I realized something this week… it’s the end of May and I haven’t been to Hadlock Field for a Sea Dogs game since Opening Day. I feel shame. To try and make up for lacking as a fan, I thought I’d give you all a little update on what’s going on up here in Portland.

We’re almost two months into the 2012 season and the Sea Dogs aren’t looking so hot. At 22-31, they’re second to last place in the Eastern League standings and a steep 9.5 games out of first place. It’s starting to look like they might have a repeat of last season where they finished 59-83.

When I sat down with EVP/GM Geoff Iacuessa in late March, his 2012 roster had yet to be named and wasn’t expected until early April. He knew he would probably be losing half his roster.

 

“It’s usually about half, maybe a little more than half the guys that were here last year, that finished up here will return,” Geoff said. “But you just never know. It’s tough to know year to year what happens at spring training. Sometimes guys do well and get up, and sometimes guys that weren’t on the radar for Portland have really good springs and start here.”

Before the interview, I had decided on my top two Sea Dogs prospects for 2012 — right fielder Bryce Brentz and right handed pitcher Anthony Ranaudo. Geoff agreed with me saying he was excited to see them in Portland. The two players couldn’t have had more different seasons to date.

On one hand, Bryce Brentz has been solid in the Sea Dogs line up. Coming off a strong stint in single A in 2011, he’s continued to be a consistent force in Portland. He’s currently batting .306 with six home runs and a team-leading 57 hits. Brentz has also gone 5 for 5 twice this season. Pretty impressive… Ryan Sweeney and Cody Ross better watch their backs!

And then there’s Anthony Ranaudo who’s had a rough start to his career in AA. He began the season in extended spring training with a mild groin injury and didn’t pitch in Portland until May 15th. The 6’7″ righty has not been good. Ranaudo has started three games and is 0-1 with a 7.36 ERA in 14.2 innings. He’s allowed 12 earned runs on nine hits — three of those hits were home runs. And it doesn’t help when you have more walks (13) than strike outs (10). Appears Mr. Ranaudo has some work to do in Portland.

The Red Sox have been big on player development in recent years and it would only make sense that when the big club is suffering from so many injuries, it creates a domino effect down through the farm system as each level struggles to field a competitive team. All I know is that no matter what the Sea Dogs record is, it’s always a blast and I need to get my sorry ass to another game soon!

Bryce Brentz swinging for the fences.

That’s the thing about Spring Training games, they can end in a tie. I’m having a hard tie accepting that the teams didn’t duke it out until someone scored another run. Ties are so anticlimactic. But the Blue Jays ran out of players… poor planning if you ask me.

Justin Germano, a former reliever for the Cleveland Indians, started for the Sox in an effort to make the roster — competing for a spot as the fifth starter. But Justin says he isn’t picky about his position with the team and is willing to help out where ever he’s needed. He helped his own cause by throwing two strong innings, allowing just one hit.

All in all it was a pretty uneventful game — at least from what I could tell from reading the the recaps. I have this annoying thing called a job which keeps me from enjoying afternoon match ups so I have to rely on the interwebs to keep me updated. I really need MLB.TV. Or a nice big flat screen in my office. Aaaaaand I don’t see that happening.

The real story of this game was 23-year-old Bryce Brentz who played just one inning but smacked a hard single to center in his only at bat. After a dismal first season in Lowell in 2010 batting under .200 with a paltry .598 OPS, he turned things around in his time split between Greenville and Salem in 2011. With a few adjustments, he was able to impressively increase his OPS to a stunning 1.061 in Greenville, and .868 in Salem — combining for 30 home runs. I realize it’s doubtful that Brentz will make the show this season, but I think I’m most excited about his chances of moving up to Double A and spending this season with the Portland Sea Dogs. I’d love to get a chance to see him play. And smack a few over the Maine Monstah!

Bobby Valentine gave the kid some props (I think) when he said, “The ball just leaves his bat a little different. I can tell you that.”

I’m still not sure if this is a compliment but it sure sounded like one. He was even lucky enough to get some advice from Big Papi. “Keep your eyes up because you’ll learn something new every day.” Who knew Ortiz was such a source of wisdom to the young players. Could he emerge as the leader this clubhouse so badly needs this season?

In other news, Jon Lester didn’t make the trip to play the Blue Jays but did pitch 2 2/3 scoreless innings in a B game 4-1 win over the Twins. Yay!

Next up today: a trip to Jupiter to take on the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals at 1:05pm.