Andrew Pinckney

[One Red Seat]

Born: March 7, 1982
Resides: Atlanta, GA
Height: 6-1
Weight: 195
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Drafted: 34th round, 2004
How Acquired: Draft
College: Emory U.
High School: Pace Academy
ETA: 2008

Scouting Report: Pinckney has excellent power potential with good bat speed. Hits to all fields. Open, strong stance. Fast on the basepaths. Very good arm at third. Good range in the field. Baseball America rated his as the top infield arm in the Sox system. They rated him the #30 prospect in the system pre-Marte trade. Soxprospects.com lists him as the #20 prospect in the system.

Andrew Pinckney @ soxprospects.com

Stats:

Year    Level    AB    H    HR    RBI    TB    BB/SO    BA/OBP/SLG/OPS

2004    NCAA    183    76    7    60    132    28/31   .415/.480/.721/1.201
2004       A    242    66    3    25     86    22/74   .273/.338/.355/.693
2005       A    508   158   21    98    272    36/78   .311/.362/.535/.897

Andrew had a breakout year last year after an offseason of very hard work, as is revealed in this interview:

Five Minutes with Andrew Pinckney

A 34th-round pick in the 2004 draft, Andrew Pinckney has exploded onto the scene this year, putting together one of the best seasons in the Red Sox minor league system. A left-handed-hitting third baseman, Pinckney hit a solid .273-3-25 last year at short-season Lowell, and came into 2005 looking to improve on those numbers. Instead, he has obliterated them. Playing with the low-A Greenville Bombers, the 23-year-old product of Atlanta and Emory University went into the last game of the season hitting .310-21-98, with 63 extra-base hits and a .536 slugging percentage.

On his goals coming into this season: "I wanted to be well-conditioned, so I lifted a lot and worked on my speed and conditioning in the offseason. That and I wanted to take what I learned in Lowell and build on it. At the end of last year, on our last road trip, I wrote down a list of things and then went over them with Luis Alicea. The coaches helped me make a lot of adjustments in Lowell. One was that my swing was a little long when I came in, and they shortened it. At times it was kind of overwhelming, but they made suggestions that changed my career. Numbers wise, I wanted to hit over .300 this year. I also wanted to hit 20 doubles and 10 home runs, and I've basically doubled those. I'm obviously happy with that."

On what he wants to improve upon next year: "My pitch selection can improve. I had too many one and two pitch at-bats this year, because I'm basically a first-pitch fastball hitter. I've never liked to wait. But I've been working on it, and feel I can continue improving in that area. Seeing more pitches will help me as a hitter, and I really think I can be successful there."

On how he's feeling physically after his first full season of pro ball: "I feel good. I'm swinging okay, but did strain my elbow a few weeks ago and have been DHing since then. I came into the season in great shape, but have learned that I need to ease up in certain spots. Like with my arm, I don't need to put everything into every throw, especially in practice. You always want to play hard once the game starts, but you can't be all out, all the time."

On playing third base and not donning a catcher's mask: "Yeah, we talked about that last year, but they decided to have John Otness do some catching instead. I'm just a third baseman now, which is fine with me. I've made some errors, but I think I'm doing okay. I'm overly aggressive at times, and sometimes wonder if I try to make plays I shouldn't. It's probably more of a thing where I just need to play more and get better. At times I wait back on balls, too, and I'm working on that."

On being 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts after going 2-for-10 last season: "Like I said, I worked on my speed and conditioning in the offseason. So I'm a little quicker, but it's technique and being smarter as much as anything. I'm getting better leads and reading pitchers better. I suppose I've gotten a few breaks, too."

Hopefully the offseason conditioning has been just as good this year and it translates into continued success. He is projected to start the year as the 3B for the Portland Sea Dogs.

[jsinger121]

i like pinckney. he is an underdog type of player because of where he was drafted. he has nice power potential at a corner position. the only concern i have about him are that he is old for a prospect who has never been above low A ball. he is going to be 24 this season and he will either be in wilmington or portland and that is old for either of those leagues. i would like the red sox to start him in portland to challenge him to see if 2005 was not a fluke.

[One Red Seat]

Yeah, he's a little long in the tooth for the levels he's played, but that is typical of college draftees. I think his outstanding year in Greenville warrants skipping Adv-A. Besides, it's not like anyone is blocking him at 3B in the system.

[jsinger121]

he definitely deserves to be jumped to Portland because right now he is ahead of chad spann on the 3B depth chart and he really needs the challenge.

[nhfishercats]

yea with his recent hr's and avg,it wouldnt make sense to have him below portland

[One Red Seat]

Well, it appears Andrew will start the year off in Wilmington (A+). Hopefully, he gets off to a hot start and is moved up to Portland soon, as I think they need to try and get him in against age appropriate competition.

link

WILMINGTON, DE - The Wilmington Blue Rocks are pleased to announce the 2006 Opening Day roster.....

INF Andrew Pinckney - Pinckney was the Red Sox 33rd overall pick in the 2004 draft. Picked in the 34th round, Pinckney's first pro year in 2004 with Lowell was ordinary while his 2005 season with Greenville was extraordinary. Named to the post-season All Star squad for the South Atlantic League, Pinckney ranked third with 91 runs scored, fifth with 98 RBI, seventh with a .311 batting average and eighth with a .535 slugging percentage. Pinckney also connected for 21 homers and was rated as having the best infield arm in the Red Sox organization by Baseball America.

[Strawman]

Oh man, I so want to see this guy play in Portland! Though Hansen, Murphy and Concepcion are going to start here, with Hanley, Papelbon, DelCarmen, Lester,and Pedroia gone on to bigger and better, we need some excitement.

[Cityofchampions33]

Hansen's in Pawtucket dawg

[One Red Seat]

First of all, he's saying that all those guys have left Portland. Second of all, Hansen is actually going to start the year in AA. The FO wants to work him out in specific situations, and they'd prefer to do that in AA vs. AAA.

link

The Boston Red Sox have announced the 2006 Opening Day roster for their Double-A affiliate Portland Sea Dogs. Highlighting the 2006 roster are five members of the Red Sox 40-man roster including pitchers Craig Hansen, Edgar Martinez, and David Pauley along with outfielders Brandon Moss and David Murphy.

[Cityofchampions33]

Originally Posted by One Red Seat

First of all, he's saying that all those guys have left Portland. Second of all, Hansen is actually going to start the year in AA. The FO wants to work him out in specific situations, and they'd prefer to do that in AA vs. AAA.

First of all I know, second of all my bad, why would they prefer it be in AA? That makes no sense, why not have him hone his skills in AAA against better talent, I mean he had a killer ST

[One Red Seat]

Not to continue the hijack of the Pinckney thread, I think the FO wants to have him pitch up to 3 IP in an appearance, working on secondary pitches. Typically, AAA is less about development and more about competitiveness, ie trying to win games. Whereas AA is more about development and less about results. Personally, this distinction is immaterial to me, but it would help explain the FO's reasoning. I don't expect him to be there long.

[Cityofchampions33]

That's a good enough reason for me, I'd love to see him wit 3 strong pitches he can command well and throw at a high velocity.

[One Red Seat]

Andrew played 3B in Wilmington's 4 games this week. He seems to have gotten off to a rough start, although he is putting the ball in play. Here's what he did for the week. I'll post updates every Sunday.

AB   H   R   2B   3B   HR   RBI   SO   BB   BA/OBP/SLG     SF   SB   IBB   HBP

14   3   0    1    0    0    1     1    1  .143/.278/.214   1    0    0    2

[One Red Seat]

Sorry it's been a bit since my last update, I have a lot going on at home with a new baby.

Andrew hit his first A+ dinger last night in a 7-4 loss.

Season: .190/.294/.276, 2 2B, 1 HR, 13/7 K/BB

[One Red Seat]

Andrew is turning it around at the plate. 4/5 last night with a 2B & 3B

Season: 111 AB, .252/.317/.414, 6 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, 26/9 K/BB