Robert Coello: The One Man Battery.

Catcher-turned-pitcher Robert Coello made his Triple-A debut with the Pawtucket Red Sox on April 19, 2009 against Lehigh Valley. Coello blanked the Iron Pigs for 1 1/3 innings and then was sent to Class-A Salem where he was 5-3 with two saves, a 2.05 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 66 innings. Looking back on Coello’s debut with Pawtucket, one thought stuck in the mind of pitching coach Rich Sauveur. “If you had asked me a year ago after he pitched that one inning, I would have said ‘Good luck. I hope you have a good education,’” related Sauveur. “But the strides he’s made in the last year are outstanding. “He very much wants to learn this game of pitching. Ask me now and I’d say the kid has an opportunity because he throws strikes and he’s got velocity on his fastball. He gets a lot of swings and misses with his fastball. “I’m very hopeful this kid will stay here,” added Sauveur, “and help our team win.” During his first three outings (one start and two relief appearances) with the PawSox, the 25-year-old right-hander has given every indication he’ll do exactly that – since he was 1-0 with a 0.73 ERA, replete with only five hits plus 19 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings. In retrospect, those stats are a microcosm of his performance with Portland, where he began the season.

BoSox AFL Update

With the conclusion of every major league season comes the beginning of the second season of “minor” leagues in baseball – the Winter Leagues. This 2009 off-season, the Sox have placed 17 promising prospects across four leagues, including some of the most exciting names in the organization, such as Casey Kelly, Ryan Kalish, Jose Iglesias, and Yamiaco Navarro. The Winter Leagues are one of the more interesting annual rituals of the MLB, aside from maybe the Rule 5 Draft, as every team in baseball pours their most highly touted prospects into one pool where they duke it out for organizational supremacy.