Fenway Park, the Green Monster, Red Sox-Yankees, the Curse of Bambino: powerful phrases for any baseball fan. The Boston Red Sox are one of Major League Baseball's most storied franchises and former Virginia pitcher Andrew Dobies hopes to become part of that Red Sox lore.
In June, the Boston Red Sox selected Dobies in the third round as the 95th overall pick of the Major League Baseball Draft. Dobies became the highest Cavalier draft pick since 1997, and only three Virginia players have been drafted higher since 1966.
"Andrew Dobies deserved to be drafted in the third round," Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said. "He's a talented left-handed pitcher that has worked hard and paid the price for success."
Dobies decided to forgo his senior season as a Cavalier to play for the Red Sox organization, where he was designated to the Sox's class A affiliate, the Lowell Spinners.
Last season as a junior, Dobies was one of Virginia's weekend starters and led the team with 108.1 innings pitched and a team-high 109 strikeouts while amassing a 6-3 record with a 3.41 ERA. He started 16 games for the Cavaliers and held his opponents to a .257 batting average. In his six appearances so far with the Spinners, Dobies has tossed 13 strikeouts in eight innings of work and posted a 1.13 ERA.
The Red Sox have a specific plan for Dobies and are letting him start games for the Spinners, but only allowing him to pitch one or two innings because of how much he threw last spring and in college.
"They want to give my arm a rest and get me used to minor league pitching and minor league hitting," Dobies said. "Once I get a break in the fall and winter I'll be full throttle in spring training."
Dobies' success in the time he has seen so far with the Spinners is even more impressive considering the large differences between minor league baseball and college ball.
"I think the hitters make you pay more for the mistakes that you make," Dobies said. "If you leave a ball up in the zone it's going to get hit hard, as opposed to college, where you can get away with that with some of the weaker hitters. You see more guys that know how to pitch and that have talent."
One of Dobies' advantages is that he is a left-handed. It is easier to control the running game being left-handed because the pitcher naturally looks towards first base. There are also fewer lefties in baseball than right-handed pitchers; hence, hitters don't see left-handed pitchers as often. Plus, there are a lot of lefty power hitters in the major leagues and it is easier to control them as a southpaw.
"He's a competitor and he throws three pitches for strikes," O'Connor said of Dobies. "When you're left-handed with the velocity that he has, that's a pretty good pitcher."
Dobies' goal for now is to pitch in high A next spring training (the Spinners are a low A team). O'Connor said there are a few things Dobies can improve on to move up in the organization, but he sees a bright future for his old ace.
"Number one, he just needs to continue to stay healthy," O'Connor said. "Number two, he just needs to sharpen up all his pitches and to develop and mature
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