A pitching staff full of quality prospects will headline the Portland Sea Dogs roster this season as they prepare for Thursday’s Double-A Eastern League opener in Reading, Pennsylvania, against the Reading Fightin’ Phils.
It will be the Sea Dogs’ 23rd season in Portland.
Five of the six players are considered among the Red Sox’s top 30 prospects by Baseball America are pitchers.
“We’re excited about our pitching staff,” said Sea Dogs assistant general manager/director of media relations Chris Cameron. “We have a good mix of returning players and call-ups from A ball.”
Headlining the pitching staff is left-handed reliever Williams Jerez, the Red Sox’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year last season.
The 23-year-old Jerez was 5-3 with four saves and a 2.54 ERA between Class A teams Greenville and Salem as well as the Sea Dogs. He struck out 86 in 88⅔ innings.
“He’s a good story. He was an outfielder until they converted him into a pitcher in 2014,” Cameron said. “It’s unusual to have a reliever earn pitcher of the year honors, but it shows you how much confidence they have in him.”
He is considered the No. 19 prospect.
Righty Ty Buttrey, 23, is regarded the No. 18 prospect after going 9-10 with a 3.92 ERA for Salem and Greenville last year. His 103 strikeouts were third most in the system. He threw 137⅔ innings.
Teddy Stankiewicz (5-11, 4.01) and Kevin McAvoy (11-9, 3.89), both 22, were the 20th and 21st prospects and were teammates in Salem.
Lefty reliever Luis Ysla, who was obtained in a trade with San Francisco, is the No. 25 prospect after striking out 101 in 84⅔ innings for two Class A teams.
In addition, the Sea Dogs will have Aaron Wilkerson on the hill, and he was 4-1 with a 2.66 ERA in seven starts with Portland. His 3.10 ERA in duty with three teams was the lowest among Red Sox minor leaguers with at least 75 innings pitched. He led the organization in strikeouts with 137.
The Red Sox also plucked Rob Wort out of independent baseball after he was 11-3 with a 1.79 ERA and 94 strikeouts and 65⅓ innings for Sioux City.
“They think he can have some success at this level,” said Cameron.
Second baseman Wendell Rijo is the top prospect on the Sea Dogs roster at No. 15 after he hit .260 with six home runs, 47 RBIs and 15 stolen bases in 22 attempts for Salem. He is the youngest Sea Dog at age 20.
Another Sea Dog with noteworthy potential will be 26-year-old Jantzen Witte, a corner infielder who was the starting third basemen in the Eastern League All-Star game at Hadlock Field. He had a league-leading 25 doubles in 85 games along with four homers, 48 RBIs and a solid .283 average before a broken wrist sidelined him for the second half.
Versatile Mike Miller can play second, short and third and hit .273 for the Sea Dogs and .219 in 74 games for Triple-A Pawtucket.
Catcher Tim Roberson (.300 batting average) is the top returning hitter off last year’s Sea Dogs team. Injuries limited him to 57 games.
The Sea Dogs will have a new manager in Carlos Febles, who spent the previous two years with the Salem Red Sox.
They also have made a series of improvements to Hadlock Field including a reconfiguration of the concession stands, which will enable fans to get fried foods such as french fries in the same line as they would get other food products such as hamburgers and hot dogs.
“Every year, we try to add something to help enhance the fans’ experience,” said Cameron. “One of the biggest complaints we heard was fans had to stand in two separate lines [one to get burgers and another to get fries].
There also will be 12 lines instead of just four.
In addition, they have replaced all the seats in the picnic area, the sky view section, the upper box and the general admission areas.
Cameron added that the field is in “excellent shape” thanks to the lack of snow this winter and the schedule is favorable because the Sea Dogs don’t play their home opener until Thursday, April 14 against the Hartford Yard Goats. That gives them more time to prepare for the opener and a better chance of avoiding low temperatures.