Failed Prospects Pt. 16: Will Middlebrooks

To call Will Middlebrooks a bust is probably a little harsh.  He did have a terrific rookie season with the Red Sox, though it was ultimately cut short by injuries, and of course he started late.  I really liked watching Will Middlebrooks, at least when he was hitting.  I was in attendance at a game in Kansas City in which Middlebrooks was the big hitting star.  He hit two home runs and a double.  Each of the home runs was down the line, though one was to left and the other to right.  That performance was hard to forget, even after Middlebrooks's strikeouts were piling up in other years.

Middlebrooks was picked in the fifth round of the 2007 Draft and rose to be Boston's top prospect a few years later.  He showed some big power in 2011, hitting 23 home runs across three levels in the minors and hit .285, though his OBP was pretty low, which was a harbinger of things to come from him.  The 2012 Red Sox were a mess.  Kevin Youkilis was the starting third-baseman but he was struggling and was not getting along with new manager Bobby Valentine.  Boston eventually called up Middlebrooks and Youkilis's days were numbered.  He was eventually traded to the White Sox and Middlebrooks was the new third-baseman.

He had a very good rookie season, hitting .288/.325/.509 with 15 home runs and 54 RBIs in 75 games.  He suffered a wrist injury that ended his season early.  It was clear he had some holes in his swing and was susceptible to striking out, but if he could cut down the strikeouts and increase the walks, he could have been a pretty decent player.  He definitely had power.  He was not a terrific defensive player, but he could get the job done.

After the season, Boston refused to part with Middlebrooks in trade.  He was expected to step in and be the starting third-baseman in 2013.  And he had some good games.  His power was definitely present and he hit three home runs in one game at Toronto.  For the season, he hit a career high 17 home runs, but only drove in 49 and his slash line was an unimpressive .227/.271/.425.  He eventually lost his job to rookie Xander Bogaerts and even spent some time in the minors.  Middlebrooks played in the postseason, but only picked up four hits, including two doubles, in 28 at-bats.  He did not play in the field after a bizarre play in which he was ruled to have interfered with Allen Craig at third base in the bottom of the 9th.  Craig was ruled to have scored the winning run.

The next season, Middlebrooks was again given the opportunity to start the season, though not as much was expected out of him and he was also not given as much opportunity to prove himself.  He ended up playing in just 63 games and he only managed to hit two home runs while hitting .191/.256/.265.  Pablo Sandoval was signed as a free agent after the 2014 season and it was clear Middlebrooks was on his way out.  Boston traded him for Ryan Hanigan, a backup catcher.  Just two seasons after Boston refused to part with him for anyone, Middlebrooks was traded for a backup catcher.

Middlebrooks played in 83 games for the Padres in 2015, but only managed a .212/.241/.361 line with nine home runs.  He was tried out at shortstop, but that was not a good idea.  In 2016, Middlebrooks played in just 10 games with the Brewers.  He was signed as a low-risk free agent by the Rangers earlier this offseason.

For his Red Sox career, Middlebrooks hit .237/.284/.411 with 34 home runs and 122 RBIs.  He is still just 27 years old, but he is running out of time to show that he can be a quality hitter.  The power is real, but he could never make enough contact to make use of it.

Red Sox Lose 3 out of 4 to O's

Well you can't win them all.  It was a rough weekend for Boston as they lost three games against the Orioles.  Sometimes teams just have your number and I guess Baltimore has been pretty tough against the Red Sox lately.

06/13:  Orioles 5 Red Sox 4 (41-27)
Boston managed to come back from down 3-0 and 4-2 to tie it in the seventh then could not come up with another run in the 13 inning game.  The winning run scored off of Alex Wilson on a bloop single with two outs.  The bullpen was impressive, but the offense sputtered.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

NO CARD

ANDREW MILLER:  2 innings, 0 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts.

06/14:  Orioles 2 Red Sox 0 (41-28)

The offense could not come through at all.  Boston only managed three hits, two by Jose Iglesias.  Ryan Dempster pitched very well and deserved better than taking the loss.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

JOSE IGLESIAS:  2 for 4, double

06/15:  Red Sox 5 (42-28) Orioles 4

They finally came through in this game with John Lackey pitching very well and getting offensive contributions from Mike Carp and Jonny Gomes.  They nearly gave it up however when Andrew Bailey struggled but they got out of it due to a baserunning gaffe by Alexi Casilla.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

JONNY GOMES:  2 for 4, home run, 2 runs, RBI

06/16:  Orioles 6 Red Sox 3 (42-19)

And back to losing.  Jon Lester struggled yet again.  He did not walk anyone and struck out eight but gave up five runs in the losing effort.  

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

WILL MIDDLEBROOKS:  1 for 4, home run, 3 RBIs

05/14-05/16: Red Sox Take 2 of 3 from Rays

This may be the way I do these things from now on.  It is just easier to discuss the series as a whole rather than in individual games.

The Red Sox won two out of three games from the Tampa Bay Rays.  It was the first series win the Red Sox have had in the last couple of weeks.

05/14: Rays 5 Red Sox 3 (22-17)
This one started off promisingly with a three run home run from David Ortiz in the first inning.  But that was pretty much it for the offense the rest of the game and John Lackey imploded in the fourth inning, giving up five runs, capped by two runs scoring when Mike Napoli lost the ball in the lights on a pop up.  It was an embarrassing way to lose.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

DAVID ORTIZ:  1 for 4, 3 run home run

05/15: Red Sox 9 (23-17) Rays 2
Game 2 went much better as the Red Sox exploded for eight runs in the third inning thanks to a grand slam by Stephen Drew.  Will Middlebrooks later homered as well.  Jon Lester was very good, giving up only two runs in seven innings with no walks.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

STEPHEN DREW:  2 for 3, 2 runs, grand slam

05/16: Red Sox 4 (24-17) Rays 3
The Red Sox trailed until the ninth inning 3-1.  Then Fernando Rodney was wild, walking the bases loaded.  With two outs, Middlebrooks came up and doubled, driving in three runs to give Boston the lead.  Junichi Tazawa nailed down the ninth inning.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

WILL MIDDLEBROOKS:  1 for 3, 3 run double, walk

04/07 Red Sox (4-2) 13 Blue Jays 0

Big day for the Red Sox today.  Jon Lester took the win after pitching seven strong innings of shutout ball, striking out six and scattering five hits.  He is now 2-0 on the season.  The story of the day though is the offense which clubbed six home runs, three by Will Middlebrooks and one each by Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Napoli, and Daniel Nava.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

WILL MIDDLEBROOKS (4 for 5, 3 home runs, 2B, 4 RBI)

04/04 Yankees 4 Red Sox 2 (2-1)

They had to lose at some point.  I just wish they would have swept the Yankees.  Oh well, this is a better start than each of the last two years when they were expected to contend, so I can't complain too much.

The biggest problem was that the offense seemed incapable of solving Andy Pettitte.  If they had scored in the first on the wild pitch, it may have ended up differently.  Ryan Dempster struck out eight in five innings, but was a little inconsistent.  David Ross threw out two runners trying to steal.  The only extra base hits were a pair of doubles from Jackie Bradley Jr. and Jonny Gomes.  Jose Iglesias put up his third straight multi-hit game.  They need to seriously consider keeping him around if he keeps this up.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

Will Middlebrooks (2 for 4, run, RBI)

Pack Breaks 03/25

Today, between court hearings, I picked up a few packs.  For those that have not picked up on it, I am an attorney, I go to court a lot.

Anyway, I bought three rack packs today, two from 2013 Opening Day and one from 2012 Topps Chrome.  I do not buy a lot of either set, but I am getting to the point that I have most of the stuff from Flagship and Heritage.  I was a little apprehensive about the Chrome, because I was only getting 15 cards.  But for reasons that will become apparent, this was the best buy of the day.

The Opening Day stuff was not terribly impressive, especially since I now have three of several cards, including Mike Trout, which is a good problem to have.  Anyone want a 2013 Opening Day base Mike Trout?  Have any Red Sox from my wantlist?  Let me know.  I did pull some inserts as well.  Here is the breakdown:

Play Hard: Jay Bruce
Mascots: Bernie Brewer
Superstar Celebrations: Mike Olt
Ballpark Fun: Jurickson Profar
Opening Day Stars: Felix Hernandez
Blue Sparkle: Adam Wainwright
Base: Just ask

I did get #41 Dustin Pedroia for my Red Sox collection.

As for Chrome, I had a pretty good break.  The usual base cards, three orange retail refractors, and a regular refractor.  Here is the breakdown:

Refractor: Will Middlebrooks
Orange Refractor: Devin Mesoraco RC, Austin Romine RC, Ryan Howard
Base: Just ask

Obviously the Middlebrooks is the big one.  I am having pretty good luck with Middlebrooks cards in packs.  I have pulled three Middlebrooks parallels, and I only have 14 cards of him so far.  I also got the base Adrian Gonzalez, so two Red Sox, including a refractor, out of 15 cards.  Yep, the Chrome was well worth the money.  This time.

I apologize for the bad scan.

The non-Red Sox are for trade.

More Game Summaries 03/18/13 - 03/20/13

I am getting pretty burned out on Spring Training right now.  I am ready for the season to start.  It certainly does not help that Boston has lost the last three games.

03/18/13
Pirates 4 Red Sox 3
Player of the Game:  Ryan Lavarnway (1 for 3, 2 RBIs).  Lavarnway looks like he could make it onto the Opening Day roster due to the injury to David Ortiz.  I predict that by the end of this season he will be starting catcher somewhere.

03/19/13
Orioles 8 Red Sox 7
After being down 7-0 in the eighth, Boston came roaring back to tie it, only to lose on a home run by former Red Sox Danny Valencia.
Player of the Game:  Will Middlebrooks (2 for 3, double)

03/20/13
Yankees 4 Red Sox 0
Player of the Game:  Jackie Bradley Jr. (2 for 4, double).

Pack Breaks 03/14/2013 and Game Summaries 03/10-03/14

I am going to start posting my latest pack breaks.  I used to do this regularly a while ago, but it's time to keep it up.  I like buying packs and getting good cards out of them  It is very satisfying to get a good Red Sox card, unfortunately it is also very rare.

Today on my way back to my office from Court, I stopped off at Target to try my hand at a blaster of 2013 Heritage.  I like Heritage pretty well because Topps puts in some efforts to put a lot of different players in the set and it is usually the first one featuring players in new uniforms.

Today, I got two Red Sox:
155 Red Sox Sockers featuring Will Middlebrooks and David Ortiz.  This is an homage to the 1964 card with Chuck Schilling and Carl Yastrzemski.

385 Pedro Ciriaco.  This one is my favorite of the two.  There are tons of Ortiz cards and a steadily increasing number of Middlebrooks cards, but I really like cards of lesser-known players.  This is the first Red Sox card of Ciriaco.

I also actually got a jersey card today, something that has become increasingly rare.  Frustratingly it is a Rangers jersey card of Mike Napoli.  Oh if only he had signed his contract with the Red Sox sooner.  Then this might be a Red Sox card.

03/10/2013
Red Sox 6 Rays 2
John Lackey was a little hittable in this one but still got the win.  He could surprise some people this year.

Player of the Game:  David Ross (1 for 3, 3 run home run).

03/11/2013
Marlins 8 Red Sox 7
Boston blew a big lead with Rubby De La Rosa and Chris Carpenter taking beatings.  It outshined a decent offensive day which featured home runs by Mike Carp, Will Middlebrooks, and Jackie Bradley Jr.

Player of the Game:  Jackie Bradley Jr. (3 for 4, run, 2 RBIs, home run, double)

03/12/2013
Red Sox 5 Blue Jays 3
Clay Buchholz is having a nice Spring Training.

Player of the Game:  Clay Buchholz (4 IP, 3 hits, 1 strikeout)

03/14/2013
Red Sox 7 Twins 3
Player of the Game:  Jacoby Ellsbury (2 for 3, 2 runs, RBI, double).

Boxscore: May 7, 2012: Red Sox 11 Royals 5

For my birthday this year, my wife bought tickets to the Red Sox visiting the Royals on May 7.  This was the first game in six years that I been to, luckily it was another big offensive game for the Red Sox.

Felix Doubront took the mound for Boston on this night.  It was one of his big games after a Red Sox loss.  Doubront pitched 6.1 innings scattering seven hits.  He did give up five runs, only three of which were earned as Will Middlebrooks made an error in the game.  He struck out two and walked three.  This was not one of his better games, but it was enough.  Vicente Padilla pitched the rest of the game for a save.  His eephus pitch was used a few times that night.

The offensive hero of the night was Middlebrooks who connected for a three run home run in the first to right field and then a two run home run in the eighth to left.  He also doubled, going 3 for 5 on the night.  Dustin Pedroia hit a two-run home run and David Ortiz hit a solo shot as well.  Ortiz's was deep to center field.

Every Red Sox starter had at least one hit.  Pedroia and Cody Ross doubled, everyone else contributed at least a single.  Mike Aviles, Darnell McDonald, and Kelly Shoppach each had one hit.  Adrian Gonzalez and Marlon Byrd had two, with Gonzalez driving in a run.  Aviles and Pedroia each stole a base.  Nick Punto made it into the game at the end as a defensive replacement.

There was not a lot to say about the Royals offense.  Mike Moustakas doubled, but all of their other hits were singles.