The Pawtucket Red Sox hosted their 36th annual Hot Stove League Party Saturday.
By SETH LAKSO
PAWTUCKET – Several of Boston’s top prospects were on hand Saturday afternoon for the 36th annual Pawtucket Red Sox Hot Stove League Party at McCoy Stadium.
Among those prospects were outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. and pitcher Allen Webster. The duo have become a big part of an increasingly strong Red Sox farm system, especially up the middle.
Bradley, ranked by Baseball America as the No. 2 prospect in the Red Sox system (behind shortstop Xander Bogaerts), fielded questions from young fans as he signed autographs.
“Mr. Bradley, what’s your favorite kind of pitch to hit?” asked a young boy.
“The one that comes right down the middle of the plate,” Bradley replied, grinning.
The 22-year-old flourished in his first professional season last year, hitting .315 and posting an eye-popping .430 on-base percentage while spending time in Salem and Portland. He also racked up 24 stolen bases and drew 87 walks in 575 plate appearances.
Things haven’t slowed down much for Bradley, who was honored with the 2012 Red Sox Greg Montalbano award (given to the player who made the greatest impact in the minor leagues) at the Boston Baseball Writers’ dinner on Thursday.
“It’s been pretty busy,” said Bradley, who has continued to attend the University of South Carolina and needs just nine more credits to graduate with a degree in retail management. “I’ve been dealing with school. I just got engaged, and I’ve just been bouncing up to Boston with the strength camps and the rookie programs. But it’s been pretty fun though. I enjoy moving around a little bit.”
One look at Bradley patrolling center field and it becomes clear that he means it when he says he enjoys moving around. For all his talent at the plate, Bradley’s glove and ability to track down fly balls may be his greatest asset.
“It came kind of natural,” he said of his defensive skill. “But everything you do you’ve got to work at it. I just kind of honed it in, refined some of it and tried to make it one of the best things I can do. A lot of people say I glide to the ball.
“I’ve had a lot of fun so far,” Bradley added. “I plan on having a lot more fun in the future.”
While Bradley has raced through the Red Sox system, Allen Webster spent much of the past year simply acclimating to a new organization.
“It’s been a ride, I’ll tell you that,” said Webster, who came to the Red Sox in the trade that sent Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto to the Los Angeles Dodgers late last season. “I’ve had to start completely fresh.”
Webster, who stands 6-foot-3, was ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the Dodgers’ organization and 95th in all of baseball, according to Baseball America.
However, Webster, 22 – who finished last season with a combined record of 6-9, with a 3.86 ERA and 129 strikeouts in 130.2 innings pitched – does his best to avoid reading too much into prospect rankings.
“I haven’t paid any attention to it,” he said. “You can be happy when you see it, but you’ve got to go out there and perform. If you don’t do that you won’t be on the list anymore.”
What Webster has paid attention to this offseason is improving his control after issuing a career-high 61 walks last season.
“I’ve got to be more consistent with my delivery, with fastball command,” said the North Carolina native. “I don’t want to walk as many people this season. That’s my main flaw right now. I’ve got to do that in order to get moved up, that’s my main goal.”
During the Red Sox Rookie Career Development Program held earlier this month, Celtics coach Doc Rivers passed on a bit of advice to Bradley that also applies to Webster.
“Doc told me, ‘You come in as a rookie and your role might not be what you want it to be, but you just need to be accepting of it and go with it,’” Bradley said. “‘The good thing is that your role can change at any point, so just keep working hard until you feel like you’ve been able to make a contribution and be a team player.’”
For Bradley and Webster, that’s the plan.