This season, while playing as a utility man in Pawtucket, Gil Velazquez was never featured in an edition of Sox on the Farm. The thought never even crossed my mind. But the man who was an afterthought as a minor leaguer suddenly found himself on the Sox playoff roster during the ALDS after Mike Lowell was removed due to injury. So who exactly is Gil Velazquez? The soon-to-be 29-year old was drafted in the 14th Round of the 1998 MLB Draft out of high school (Paramount, CA) by the Mets. He eventually signed with the Twins after the 2004 season, and the Sox after 2007 as a minor league free agent. This past season was the first he spent exclusively at the Triple-A level. He appeared in 101 games, batting .260 with 10 HR and 46 RBI. A jack of all trades on defense, he played all four infield positions plus leftfield for the Paw Sox. He finally made his major league debut in Boston on September 25 of this year against the Yankees, and the next day collected his first hit on an RBI single in his second MLB at bat. Now the player that was an afterthought for more than a decade could find himself on the Sox ALCS roster. Not bad for a guy that is just 18 games shy of 1,000 minor league games with a .231 career average.Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Sox on the Farm: Gil Velazquez
This season, while playing as a utility man in Pawtucket, Gil Velazquez was never featured in an edition of Sox on the Farm. The thought never even crossed my mind. But the man who was an afterthought as a minor leaguer suddenly found himself on the Sox playoff roster during the ALDS after Mike Lowell was removed due to injury. So who exactly is Gil Velazquez? The soon-to-be 29-year old was drafted in the 14th Round of the 1998 MLB Draft out of high school (Paramount, CA) by the Mets. He eventually signed with the Twins after the 2004 season, and the Sox after 2007 as a minor league free agent. This past season was the first he spent exclusively at the Triple-A level. He appeared in 101 games, batting .260 with 10 HR and 46 RBI. A jack of all trades on defense, he played all four infield positions plus leftfield for the Paw Sox. He finally made his major league debut in Boston on September 25 of this year against the Yankees, and the next day collected his first hit on an RBI single in his second MLB at bat. Now the player that was an afterthought for more than a decade could find himself on the Sox ALCS roster. Not bad for a guy that is just 18 games shy of 1,000 minor league games with a .231 career average.
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4 comments:
Going to be very interesting to see what the Sox do with their roster for the ALCS. I'm still of the belief that there has got to be better options than Gil Velazquez, with all due respect.
Is it possible that Velazquez was getting a roster spot out of pity? Almost 1000 minor league games shows dedication to the game. And in that time never used steroids(not on any reports that i've heard) to try and get a shot at the bigs.
im guessing pity isnt the reason. if it was theyd let buckner back on the team.
hahaha
Pity has no place in the Playoffs.
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