him back to Pawtucket so that he could return to the lineup on Thursday. The result was one of the better stat lines of Iglesias’ professional career. He went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks, matching a career high (achieved four times in 2010 with Double-A Portland, and never before in Triple-A) by reaching base four times.

It is interesting to note that Iglesias, who endured periods of trying to pull the ball in the past, seems more comfortable than ever going up the middle and to the opposite field. His singles (one a line drive to right, one a grounder to second) both were to the right side of the field, while his out was on a ball hit to center. During the spring, the most notable aspect of his game was that he was driving the ball to center in a way that made center fielders have to go back on the ball.

All of that is consistent with Red Sox farm director Ben Crockett‘s claim that Iglesias is showing an approach that was not properly reflected by his numbers. After Friday, he is hitting .216/.300/.227/.527.

One caveat in Iglesias’ day: Toledo starter Casey Crosby issued seven walks, so there was a bit of a chicken-and-egg question with regards to Iglesias’ patience on Thursday.

TRIPLE-A PAWTUCKET RED SOX: 6-4 LOSS AT TOLEDO (DETROIT)

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– Back in Triple-A, Junichi Tazawa submitted a dominant outing. He retired all seven batters he faced, striking out five and getting two on groundouts. Between Triple-A and the majors, Tazawa now has 10 appearances this year (five with the Red Sox, five with the PawSox) and has yet to allow a run. He’s struck out 18 and walked two in 15 2/3 innings between the two levels. Read the rest of this entry »

Right-hander Matt Barnes was promoted to Salem on Monday. (John Corneau / Lowell Spinners)

On Sunday, for the first time, Matt Barnes gave up a run as a professional. It took five starts and it was not until his 27th inning of work that it occurred, but it happened.

The right-hander permitted three hits (all singles), walked none and struck out eight in 5 2/3 innings against Lakewood. (Josh Norris, who covers the Trenton Thunder, chronicled all eight strikeouts with video here.) However, the lone run that he permitted was hardly the sort of thing to convince the Single-A South Atlantic League that the 2011 first-round pick is stumbling. It came in the sixth inning, when Barnes allowed a leadoff single and then came back to punch out the next hitter and get a force out before being lifted when he reached his pitch limit. The first run allowed by Barnes, then, was via an inherited runner (on first base with two outs) who came around to score against a member of the bullpen.

The betrayal by his bullpen notwithstanding, Barnes was once again dominant, as he has been in every outing he has made this year. In his five starts, he has allowed no more than three hits, no more than one run and he has struck out at least seven batters each time he has taken the mound. The UConn product now has a 2-0 record, 0.34 ERA, 42 strikeouts and four walks in 26 2/3 innings. Opponents are hitting .130 against him. He leads the South Atlantic League in virtually every pitching category, and he set a Greenville Drive record for the most consecutive shutout innings (26 2/3) before finally being charged with a run.

And so, it came as little surprise that Barnes was promoted on Monday from Greenville to High-A Salem. He is moving up the ladder a bit faster than some other notable Sox pitching prospects in their first pro seasons, most notably Casey Kelly (9) and Anthony Ranaudo (10), but there simply wasn’t much left to prove for a pitcher who was dominating opponents with a mid-90s fastball, swing-and-miss curve and a change that he had incorporated with increasing frequency. Now, the 21-year-old right-hander will compete against more advanced hitters in the Carolina League, a league that is more laden with top draftees out of college.

There, perhaps Barnes will be tested in a way that he was not while with Greenville. It is the first of what the Red Sox hope will be many promotions to come.

TRIPLE-A PAWTUCKET RED SOX: 3-2 LOSS AT COLUMBUS (INDIANS)

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– There was immense buzz and promise surrounding Jose Iglesias all spring, and with good reason. His defense, of course, was dazzling, but he also showed intriguing progress at the plate. He was squaring up balls (fastballs, to be sure) with greater authority than he’d shown before, in part because he was showing better-than-ever pitch selection.

Coming off a challenging 2011 season in Triple-A Pawtucket in which Iglesias hit .235/.285/.269/.554 as a 21-year-old, this seemed like a fresh start. But in the season’s first month — admittedly, a time when players struggle for any number of reasons, including the colder weather after spring training — it hasn’t quite played out that way. Read the rest of this entry »

Ryan Lavarnway is finding his power stroke. (AP)

On a day when the Orioles claimed Luis Exposito off waivers from the Red Sox, the organization underscored the creation of depth at the catching position that allowed it to let go of a catcher in its upper levels. In the near-term, Ryan Lavarnway looms as one of the top prospects in the system, one of the best hitters in the farm system who has worked to the point where his ability to handle the position defensively is no longer viewed as an uncertainty. Further down the pipeline, 2011 first-rounder Blake Swihart has the potential to emerge as an above-average offensive and defensive catcher. Both hit home runs on Tuesday, with Lavarnway clubbing his second in as many days and Swihart blasting the first of his pro career, offering reminders that an area that once seemed like a weakness in the Sox system appears increasingly like a strength.

TRIPLE-A PAWTUCKET: 1-0 WIN AT SYRACUSE (NATIONALS)

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– Lavarnway hit his homer in the top of the ninth inning to break a scoreless tie. Beyond his second homer in as many days, it is worth taking stock of his usage as the Sox work to put the finishing touches on his development. For most of his career, the Sox had Lavarnway split time behind the plate with another catcher, whether Tim Federowicz in Greenville, Salem or Portland, or Exposito in Portland and Pawtucket. This year, Lavarnway has been an everyday catcher, working behind the plate in 11 of his 12 contests this year. That everyday deployment, in turn, rendered Exposito expendable.

– Eleven games into the season, Jose Iglesias is still looking for his first extra-base hit of the season.

– Right-hander Justin Germano tossed seven shutout innings, and the strike-throwing right-hander now has nine strikeouts and no walks in three starts this year en route to a 2.12 ERA. His outing on Tuesday came in the same park where he tossed a perfect game last July 26 while playing for the Indians’ Triple-A affiliate.

DOUBLE-A PORTLAND SEA DOGS: 6-3 LOSS VS. NEW BRITAIN (TWINS)

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– Outfielder Juan Carlos Linares showed no ill effects of the hamstring cramp that forced him out of Sunday’s game and led him to be held out of Monday’s contest, going 1-for-4 with a single to extend his hitting streak to eight games. He is hitting .400/.471/.667/1.137 this year. While Linares has put himself in a position where the Red Sox would be more than comfortable moving him up to Pawtucket if a regular playing opportunity is available, farm director Ben Crockett suggested that there is value to his playing time in Double-A, particularly given how quickly the competition becomes familiar in the Eastern League.

“Certainly, it’s been an impressive start. We’re very happy with that. Given the right opportunity, we’d consider moving him up,” said Crockett. “But I certainly don’t look at these as wasteful or unchallenged at-bats, particularly in a smaller league like the Eastern League where I do think guys make adjustments pretty quickly on hitters. That in and itself will be a challenge for Linares if he’s down there for a little more time, but he’s certainly on the radar for the move up to Pawtucket.” Read the rest of this entry »

In the days leading up to the draft, the Red Sox wrestled with the decision. They were well aware that Blake Swihart, a switch-hitting high school catcher out of New Mexico, would be one of the most difficult signings they could take. They recognized that the 19-year-old had spent much of his life anticipating a college career at the University of Texas, and that he had the closet filled with Longhorns gear to prove it.

And so, in the days leading up to the draft, front office members mulled the pivotal question. If he was still available with the No. 26 pick, would they rather draft Swihart and risk being unable to sign him, or would they rather go for a safer signability bet only to find out that Swihart had indeed been signable when another team locked him up?

Ultimately, those in the draft room felt that they could sleep at night if they selected a player whom they coveted and proved unable to sign him. On the other hand, they would have been dogged by regret had they passed on Swihart for another player whom they did not like as much only to see him begin a professional career for another team.

The Sox’ decision to draft him was informed by a workout that the catcher had in front of team officials. One Saturday this season in New Mexico, he played in a doubleheader, catching in the first game and then playing shortstop in the second. Everything about his game was impressive — his arm and footwork behind the plate, his swings from both sides of the plate, even his defensive comfort in the infield that suggested tremendous athleticism that would make him a prospect at positions other than catcher.

But the most important component of that scouting day may have come after the games. The two Sox evaluators on hand were hoping to work out Swihart. His high school field was unavailable, and so Swihart was happy to hop in a car, drive about 45 minutes to another high school and conduct the workout. Again, the performance was impressive — he showed a tremendous approach and bat control, especially while batting right-handed (his natural side).

The Sox saw a switch-hitting catcher with the chance to emerge as a .300 hitter with 15 or more homers a season and above-average defense. Such a package suggested a potential All-Star, the sort of player who could give the Sox the kind of production that few teams receive from a position that is typified by pitiful offense.

But in some ways, that was not the most significant aspect of the day. The fact that Swihart had been willing to make the haul across New Mexico — after playing for roughly six hours in two games — told the Sox that he hadn’t closed the door to turning pro.

The team knew that Swihart would have to “be convinced” — likely by briefcases filled with owner John Henry‘s cash — but the team felt that other teams’ conclusion that Swihart was virtually unsignable was not entirely accurate. He was not, the Sox felt, in the same class as outfielder Josh Bell, a player who had signaled to teams that there was essentially no amount of money that could convince him to sign.

Ultimately, the Sox were right. Swihart signed for $2.5 million, a bonus figure first reported by Mike Andrews of SoxProspects.com and Keith Law of ESPN.com. It is the largest bonus given out by the Sox to a high school position player under GM Theo Epstein. Of course, if Swihart fulfills the Sox’ projections of him, that sum could end up seeming like a relative pittance. For now, it was enough to get Swihart to pass on his college career at Texas and to turn pro.