After a few lean years, the Boston farm system seems to be producing some future stars. Felix Doubront, Will Middlebrooks, and Daniel Nava have come out of nowhere this season to produce what appears to be a fine crop of rookies.
It’s been five years- 2007- since there has been a really good group. That World Series season saw the debuts of Daisuke Matsuzaka, Dustin Pedroia, Clay Buchholz, and Jacoby Ellsbury. Combined with Jonathan Papelbon, who came up in 05 and Jon Lester the following year, it seemed like the Sox were set to be a playoff team for a while.
Unfortunately, in the next few years, the system produced little. Three examples are Justin Masterson, Jed Lowrie, and Michael Bowden. Masterson was average at best before being traded to Cleveland in a deal involving Victor Martinez. Lowrie proved injury-prone and was sent to Houston for Mark Melancon. Bowden never seemed to develop and went to the Cubs earlier this season for Marlon Byrd. The situation was made worse by unproductive free agent signings such as John Lackey, JD Drew, and (so far) Carl Crawford.
It may be early to tout Middlebrooks, Doubront, or Nava for Rookies of the Year. As of Monday, however, Nava was hitting .303 with 10 doubles and 18 rbi’s with a .444 on base percentage. Middlebrooks was at ,340 with 6 homers and 22 ribbies. Both have played very well in the field. But the biggest surprise seems to be Doubront, who has emerged as perhaps to top Sox hurler with a 6-2 mark, 25 walks and 66 strikeouts and a 3.75 ERA, the last two leading the starting staff.
Whether these players will continue to shine is not certain. However, successful rookies add a lot to the excitement surrounding the team and its fans. The Sox certainly need some.
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