40 Man Roster Review: Drake Britton
With Spring Training less than a month away, the Red Sox 40 Man
Roster should be fairly set until the end of camp. I'll take this
opportunity to review the entire roster. Lets face it, there's not much
else going on.
Drake Britton is ranked by soxprospects.com as the organization's 11th best prospect. He is behind other hurlers Matt Barnes, Allen Webster, Rubby De La Rosa, and Henry Owens. Chances are he will never start a game for the Red Sox in 2013, or for that matter ever.
Britton does have a good arm. As a starting pitcher in the minors his fastball sits in the low 90s, touching 95MPH. Opinions on his secondary offerings range from below average to work in progress depending on one's point of view. Combine that with command and control issues, it does appear Britton's future lies in the bullpen. That is especially true if that future is with the Red Sox.
So far the Red Sox bullpen looks as deep as it has in years. Still, whenever you are talking about relievers the variance of their performance can't be understated. If players are injured or are ineffective, the idea of giving a hard throwing lefty a shot in the pen isn't entirely impossible.
Britton does have two options left. The Red Sox will still likely keep him as a starting pitcher in the minor leagues. If his command and secondary stuff make a step forward, Britton could be Felix Doubront 2.0. When he is ready that will give the Red Sox options as to how to use him and make Britton a more valuable trade chip if he does develop further and remain blocked.
Follow me on Twitter @JChalifour
Britton does have a good arm. As a starting pitcher in the minors his fastball sits in the low 90s, touching 95MPH. Opinions on his secondary offerings range from below average to work in progress depending on one's point of view. Combine that with command and control issues, it does appear Britton's future lies in the bullpen. That is especially true if that future is with the Red Sox.
So far the Red Sox bullpen looks as deep as it has in years. Still, whenever you are talking about relievers the variance of their performance can't be understated. If players are injured or are ineffective, the idea of giving a hard throwing lefty a shot in the pen isn't entirely impossible.
Britton does have two options left. The Red Sox will still likely keep him as a starting pitcher in the minor leagues. If his command and secondary stuff make a step forward, Britton could be Felix Doubront 2.0. When he is ready that will give the Red Sox options as to how to use him and make Britton a more valuable trade chip if he does develop further and remain blocked.
Follow me on Twitter @JChalifour
