Salem and Greenville
Single-A baseball, where dreams of being in the show begin. Currently, the Red Sox have some exciting prospects in both Salem and Greenville. The 1st round pick in last year’s draft made his first start the other night for Greenville. For Jason Groome, it was a start to forget.
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Groome is starting his first full professional season of baseball, and the sky is the limit for this 18 year-old kid. Unfortunately, his first start was not a good one. In just 1.1 innings pitched, Groome gave up 9 earned runs. Yes, that is correct. 9 earned runs. Clearly, this is only one start, so let’s not overreact. There is still a whole season left for Groome. But, this should be a sign for some people who were very high on him.
I’m not saying that I think Groome will be a bad pitcher, but some need to temper expectations on when he will be in Boston. Personally, Groome needs to work on the changeup that he started throwing his senior year of high school. Also, he will need at least 2.5 full seasons of minor league work before he will be MLB-ready.
But someone who could shoot up the minor league rankings is Groome’s teammate in Greenville. Bobby Dalbec, the 3rd round pick of last year’s draft, started off the season strong. A hero in the College World Series last year with Arizona, he showcased his bat and arm. Dalbec was able to hit over .300 while also being a reliable pitcher in that tournament.
Bobby Dalbec is a third baseman for the Drive, and has showcased his ability to hit professional pitchers. He is hitting .348 in 23 at-bats, and has driven in a couple runs. Obviously, if Devers pans out, Dalbec will be blocked at third. But, if he can keep hitting the ball well, and advancing throughout the minors over the next year and a half, there is a chance he could compete with Devers for the third baseman job in the future.