See the Future

Gaff & I had a chance to see the Portland Sea Dogs play the Manchester Fisher Cats yesterday. Portland is loaded with talent. Mookie Betts hit the ball on the nose 3 times, but got only 1 hit out of it. Mookie is still learning the outfield, but his speed makes up for any mis-routes to the ball. He made a strong & accurate throw to 3rd. Deven Marrero is a little bigger in size than Mookie & he is very smooth at SS. He had a good approach at the plate & took a few balls to the right side. Blake Swihart is a power-hitting catcher who was the DH yesterday. He hit a 2-run homer to break a 3-3 tie. We didn't see Henry Owens, who pitched a gem on Friday, or Travis Shaw, a hard hitting 1B/3B. Knuckleballer Steven Wright sailed through 5 innings, but he was touched up for a homer. Lots & lots of talent in Portland. I said to Gaff that we may see some of these kids when we go to a Sox game in late August. If the big team continues to play below .500 until the trading deadline, you could see a fire sale of sorts & young guys play the last month for spots on the 2015 roster.