Portland Sea Dogs third baseman Hudson Potts is still learning how to hit Double-A pitching, so his first at-bat Wednesday against New York Yankees pitching prospect Luis Medina was encouraging.
Hudson Potts
Medina pumps in fastballs, from 97 to 99 mph, but he started Potts with a curve that dropped in for a strike. Potts also took the next pitch, inside at 97 mph, for a ball. Medina came back with an inside curve, and Potts hit a sinking liner for a single.
The Sea Dogs showed a patient approach against Medina and beat the Somerset Patriots – the Yankees’ new Double-A affiliate – 5-3 in the first game of a doubleheader Wednesday night at Hadlock Field.
Tate Matheny’s two-run homer tied the first game at 3-3 in the fifth inning. The other Sea Dogs runs scored on wild pitches as Somerset pitchers had trouble with command, especially Medina (six walks, two wild pitches).
Sea Dogs right-hander Josh Winckowski (3-1, 3.45 ERA) got the win, allowing three runs over five innings in tying his season high for strikeouts with nine. Winckowski came to the Red Sox organization from the Mets in the three-team deal that sent Andrew Benintendi to Kansas City.
Potts, 22, is another one of several prospects on the Sea Dogs who were obtained through trades. He went 1 for 2 in the first game, taking a 98-mph fastball on the outside corner for a third strike and drawing a walk.
Potts then broke up a no-hit bid with a sixth-inning single in Game 2, finishing 1 for 4 in an 11-3 loss.
Potts and Sea Dogs outfielder Jeisson Rosario joined the Red Sox last Aug. 30 from San Diego in a trade for Mitch Moreland. San Diego had prospects to spare and little room on its 40-man roster to protect them.
“It came out of nowhere,” Potts said of the trade. “A lot of emotions, a lot of memories with San Diego. It was exciting at the same time. Once I got out to the (Red Sox) alternative site, it was good to be around those guys and get the opportunity to play.”
Potts, a first-round draft pick out of high school in 2016 (from Eastlake, Texas), had been rushed by the Padres – he made his Double-A debut as a 19-year-old – but was not included in the team’s 60-player pool during last year’s unique major league season.
With the Red Sox, Potts has found a spot on the 40-man roster. He is listed as Boston’s 24th-best prospect by MLB.com.
“He’s got all the tools. He’s got power and he’s solid defensively,” Sea Dogs Manager Corey Wimberly said.
“He demonstrates a lot of maturity. He carries himself like an older guy.”
Potts’ biggest strength is power. He hit 20 home runs as an 18-year-old in low Class A, and 16 homers in Double-A in 2019, though he batted only .227 (.696 OPS) with 128 strikeouts.
But, to put 2019 in perspective, Potts was only 20, and had he accepted his scholarship to Texas A&M, it would have been his junior year.
Potts’ development slowed with no game action last year, and then by a strained oblique injury last fall, which Potts kept aggravating.
When the Sea Dogs’ season began, Potts stayed in Florida, rehabbing. He joined the team on June 10 and began with a 1-for-24 slump.
Since then, Potts is 4 for 13, including his first Sea Dogs homer last Thursday.
“Trying to get comfortable again, get my feet under me,” Potts said.
“I trust myself and trust my coaches around me. I’m looking forward to the rest of the year and being able to play. It’s good to be out here, for sure.”
NOTES: Outfielder Devlin Granberg, a sixth-round draft pick out of Dallas Baptist in 2018, made his Hadlock Field debut in the first game, going 2 for 3 with a double and two runs scored. … Durbin Feltman (3.60) got the save in Game 1, allowing one hit and one walk, striking out two in the seventh inning. … Matheny homered again in Game 2 and has five home runs in 12 games since coming down from Triple-A.
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