Jacob Ellsbury...

[DarrylS]

Love this kid, looks like a baby, great instincts for the game, pencil him in for Center Field in '08, for some reason do not want to rush him, that's a baseball thing.. maybe this will finally be Theo's legacy, developing some home grown talent.. like him Pedroia, Del Carmen, Gabbard... with a ton being developed on the farm Lester, Bucholz and Bowdin. Just wish they would find an heir apparent to Varitek.

 

[Fixit]

I get the feeling that everyone will love that kid. He flat-out created the game-winning run by himself. That run from second was awesome..no hesitation whatsoever.

 

[Stokes]

He's definitely exciting to watch, that kind of speed is so valuable, as far as getting infield hits, base stealing, ruining a pitcher's concentration when at 1st, running down balls in the outfield, etc. One thing though his first name I believe is Jacoby not Jacob.

 

[mtbykr]

small sample size so far...but i like what i see!

 

[Fixit]

Now if we can just convert Hinske to a shortstop...

 

[DarrylS]

He's definitely exciting to watch, that kind of speed is so valuable, as far as getting infield hits, base stealing, ruining a pitcher's concentration when at 1st, running down balls in the outfield, etc. One thing though his first name I believe is Jacoby not Jacob.

Thanks for the name correction...

 

[TomBrady'sGoat]

You misspelled Jacoby, Delcarmen, Buchholz, and Bowden. I'm not trying to be a spelling nazi, but it's tough to take your knowledge of the minors seriously with so many basic mistakes.

It's been three games, and he has hit two balls out of the infield. He'll get fewer infield singles as infielders familiarize themselves with him. His ability to work the count will always be there, but unless he develops some power (he currently has none) he'll be a limited player and pitchers will have no reason to not pitch to him (though Ichiro still draws walks so you can't assume the wisdom of pitchers).

As things currently stand his speed and defense are valuable, but we shouldn't get carried away. Let's see how he develops.

 

[Boston Boxer]

You misspelled Jacoby, Delcarmen, Buchholz, and Bowden. I'm not trying to be a spelling nazi, but it's tough to take your knowledge of the minors seriously with so many basic mistakes.

It's been three games, and he has hit two balls out of the infield. He'll get fewer infield singles as infielders familiarize themselves with him. His ability to work the count will always be there, but unless he develops some power (he currently has none) he'll be a limited player and pitchers will have no reason to not pitch to him (though Ichiro still draws walks so you can't assume the wisdom of pitchers).

As things currently stand his speed and defense are valuable, but we shouldn't get carried away. Let's see how he develops.

What the heck are you doing...this is a Ellsbury bandwagon thread. Damn you

I love this guys energy and think he will be a great player for us someday.

 

[Stokes]

What the heck are you doing...this is a Ellsbury bandwagon thread. Damn you

I love this guys energy and think he will be a great player for us someday.

Exactly, logic has no place here, only rampant homerism! No really though, he doesn't have homerun power, but he was tagging the ball pretty good in spring training and in the minors, looks to be more than just an infield single kind of guy.

 

[Foley]

I'd really like to be happy about this because I think that Ellsbury is going to be a very good player in the near future, but everything has to go right for this to have been a good idea. If he does not stay up and succeeds as the fulltime CF than this was a mistake to bring him up.

Assuming this is a permanent move and Crisp will be traded in the coming weeks, than they're putting an awful lot of pressure on a kid to be a fulltime CF on a likely playoff team. Considering his sub-par AAA stats (.277BA .707OPS), expecting him to be anything more than average right now at the big league level is unreasonable. On the other hand if this is just a call-up and Ellsbury will be sent down sometime in the near future than this counts as an option year for him. If that is the case than the FO wasted a full year of protection on him so he can fill in for Crisp for a few days, and he will reach Free Agency a year earlier than he should have.

Obviously the Red Sox have a scouting staff and I do not, but I really think that he needs more time to develop in AAA. Hopefully their scouts are right and he plays some great baseball for them this year, since anything short of that will make this a very bad move.

 

[DarrylS]

You misspelled Jacoby, Delcarmen, Buchholz, and Bowden. I'm not trying to be a spelling nazi, but it's tough to take your knowledge of the minors seriously with so many basic mistakes.

Never claimed to have a lot of knowledge on the minors, it is what it is, some very good prospects that are home grown.. thanks for the spellcheck.. still like Ellsbury a whole bunch though.

 

[Patti37]

I don't think Ellsbury is up permanently. He will be back down in Pawtucket playing everyday if not by the all-star break but soon thereafter. They wanted this kid to develop. To do that he needs to play everyday. The Red Sox have a history of not rushing young kids...be that good or bad. Has Drew Henson's pitching suffered because he was rushed last year? Did we miss out on the potential of Hanley Ramirez because he was kept in the minors too long? (The trade of Ramirez for Beckett is still brillant especially when you look at Sanchez on the DL and the contributions of Lowell.)

Wily Mo has suffered because he cannot be sent to the minors. He needed/needs to play every day if he is going to develop his potential. Obviously, Wily Mo is never going to make it in the big leagues because he doesn't play every day.

 

[Stokes]

He got sent down to Pawtucket last night or this morning. I think he did a really nice job while he was up here, but I completely agree with him being sent back down. He needs the at bats/everyday playing time he'll get at AAA. It would hurt his development to keep him up here as the 4th outfielder. We'll be seeing him again in September!

 

[SWelker]

He should be the 4th outfielder if we are in the playoffs, no doubt about it. Having WMP on a playoff roster is a waste of space. Ellsbury does everything you need from a 4th outfielder, and having him included in a postseason run will be huge for us, he does many of the same things Dave Roberts did for us in 2004, except he can hit better than Roberts.