At the tender age of 16, pitcher Felix Doubront signed a contract worth $150,000 with the Boston Red Sox — which wasn’t exactly pocket change.
At 21, in November of 2008, the Red Sox placed Doubront on their 40-man roster so they wouldn’t risk losing him in the Rule V Draft.
The latter if not the former should speak volumes about how highly the Red Sox rate this 6-foot-2, 190-pound left-hander — who may not be the second coming of Jon Lester but who eventually could be in the “ballpark” so to speak.
Arguably the best left-hand pitcher in Boston’s farm system, Doubront dominated the Venezuelan Summer League and the Gulf Coast Rookie League as a teenager.
Injuries (including a hernia operation and a staph infection in a leg) set him back in 2007 but he bounced back nicely over the next two seasons.
One stat he’s compiled virtually jumps off the page: In a combined 250 1/3 innings over the last two seasons (he split 2008 between Lancaster and Greenville and pitched exclusively last season for Portland), Doubront struck out 239 batters in 250 1/3 innings.
He’s also exhibited commendable control.
In 2008, for example, he walked a tolerable 52 batters. And last season with the Sea Dogs, he reduced that number to an impressive 28 freebies.
Doubront features a fastball that invariably tops out between 87 and 91 mph and a 79-to-81 mph changeup that has screwball action.
His mid-70s curveball requires a bit more tightening while his slider is considered a proverbial work in progress.
From a “strategic” standpoint, Doubront uses his fastball to set up his curveball. When he has his “A” curveball, it has a sharp break that bears inside on the hands of right-handed batters.
Doubront will use his curveball late in the count to finish off batters after keeping their eye level elevated with his fastball (i.e moving the ball up, down, inside and outside of course is a key to pitching successfully).
Because he pitches in a downhill plane and combines that with a fluid motion plus a deceptive delivery, batters often don’t pick up the ball until it’s too late — which makes his fastball look even faster.
Doubront is modest almost to a fault but, on the mound, he is aggressive, confident and poised. And despite his injuries he’s very agile and fields his position well.
Ironically, Doubront has had his problems against left-handed batters. And like most pitchers who aren’t overpowering, he gets hit when he leaves the ball up in the zone.
But when he hits his spots, pounds the ball down in the zone and gets batters to chase his off-speed pitches he’s extremely effective.
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EXTRA BASES: Through his first eight starts, Doubront was 4-0 with a 2.51 ERA for the Sea Dogs … His 38 strikeouts ranked fifth in the Eastern League …He also had walked 17 in 43 innings pitched.