Sox dynamo prospect Michael Bowden was touched up last night in his AAA debut for the PawSox. In 4 innings of work, Bowden surrendered 3 earned on 7 hits (5 doubles) and struck out 4. He did not walk a batter. Michael seemed tentative, as the Clippers got to him early, scoring 2 in the first, and added another in the 2nd. Bowden began his AAA career by allowing three straight base hits, before striking out Columbus’ cleanup hitter Yurendell de Caster, who has homered 6 times off righties this year. The big righty ended up settling into the game in the 3rd and 4th, but gave up a long double to start the 5th, and thats when he got the hook.

Old friend Calvin ‘Pokey’ Reese started at second for the Clippers. He went 1-3 with a sac bunt that led to a run, kind of like the pass that leads to the assist. Pokey raised his average to a scorching .154 in AAA, granted its only 26 ABs.

Bowden toes the rubber again on Saturday, July 26 vs. Toledo, whom the first place PawSox recently split a series in Rhode Island against. Toledo as a team leads the International League with 147 homers on the season, but Toledo’s home field is statistically a pitchers park, allowing league lows in HR’s. The Mud Hens are led by Mike Hessman, who has jacked 30 bombs this year, ranking third in all of the minors this year. Gametime is @ 7:05 EST. See you there, prospect stalkers!

Throughout the 2008 season, Sox pitching prospect Michael Bowden has received much acclaim for what he’s put together. In Double A Portland, Bowden has compiled a 9-4 record with a 2.33 ERA. He has shown stellar command of his pitches and has only allowed 5 HR in 104 innings of work.

As of yesterday, Bowden will head to Pawtucket, RI, as the Red Sox organization promoted the 21-year-old Illinois native to Triple A. Now gracing a PawSox jersey, Bowden’s road to Fenway Park is quickly approaching.

A 2005 first round pick, Michael Bowden, quirky delivery and all, is confident he has what it takes to help contribute to the Red Sox one day. Here’s a snippet of a Baseball America interview with Bowden before the 2007 season.

BA: Sandy Koufax was as dominant as anyone in history, but had a relatively short career. Ferguson Jenkins had a much longer career, but while he was very good, was nowhere near as brilliant. Which of their careers would you rather have?

MB: That’s a tough question. I always want to be the best, so I kind of want to say Koufax. I want to play for a long time, though, so I’d take a career like Jenkins’s. I want to be winning games in the big leagues for as many years as possible.

SoxProspects.com goes on to say, “Bowden is said to be a workaholic and just loves to pitch - another player who just lives and dies for baseball. Very athletic.”

Take a look at Bowden’s more in-depth profile by clicking here.

Hopefully, with a little more development and experience, Bowden will be on the hill for the Red Sox sometime in the near future.

Ever since John Henry, Tom Werner, and Larry Lucchino came to Boston, Fenway Fans have been virtually spoiled. Behind this trio we’ve witnessed a new Fenway Park that consists of Monster seats, Budweiser Roof Seats in right, Conigliaro’s Corner, and the Coca Cola Party Deck, just to name a few. To top it off we’ve seen 2 World Series championships in 4 years after an 86-year drought of a championship. But what has really undergone construction is the player development system. These days we can attest to the creation of a dominant minor league system producing players like Kevin Youkilis, Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Jon Lester, Jonathan Papelbon, pretty good bunch don’t you agree? Add Clay Buchholz, Manny Delcarmen, and Craig Hansen to the mix and this is why we’ve been seeing a recipe of success. Did I forget to mention Hanley Ramirez was once our prized prospect? His talent is unreal but you have to look at it realistically, if we never traded Hanley to Florida for Mikey Lowell and Josh Beckett, chances are I wouldn’t be sitting here talking about our World Series rings.

The Red Sox player development system is spitting out prospects as much as Francona spits out tobacco. Even the New York Yankees are trying to take the approach of the Red Sox, but have come up somewhat short (e.x. Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes, who are good pitchers, but just don’t have it yet, not to mention both players are hurt). If the Red Sox continue with this system of grooming, I can certainly see more championships in the future. So who are the players currently in the minor league system that are going to have an impact for the Major League club within the next few years? Here’s a list of the top 5. Justin Masterson and Clay “I’m not talking about Taylor” Buchholz are not on the list due to the fact they are both destined to either stay or return to the Sox rotation. We all know about Masterson and the Derek Lowe-like comparisons. The guy has pitched very well and is starting to feel confident on the hill. There’s no reason we should value him as a prospect as he should stay with the ball club, even when Big Fat Bartolo Colon makes a return. Buchholz needs a little more work on his command, but expect him to be a mainstay in the rotation in the very near future.

(more…)