Jacoby Ellsbury

[CrespoBlows]

Age: 21

Born: September 11, 1983

Madras, OR

Height: 6-1

Weight: 190

Bats: Left

Throws: Left

Drafted: 1st round, 2005

How Acquired: Draft

College: Oregon State

High School: Madras (OR)

ETA: 2008

 

Scouting Report: Ellsbury was on of the best players in the NCAA in 2005. He is very fast, plays excellent defense, and has shown a great ability to get on base. Decent gap power for a centerfielder who projects as a lead-off hitter. Has often been compared to Johnny Damon. Also said to be a team leader.

 

I like the Damon comparsion, but this guy is much faster then Damon.

[CrespoBlows]

Ellsbury went 0-2 in his debut with 2 BB's.

[stocker323]

Where is he playing? I'm too lazy to look it up. Spinners?

[Chitalian Stallion]

Yeah, i just saw him tonight, i forget how he did though, I mainly went because my teammates brother Zak Farkes plays for the Spinners as well. Also Gabe Kapler was there on a rehab stint tonight, he didn't do too well. He went 0-4 with two Ks and two weak pop ups, one that was dropped, later causing him to score a run.

[riverside sluggers]

well remember that sox did place him on 15 day DL with a back strain--remember about how curt's first starter and closer appearances were in triple A, then he progressed with more playing time

[schillingouttheks]

Holy s*** Chitalian Stallion....I have a teammate and his brother is Zak Farkes too...whoa what the f***.

[Chitalian Stallion]

Which brother do u have?

[CrespoBlows]

Elsbury went 2-4 last night

 

Season Line: .296/.457/.481/.938 (7/2 BB/K Ratio) 6 SB's 2 XBH 1 HR 6 RBI's

[schillingouttheks]

Which brother do u have?

Adam Farkes.

[elsrbueno]

Jacoby went 1-5 last night and stole 2 more bases. He's up to 8 SBs in 8 games.

 

Nice! Good to get some speed in the system. Plus he doesn't strike out much, walks enough to get on base well over a .400 clip. For his first exposure to professional baseball, he's handling himself well.

[CrespoBlows]

Jacoby went 1-5 last night and stole 2 more bases. He's up to 8 SBs in 8 games.

 

Nice! Good to get some speed in the system. Plus he doesn't strike out much, walks enough to get on base well over a .400 clip. For his first exposure to professional baseball, he's handling himself well.

 

We might see him in Greenville soon, if Corlesetti continues to hit (there's another Dustin Pedoria for you).

[Chitalian Stallion]

What are his stats so far like average, OBP, etc? 8 stolen bases in 8 games is impressive, hopefully he'll continue that thorugh the minor leageus and beyond.

[schillingouttheks]

Stallion which brother of Zak's is your teammate? I have Adam Farkes.

[CrespoBlows]

Stallion which brother of Zak's is your teammate? I have Adam Farkes.

 

Can we talk about Jacoby Ellsbury, I don't mean to sound like an ******* but you guys can AIM to talk about that.

[schillingouttheks]

Fine....bitch.

 

Heh j/k will do.

[Boogie]

Boy, I wish my Yankees were as smart in the draft as your guys' beloved Sox.

[CrespoBlows]

Ellsbury went 1-5 with 2 strikeouts last night and had a stolen base.

 

Season Line: .257/.409/.400/.809 (8/5 K/BB Ratio) 1 HR 2 XBH's 9 SB

[stocker323]

Ellsbury left last night's game with hamstring tightness.

[Sox Fan on Cape]

Ellsbury left last night's game with hamstring tightness.

That doesn't sound good. Any status ?

[yankeessuck013]

I found a great interview with ellsbury

 

http://www.redsoxnation.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=17038&pid=357432&st=0entry357432entry357432

[CrespoBlows]

That doesn't sound good. Any status ?

 

He'll miss a few games.

 

Precautionary status.

[Sox Fan on Cape]

He'll miss a few games.

 

Precautionary status.

Thanks.

[youkilis rules]

Jacoby's birthday is September 11...bad luck, no?

[riverside sluggers]

Jacoby Ellsbury named Red Sox Minor Leagues Base Stealer of the Month: Ellsbury, whom the Sox selected 23rd overall in this year's draft, got his career off to a impressively swift start when he swiped nine bases in as many attempts for Lowell. Ellsbury hit .278 in 36 at-bats for the Spinners with one home run, seven RBI and 10 runs scored. He also drew eight walks while striking out just five times. Ellsbury's July totals are especially impressive considering he has not played since July 23 due to a sore left hamstring. Ellsbury, a 21-year-old out of Oregon State, is expected to return to the Spinners lineup this week.

[mar_022]

CF, compared to Damon (in a good way, not the traitor thing), has some wheels, solid D, and good OBP track record, a projected leadoff hitter

 

http://www.soxprospects.com/players/ellsbury-jacoby.htm

[jsinger121]

still about 2 seasons away but showed tons of promise last yr in lowell. great speed. gets on-base. needs to develop more power.

[TheRivernator]

still about 2 seasons away but showed tons of promise last yr in lowell. great speed. gets on-base. needs to develop more power.

 

good old LeLacheur Park out in the crack streets of Lowell. I hit a few out of that place in my day.....

[ClayBuchholzIsDaFuture]

http://www.madraspioneer.com/images/2663.jpg

 

As Jacoby Ellsbury waited his turn behind the Fenway Park batting cage late last summer, he could almost see the ghosts, wearing old flannel uniforms, in the New England twilight.

 

It was Sept. 17, and he was aching all over. He had played baseball continuously for more than a year, leading Oregon State to the Pacific-10 Conference championship and into the College World Series, and had done well in a 35-game stint for the Class A Lowell (Mass.) Spinners.

 

When Lowell's season ended, he had one more mission before he could go back home. The Red Sox flew his family all the way from Madras and summoned him to take batting practice with the big club.

 

He had dressed in the same locker room as the Red Sox, in the same first-class gear the major league club wears.

 

It hit him when he stepped onto the field, between the Green Monster in left field and Pesky's Pole in right. It wasn't just his family watching.

 

"There were 10,000 people in the stands -- it was before a game with the A's," Ellsbury said Thursday during a workout break in Hillsboro. "Everybody was saying, 'Who's that?' 'He's the first-round draft pick.' There were a lot of eyes on me, and cameras flashing right when I was hitting."

 

And he could sense the ghosts.

 

"I got in the cage and I thought, 'Ooh,' he said. "Babe Ruth played here. Ted Williams played here. I'm standing at the same home plate that they did."

 

Then he proceeded to have the best batting practice of his life.

 

"If I get nervous, I bear down and focus more," Ellsbury said. "I was spraying the ball everywhere. I hit some into the bullpen in right field. I hit a few deep to right-center; it's a long way out there, and they went out easily." As he lashed the ball around the fabled old yard, the 22-year-old ballplayer from Madras, Ore., could feel it right down to his cleats: He belonged there.

 

Every time Jacoby Ellsbury's teachers back in Madras asked him the question, he always would say the same thing.

 

"I'd say I wanted to be a big league baseball player. They said to think of something more realistic. The other kids would laugh and say, 'Oh, Jacoby.' "

 

If they could see him now, they'd see Ellsbury on a flight out of Portland Sunday morning, headed for Fort Myers, Fla., and the Red Sox spring training camp. It's a month earlier than most of Boston's minor league players; the Red Sox are eager to see up close the kid they drafted in the first round, 23rd selection.

 

This is the beginning of the last leg of the biggest race of his life, and he doesn't know a whole lot about what to expect.

 

"I'm just going to soak it all in and ask a lot of questions," he said, "so I'll have that experience behind me."

 

But Ellsbury has prepared more than a set of questions. In December, he moved into the Beaverton home of Matt James, a former Portland State football player and noted athletic trainer, and has worked out religiously at Velocity Sports Performance, the center James runs near Hillsboro Stadium.

 

Ellsbury has worked to improve his excellent natural speed, his quickness, balance and agility. He deliberately has avoided adding much weight to his 6-foot-1, 190-pound frame.

 

He has done it as he has done most things in his life -- thoroughly. If Ellsbury was preparing for a sprint, he'd train for a decathlon.

 

"I've worked harder than I ever have to be ready for this," he said. "I don't think I'll make the major league team this year, to be realistic, but you never know. "I'm the kind of person who wants to be ready. Maybe somebody will get hurt, or maybe they will think I'm ready earlier. I've always set high goals for myself -- a lot of the times I don't reach those goals, but that's all right.

 

"I can always say I'm giving 100 percent to be ready to play. I may start out in high Class A in Wilmington, N.C. My short-term goal is to make it to Double A (Portland, Maine) by the end of the season."

 

The Red Sox aren't saying what their plans are. All they really know about Ellsbury is the detailed scouting they did on him to select him in the draft, and the 35 games he played for the Spinners.

 

"We're excited to get to know him better," says Ben Cherington, the Red Sox's director of player development. "He'll get a chance to play every day in center field. We don't know what level -- we'll sort that out in the spring. But he showed us the reasons we drafted him in Lowell. He controlled the strike zone really well, he had good speed on the bases. He still needs to get better at jumps on the ball, but that's the normal part of development.

 

"We certainly feel he has a bright major league future as a center fielder."

 

Ellsbury said he's already learned a ton about professional baseball in his short time in Lowell. He hit .317 with three doubles, five triples and a home run, all with the black maple 331/2-inch bat he now swings.

 

He stole 23 bases and was caught stealing just three times. He did what leadoff hitters do.

 

"You have to prepare more now," he said. "You have to mentally prepare your body for 160 games, and you know that there are guys shooting for your spot every day. You have to be mentally tough."

 

"But we had the best guys. It was like an all-star team. And it wasn't just U.S. players -- we had guys from Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba and Japan. So I had to get used to a language barrier."

 

Another thing he's had to get used to is having money.

 

He said his Oregon State teammates used to think of him as cheap, but the truth is he never had a whole lot of spending money in his first 21 years.

 

Now he does, but he disciplines his spending. He paid off his mother's house in Madras and bought her a new one, and one obvious sign that he now has a deep pocket is his teal-blue Cadillac Escalade EXT, with XM radio and all the trimmings.

 

But he still favors the same jeans he wore at OSU, along with simple black T-shirts and running shoes. The shoes, a pair of Nike Air Max 700s, are one of the benefits of signing with Nike.

 

Even though he's better off financially now, it's also true that beginning today, he's completely on his own. Success or failure is, essentially, in his hands.

 

He does not worry about how he will handle it, however, because he now has a clear picture of what he's chasing. He found it among the ghosts at Fenway Park last September.

 

"Being there," he said, "makes me that much hungrier to get back."

 

 

Link: http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/1139641525192850.xml&coll=7&thispage=1

[ORS]

Don't take this the wrong way, but there is a Jacoby Ellsbury thread. A newspaper pasting about him doesn't warrant it's own thread. Please try and cut down on the clutter.

[ClayBuchholzIsDaFuture]

Ok mod... wait, you're not a MOD..lol....