The Legend of Pedro Ciriaco

Full disclosure. Pedro Ciriaco is my favorite player on the team this season. I’ve always liked the journeyman/fringe guy who makes an impact.

This season I’ve come off to others as someone with mixed opinions of this player. A lot of people that I run into at Boston bars love this kid and think he’s a great prospect and the shortstop of the future.  I have to be Debbie Downer and hit them with a reality check. Here’s the thing, he’s not a prospect. Pedro is 26. Sure 26 is young but most 26-year old atheletes are fully developed ball players

In 50 games Ciriaco’s line is .317/.329/.431, which is a good average but a low OBP and he provides no power. He does have 10 stolen bases and hasn’t been caught. On the other hand, Pedro has only walked 3 times while striking out 32. That strikeout rate isn’t exactly what the Red Sox like.

So here’s the question: Can Pedro be the starting shortstop until Xander Bogaerts is ready to emerge?

Now that comes with a lot of “ifs”. For one, Mike Aviles is arbitration eligible next year and I assume he will be back. Secondly, Jose Iglesias is up, most likely for good.

Iglesias is only 22, only hitting .111, and playing a lot of shortstop for the Sox these days. Is he still considered the shortstop of the future? Even if the answer is yes, his bat is still at least a year away.

With Aviles, he’s not helping the team progress. I don’t see him in the big picture. He’s alright, but the Red Sox most likely won’t be competitive next year, if they were I’d prefer Aviles to be a super utility player. If they’re not competitive, I’d try to trade him.

So I’m rambling all over the place. Pedro Ciriaco. Is he a hidden gem? Could he turn into a post prospect sleeper, much like, but nothing like Jose Bautista.

Bautista before 2010 had 6 years of hitting less than 16 home runs each year. He was 29 when he finally burst on to the scene. I am no way saying that Pedro will ever hit even 10 home runs in ta season, I’m just saying that Jose found a way at 29 to take a huge step in his career. Maybe Pedro can learn to take some pitches.

Last year in brief time with the Pirates, Ciriaco hit over .300, as he did in the minors this year. However, before that he hasn’t hit over .300 since A-ball in 2008. Not every player hits over .300 but if you provide no power, you’d better get on base. In Pedro’s 8 seasons in the minors his OBP was .299. UNDER .300! Even Iglesias, a guy we are constantly told can’t hit, has a minor league career OBP of .313.

So let me wrap up this post that is really going nowhere. I LOVE PEDRO. * insert the vote for Pedro jokes here* He’s not a solution though. He’s clearly a player we should root for just not if we hope to win. He’s great to watch in the field and on the bases, but hey, so was Darren Lewis.