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| (Photo By Kelly O'Connor) |
We've all been pre-occupied with a set of Red Sox prospects that have since become household names—
Xander Bogaerts,
Jackie Bradley, Jr.,
Mookie Betts. Some of us can even cite the exploits of
Garin Cecchini,
Henry Owens and
Anthony Ranaudo. But we bet there's one kid you know almost
nothing about—a guy some even compare to
Dustin Pedroia. He is 5'8"
Sean Coyle—the second baseman of the
AA Portland Sea Dogs. With the promotion of
Mookie Betts, Coyle will be the organizational replacement at the All-Star Futures Game in a week or so. Why? Well, the 22-year old is hitting .355 this year—with an on-base percentage of .437, a slugging percentage of .602 and a 1.039 OPS. Add on 9 HRs, 12 stolen bases and 38 RBIs in just 53 games and you have a prospect that is opening a
lot of eyes. He still strikes out too much (22.9% this year so far), but his batting average on balls he puts in play is a robust .445. He suffers from the same problem as Betts—
Pedroia Block—but is a good enough athlete that he can adapt (maybe at 3B). Keep an eye out for Sean Coyle!
