Searching, Hunting, Hoping for the Next Big Thing

Brandon Workman takes the mound for the Red Sox this afternoon in Oakland. Don’t feel bad if you’re thinking to yourself “who’s that?” This is Workman’s first start for Boston. He pitched two innings of relief for the Sox on July 10 in Seattle. He gave up 4 hits, 3 earned runs, and now owns a staggering 13.5 ERA.

March 24, 2013; Clearwater, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Brandon Workman (95) fist pumps first baseman Mike Napoli (12) after he pitched the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Bright House Networks Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Not to brag or anything, but I saw Workman in person before he was called up. He was pitching for the Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA) when they came to my hometown to play the Rochester Red Wings. He went 6.1 innings and allowed 5 hits, but no earned runs and a nice 5 strike outs. He would have earned the win, but the Red Wings won it with a walk-off single in the 10th inning. (That extra inning delayed the post-game Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra concert and fireworks by about 45 minutes. By the way, is there any better entertainment value than a minor league baseball game?!?)

I don’t know about you, but every time I go to a minor league game, I always hope that I’ll see a player do something speculator and then he’ll get called up and become the next big star and I can say I saw him when he was just a minor leaguer. For example, I saw Darnell MacDonald go 0-3 the day before he got called up to Boston and it a tying HR and a walk-off 2-run double. I was in Fenway when I got to see recent call-up Aaron Bates get his first major league, wait for it, walk. Ok, so that one’s not very exciting. But I keep hoping that someday I’ll get to see something brag-worthy.

When the Paw Sox were playing the Wings I went to two games of the four-games series. I tried to keep my eye on Will Middlebrooks and Xander Bogaerts. Middlebrooks had a nice catch over the dugout and Bogaerts had a few hits. I was hoping that Clay Buchholz would be rehabbing with them at the time, but no such luck.

I’m just going to keep going to minor league games and hope for the best. I’ll be glued to my MLB.TV feed to see how Workman does for the Red Sox in Oakland this afternoon.