Portland Sea Dogs’ left-hander Jorge De La Rosa is progressing steadily toward the big leagues and a spot with the Red Sox.
When then Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette signed pitcher Jorge De La Rosa as a free agent back in 2001, he labeled him “the Mexican John Rocker.”
No, De La Rosa doesn’t berate fans and reporters and make disparaging remarks about people who ride the No. 7 train in New York City.
In fact, the most you usually get out of De La Rosa is a polite smile and a few soft-spoken words.
The Portland Sea Dogs left-hander does, however, possess some of the same mound attributes that made the volatile Rocker such a valuable commodity.
De La Rosa’s fastball is consistently clocked in the 92-94 mph range.
Add in an above average curveball and a change-up that has improved steadily and it’s easy to see why he’s ranked as the ninth-best prospect (fifth among pitchers) in Boston’s minor league system by Baseball America.
“He’s got big league stuff,” said Sea Dogs pitching coach Bob Kipper.
Kipper isn’t the only one who has that opinion.
Major League Baseball invited De La Rosa to pitch for the World squad in this past weekend’s All-Star Futures game at U.S. Cellular Field (formerly Comiskey Park) in Chicago.
He struck out one of the two batters he faced in the seven-inning affair, which was won by the United States, 3-2.
Tonight, De La Rosa is scheduled to toss an inning at the Eastern League All-Star game in New Britain, Conn.
“I’m excited for that,” De La Rosa said of being selected for both games.
De La Rosa was signed out of Mexico by the Arizona Diamondbacks when he was only 16.
He kicked around at the lower levels of the Diamondbacks’ system for two seasons before his contract was purchased by Monterrey of the Mexican League, which is the equivalent of the Triple-A level in the U.S.
After signing with Boston, De La Rosa pitched well at Class-A Sarasota in 2001 and last season, but was roughed up in two stints at the Double-A level.
Converted to a starter at the beginning of last season, De La Rosa posted a 3.88 earned run average and was fifth in the organization with 110 strikeouts in 138 2/3 innings.
The innings pitched exceeded what De La Rosa had totaled in the previous three seasons combined, which is why the Red Sox decided to limit him to five innings per outing this season.
“They want to protect my arm,” said De La Rosa.
Despite the tight reins, the San Nicolas de Los Garza, Mexico, native has progressed steadily.
De La Rosa went into the All-Star break with a 5-3 record and a 3.39 ERA.
He has lost just once since April 15 and in his half of his 18 appearances, he’s surrendered just one earned run.
“He’s developing right along the lines we hoped he would,” said Red Sox farm director Ben Cherington.
According to Kipper, De La Rosa simply needed to become a pitcher instead of a thrower.
“He’s come a long way with the intangibles,” said Kipper. “He’s shown a lot of composure, as far as poise, game awareness and pitching out focus and having a purpose for every pitch he throws. You can really simplify the game if you go pitch to pitch to pitch.
“Outside of Harrisburg (seven runs allowed in three innings on July 3), he’s shown the ability to stop the big inning.”
De La Rosa did have one complete game last season, but the Red Sox brass want him to experience what it’s like to pitch with the game on the line more.
Last Tuesday, he tossed five innings of three-hit ball to earn the save in a game started by Red Sox left-hander Casey Fossum.
“We’d like to do that again if the opportunity presents itself,” Kipper said of having De La Rosa work the final five innings of a game instead of the first five.
Of the Red Sox top-rated pitching prospects, De La Rosa is the closest to Fenway Park.
If he continues along the lines he’s been going, he has the potential to be the best left-hander the Red Sox have had since Bruce Hurst.
De La Rosa is on Boston’s 40-man roster and likely will get his first taste of the big leagues come September.
But he won’t be rushed into a permanent role with the big club.
“You have to remember he’s still only 22,” said Kipper. “We have to side with patience.”
bfoley@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.