2002 Trenton Thunder

From SoSH

2002 Trenton Thunder Season Ending Report

TRENTON THUNDER (BOSTON) 63-77 .450 Tied for 5th in the Division (last) Tied for 9th out of 12 Teams in the League

The THUNDER was 41-48 before the ALL-STAR Break and 22-29 after. They lost their last 7 games of the season while going 14-17 in August/Sept. They finished 12-15 in July. Trenton was 13-15 in June, went 10-18 in May and 13-12 in April. 38-32 at Home // 25-45 on the Road

Trenton was 5th in Team Batting (.262) The Thunder finished 9th in the League in HR's (97) Trenton was 11th in Team ERA (4.73) The Thunder Staff finished 2nd in StrikeOuts

• Thunder Press Release

Unfortunately the Opening Day Roster of 23 players contained the following players:
*Catchers - Kelly Ramos, Andrew Larned, Mike Rose
*Starting 1B - Tom Hage
*Starting 3B - Andy Morales
Those 5 players were so completely incapable of competing at AA Level that they were all Waived right out of Organized Baseball by May 5th. They were a disgrace to be wearing a uniform in the Eastern League.

Eventual Retirements by failed Red Sox prospects Aaron Capista (voluntarily quit the game) and Mark Fischer (non-voluntarily released) further thinned an Opening Day Roster that was by far the worst in the 8 year History of Sox minor leaguers in Trenton.

In addition to the limited prospects in the upper minors, the overwhelming changes in the Boston front office certainly wreaked havoc with the basic responsibility of the Player Development Dept to put together a competent Roster in AA.
The usual work of weeding out the misfits and picking up spare parts during the last weeks of Spring Camps was delayed about 5 weeks until the start of May and that clearly showed on the field.

Remarkably the Thunder with absolutely no offensive production whatsoever, stayed alive with some excellent Starting Pitching rotation performances in April {Song-A.Martinez-Hancock-Elmore-Pineda} but by late May, the wheels (aka bullpen) completely fell off the Staff which spiraled downward for most of the Summer.
Through almost 2 months of the Season, the pathetic Terry Hill-led bullpen had allowed an astounding 76% of inherited Runners to score. That's just an incredibly defeating situation to a Pitching Staff's morale.

IMO, despite all of the other obstacles & talent deficiencies, the atrocious BULLPEN was the #1 Reason that Trenton's season went sour in the first half.
They did overcome most of the other problems but the bullpen was simply killing this Team day after day.
The overall Roster management was simply lousy in the 2nd half of the season but no one would have cared as much if Asst Farm Director Ben Cherington had just found a way to upgrade the bullpen. With just a competent bullpen, the Thunder should have been in 1st place the day Freddy Sanchez & Wilton Veras were promoted in July.



Following that particular game, former Major Leaguer John Ambrose quit Baseball. The 27yr old Pitcher walked off the mound and quit the Thunder that night in total disgust to his contribution to the cesspool known as the Trenton Bullpen.

Meanwhile the Thunder Offense that was non-existent over the first 5 weeks morphed into one of the best Offenses in the the Eastern League as they began to pound the ball.
Shortstop Freddy Sanchez, fresh from a visit to the Sox Psychologist, took Steve Braun's advice as he started on an incredible 27 game Hitting Streak and a 41 game On-Base Streak showing amazing patience at the plate.
Wilton Veras began hitting the ball for high average after his demotion from Pawtucket.
Lead-off hitter Tom Sergio turned around a weak April into .333 28 RBI hot streak over 27 games.
Newcomer fatso Andy Dominique hit .352 in the month of June and provided additional power to team that lacked a real Slugger on it's Roster.
Inconsistent Tonayne Brown set a new Trenton Record for triples by leading the League with 9.
Carlos Leon returned after missing most of 2001 and provided speed, defense & some timely hitting for the infield.

The final turning point of the Season began on Monday July 15th when the 45-48 surging Thunder riding a 4 game winning streak welcomed the slumping 49-42 Norwich Yanks to town. Before the series began, the heart of the offense, Sanchez & Veras recieved well-deserved promotions to Pawtucket while the spiraling Norwich team recieved AAA vet Shortstop Erik Almonte to bolster their Team's run for a championship.

Replacements took days to name for the Thunder and the team was forced to play short-handed as it crumbled to pieces. Further loss of Seung Song to a trade continued to weaken the limited talent pool on the Roster.

Despite some excellent individual efforts by Kevin Youkilis, Josh Hancock & Chris Elmore in July & August, the Thunder as a Team showed virtually no life after Sanchez/Veras left while winning only 18 of the final 47 games as the stumbled from 3rd place to Last in their Division.

===POSITIONAL PLAYERS===

Kevin Youkilis - About 10 days after Sanchez/Veras left, Youkilis was promoted from Sarasota. Kevin almost immediately took his game up a notch as he welcomed Pitchers who could throw better strikes to him. His 31bb/18so ratio continues to show his commitment toward plate patience. He is a zealot toward that approach and when the AA Pitchers grew intent on forcing strikes, Youkilis slammed them at a .344/.462obp/.500slg pace over 160 AB's. He slugged 5 HR's & 10 doubles in his 5 weeks in Trenton exhibiting his growing Power as better pitchers come in to him.
His Defense at 3B is still under debate but it might be better gaged if he is just stationary in one League for more then 60 days. The guy has probably played on more infields then any other pro player in the last 15 mos. (4 different levels)
He has wide shoulders and big forearms and its easy to envision more muscle on his frame as he tones up. He has a unique Bagwellian stance but has so far avoided any tendency to pull more pitches that might increase his HR ability.

*Freddy Sanchez - The June,2000 Draft pick worked his way to Trenton by late July of 2001 out-performing his critics along the way. But he took his game to the next level in 2002 at Trenton by increasing his plate patience, his base-stealing ability and working out at 2B more to compliment his versatility. Sanchez hit .328/.403 OBP/.437 Slg including 28 doubles in only 311 AB's. Freddy was 19-22 in Base-stealing attempts.
The best thing spoken about Freddy is his uncanny ability to make the players around him better through his baseball intelligence & hustling leadership. That idea was put to the test when Freddy left Trenton and the club immediately sputtered and never regained it's footing the rest of the Season.
Freddy Sanchez will challenge for the 2B job in Boston next year and the best thing you can do is doubt him...because he will thrive on that.

*Justin Sherrod - I am not one of his boosters but he is a fringe prospect who may surprise (creatine may be needed) in the next year or so. He was a SAL All-Star in 2001 but was too old for that league.
The 2000 Draft Pick (19th Round) turns 25 in January and is barely an average outfielder defensively. He hit .255/.343 obp/.453slg with 9 HRs before breaking a bone in his wrist in June. He does get extra points for hustle which is the the common skill of many mediocre players.
I expect him to be part of the OF/DH/1B mix at Portland next Spring. But if can't get to Pawtucket quickly, you can leave him in the discount bin marked down in price.

*Carlos Leon - I admired the hustle of failing prospect Aaron Capista but even Capista saw the writing on the wall when a more skilled Leon returned from injuries to take the 2B position away. It's the way you want your Farm System to work. A better player forces a less skilled player off the Team....thinning of the herd. Leon hit as high as .290 but cooled all the way down to .279 with a 27bb/31so ratio. His .353 OBP actually exceeded his weak .347 SLG% as the middle infielder exhibited almost No pop in his bat. He did lead the Team in sacrafice hits.
He turned a decent double play but his error (17) total was way too high for a player who has only an average offensive skills.
Leon just turned 23 and I expect him to return to the SS-2B mix in Portland next April with an eye towards Pawtucket. However, If he stalls, he will be run over by the Hanley Ramirez express locomotive or the less imposing duo of K.Perez/M.Dorta....thinning the herd once again.

*Andy Dominique - fat,drunk & stupid is no way to go through life, Andy. The money they wasted on flying him to the AFL Camp probably allows the Red Sox to consider him part of the DH/3rd Catcher at Portland if they don't find anyone else.
He is an awful defensive 1B. He batted .271/.347obp/.402 but 8 of his 9 HR's were in May & June.

*Tom Sergio - 27yr old former College All-American 2B and former 2B Prospect with the Rangers. Sergio was basically a DH all year with some OF play. His season started in an absolutely horrid slump for the first 2 weeks of April when he could not buy a hit but then he began slamming the ball throughout the Summer with a an average over .295 most of the way. He ended up leading the Team in HR's (14) & RBIs (75) which was not that great a feat until you consider he is 5'8 guy who made his name in College and in Texas system as an \"Eckstein-type\" player with a high OBP%. Sergio destroyed the AA pitching from April 20th through July but he again slumped in August to finish at .272/.345obp/.429slg.
If he is brought back to the Sox System, I expect him in Pawtucket batting #1 or #2 in the Order as a DH and also hopefully getting some defensives reps at ANY position on the field. He is a professional Hitter and nuts & bolts guy on a Baseball Team. (His body is morphing into a bald-headed bulldog.)

*Tonayne Brown - I guess I am one of the lone members of his fan club. Overall, T.Brown put up a .265/.319obp/.426slg which was stronger OPS then his prior year but his batting average dropped 25 points from .290 he hit in 2001 at Trenton. He led the Eastern League in triples with a Trenton Team record of 9. The one area that I thought was encouraging was he started to hit more line drives and ground balls as the season went on which allows him to use his speed more. T.Brown still has splits favoring his ability to hit LHP but not as nearly as solid as 2001 when he crushed LHP at a .376 clip.
He played a death-defying CF again as he covers a solid amount of ground but continues to risk his health too much as he piled up nagging injuries to his shoulders and arms diving for balls.
I hope to see T.Brown get a shot to play in the 2003 Pawtucket OF but I'm not sure the Sox Farm management people are that high on him although Mgr. Ron Johnson was his biggest booster.

*Anton French - Former Braves/Cardinals Prospect from the mid-90's. But there is an obvious reason he isn't a prospect anymore, he has speed to burn, but can't hit enough or walk enough to use it. .247/.297/.353 in only 85 AB's at Trenton.
I think we might see the 28yr old on the Portland Roster in Spring because Ron Johnson loves \"speed\" and this guy can fly. In only 20 games with Trenton, he attempted 19 steals and was succesful 13 times. The amazing part is he was only on base around 28 times so EVERYBODY knew he was running almost every single time. (He hit .353 with 48 steals in only 2.5 mos playing in the Western League Independent Ball before coming to Trenton.) A poor man's Jeff Stone...wait a minute, I think Stone was a pretty impoverished fellow himself so that might be a bad analogy.

*Wilton Veras - He slapped the ball silly in Trenton while putting up an unexpected .336/.390 OBP/.491SLG while playing solid defense at 3B to earn a starting Position in the AA All-Star Game. He showed zero power at Pawtucket in both of his 2002 appearances there.
Bottom Line: This means almost nothing to the Red Sox who no longer have room to let him matriculate at 3B since Youkilis will be at Pawtucket. Veras turns 25 in January and he will probably be playing for the Astros AAA Team in the Spring. (hello Jimy!)

*Steve Lomasney - Didn't get demoted to Trenton until May but he easily led the Eastern League in STRIKE OUTS. .210/8/56 He can't see out of one eye. He guesses at pitches and can still crush a ball if he guesses correctly. Played decent defense at Catcher but had lapses back there as well.
Positives: He was better a Catcher then Kelly Ramos (ugh) and Lomasney has a knockout girlfriend that dominated one of the COMCAST telecasts.
He won't be back in 2003 because he can't hit AAA pitching anymore and Shoppach is our AA Catcher. Lomasney is just a journeyman minor league catcher with a bad eye now....so its time for him to take a journey elsewhere...bye-bye!

*Justin Headley - journeyman outfielder who had average season at .268/11/56 but these guys are a dime a dozen. Cherington made a positive comment about his usefulness after one trip to Trenton. Maybe we see him back at Portland as a 27yr old OF/1B but I hope they can do better then that in grabbing a vet Bat for the SeaDogs.

*Dan Mooney - back-up catcher who can't hit his weight. .113/0/4
But He was above average at gunning down runners and he got some positive kudos from both Mgr Johnson & some of the Pitchers for how he handled them.
Why should he be considered for Portland? Backing up a major prospect like Shoppach in 2003 will be a thankless job with only minimum appearances and Mooney has already caught some of the returning pitchers. You want 3 more reasons to bring back an invisible non-prospect...Ramos, Rose, & Larned. The state of acceptable back-up Catchers in the minors is a complete disaster, IMO.
If we got someone from Sarasota or maybe Carlos Aleman to back-up Shoppach then that's a better idea, otherwise stick Mooney there.

*Jerry Salzano - (.252/11/66 + 19sb) Time to retire as a Player unless the Yanks want him to play for his Hometown Trenton Team again. (Based on the age of Yanks AA team this year, he might fit in.) Gritty kid, short on talent and getting too old to hang around. Salzano was announced as the team's \"Fan Favorite\" during the last Homestand.
\"I loved playing in front of my family and friends and I thoroughly loved everything about this place - from the front office to the facilities to the people that came out every night to support us. For me every homestand was like a vacation.\" Better call the Yanks to extend that vacation.

===PITCHERS===

*Seung Song - The #1 Prospect coming into the Season posted high Strike-out totals but had an annoying mental block that caused him to break down in the 5th or 6th Innings of the vast majority of Starts. He showed his ability to be dominating at times but could not sustain it for 7 Innings of ball. The Sox front office traded him in the Cliff Floyd deal and after he pitched a 5 shut-out innings for Harrisburg, his arm was shut-down for a shoulder strain.

*Anastacio Martinez - Was Jekyl & Hyde for part of the season and even was E.L.Pitcher of the Week in May, but when all was said & done, this year was a complete failure for Martinez (5-12 5.31) who deteriorated into a pitcher with zero confidence by July/August.
The RHP will turn 24 this Winter and was involved in the Dominican age-gate scandal. He can hit 93mph, but he has a good change-up and curve. He tried to power too much as the year went on and got destroyed all summer long. His control was awful as he led the entire League in Walks with 75bb/127so in 139 IP which was twice the number of walks he allowed in Sarasota in 2001.
Desperately seeking his confidence, they will probably give him another shot at AA-Portland in the Rotation because they have the room for an experienced pitcher and Martinez still had people shaking their heads about his ability even if it was only a few innings each Start. If he starts slow, he'll be cut lose by mid-season for a younger pitcher behind him.

*Josh Hancock - (3-4 3.61 18bb/69so in 84.2 IP) He was good in April, began to struggle badly in May and then got a linedrive to the face to break his jaw. He went to Florida for a month and came back refocused and in great shape. On July 3rd, he pitched an impressive lights-out relief performance on his return to Trenton. He re-entered the Rotation where he was solid in 2 Starts as he got promoted to Pawtucket on July 24th where he posted a 4-2 record. Made a couple of solid appearances including a Start in Boston after September call-up.
His 94mph fastball had great control in Trenton but walked too many batters in Pawtucket. I had the chance to sit next to him and Elmore for an entire game. He is very cocky and loose kid who will talk anyone's ear off. Maybe that's why I still see him as a relief pitcher who isn't afraid to challenge some hitters.
After a wild appearance for Pawtucket, Hancock commented: \"My problem lately,\" said Hancock, \"is that I self-destruct and try to get too aggressive. I try to throw 100-mph fastballs.\"
2003-Hancock will be on the Pawtucket Rotation or a longshot for Boston bullpen.

*Chris Elmore - After failing badly in 3 PawSox Starts in early April, Elmore compiled an 8-2 record and 2.34 ERA in 14 games (13 starts) for the Thunder this year.
The 2000 Draft Pick was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week for the week ending May 5 after he won two complete games. He got tendinitis in mid-May and after returning on June 28th, he went 6-1 2.59 until being promoted back to Pawtucket in mid-August. He has a 'wicked' cuveball and he owned LH batters for 2 seasons at Trenton.

• 2002 Trenton - OPP BA .242 Only 1 HR allowed

I see Elmore as a posible LH specialist in the bullpen. The night I sat next to him at Trenton, he was the direct opposite personality of loudmouth Hancock. Quiet, cerebral type. Shouldn't all crafty LHP be former Dean's List students like Elmore was an UNC? 2003-Pawtucket Rotation or longshot to be LH Specialist. He has a big stike against him because Gammons liked him...ouch! (duh Peter, he was drafted!!) "Montalbano and undrafted fellow lefty Chris Elmore could be in Boston by August."-Gammons Feb,2001

• Isauro Pineda - (9-13 5.65) Probably the most durable arm in the Farm System this year. This guy threw one hell of a lot of Pitches when you consider he pitched 156 Innings and many of them unfortunately went on for 8 to 10 batters...ouch!

He actually won EL Pitcher of Week once and he had some stretches where he was brilliant for 5 to 6 innings. This 23yr old Mexican kid should be back in Portland despite his lousy numbers simply because he can give them lots of Innings. I'd like to see them put him in the bullpen where his 'funky' change-ups & screwball may keep hitters off-balance from his 92/93mph fastball. He has a quick-pitch style that some hitters find very annoying. But when he gets in a bad groove, he needs to learn to slow down, take a minute, and start a new approach. When Izzy is pitching in a good grove, it's actually enjoyable to watch him pitch and outwit the batters....if only he could sustain that groove.

"The whole thing about Izzy is getting ahead on the count. The only time he gets hurt is when he gets behind." explained Manager Johnson, "He's got life on his fastball, and an oustanding change-up. Pitch selection is the key."

• Greg Montalbano - On the Disabled List all year following shoulder (rotator cuff?) problems. 2001 RSox Minor League Pitcher of the Year must stage a come back to put his name back on the list of pitchers that Sox are depending on for depth. The 25yr old LHP will get a chance to Pitch in Portland if he shows he is healthy in the Spring.

I really don't have much of an idea how healthy he is at this moment following some surgery last May/June?

• Jorge de la Rosa - The 20yr old Mexican came up late in the year to take another crack at AA Hitters. (1-2 5.50 in 4 Starts) De La Rosa was a FSL All-Star and pitched in the Futures Game in July.

After a late season game in which he pitched 7IP/5H/1ER for Trenton, Jorge commented: "I feel good about this first win. It was kind of different here this year compared to last year. I am more mature and have more control of my pitches. I needed to work on having more confidence in my stuff."

Coach Griffin offered: "I thought he had all three pitches (fastball, curveball and changeup) tonight," pitching coach Mike Griffin said. "The big thing that really impressed me tonight was when they got some runners on, (De La Rosa) stayed together and got the double plays. To me, that was the key. He got them, and I couldn't be more pleased. The kid did a good job."

SoSH's PhillySox in attendance: "Who ever has worked with de la Rosa in Instructional League, spring training and in Sarasota has done a really remarkable job. He looked nothing like the sloppy wild kid rushed to the Trenton bullpen last year. His delevery was much smoother. His demeanor and body language were much calmer and more poised. The move away from firing fastballs as hard as you can for a couple innings to actually pitching looked like a pretty smashing success tonight. I don't where they came from - he didn't have them last year - but he threw a ton of good change ups and pretty good breaking balls either for called strikes or swinging strikes."

• Terry Hill (6-5 5.96) AND Corey Spencer (2-4 5.59)

- Both of these pitchers are the epitome of pure Evil. They have no redeeming value as Pitchers in affiliated Baseball at all. Just pray they both aren't pitching for the Lynn Spirit next year for those of you in Boston area. Hill possessed an ERA well over 7 for almost 3/4 of the season before a late season surge brought it slightly under 6.00. That does NOT include the huge amount of inherited runners who he allowed to score as Hill stuck it to the poor Trenton Starters regularly. Spencer led the League in allowing walk-off HR's and actually argued publicly with Ron Johnson to let him be the Closer while his ERA was over 13.0.

External Sources

• Stats from the Baseball Cube