Today: BOS Prospect Lars Anderson
A onetime Red Sox sleeper who has zoomed up the prospect charts in recent years, Lars Anderson is a power hitting left-handed first baseman who seems to have Fenway in his future.
Drafted out of high school by the Red Sox in the first round of the 2006 First Year Player draft, Anderson is a big, strong hitter who's already rated as the best power bat in the Red Sox system, and he's still only 20 years old. His bat was so mature that he skipped Rookie ball and started 2007 at A-level Greensville.
Anderson did enough damage at Greensville and high-A Lancaster to make Sox coaches start talking about moving current Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis back to third base to make room for the big bopper. In 134 A-level games, Anderson clubbed 11 home runs and 37 doubles, posting a .292 average during his first year of pro ball.
| Yr | Tm | Age | Lvl | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 2007 | Greenville | 19 | A | 124 | 458 | 69 | 132 | 35 | 3 | 10 | 69 | 2 | 4 | 71 | 112 | .288 | .385 | .443 | .828 |
| 2007 | Lancaster | 19 | A+ | 10 | 35 | 13 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 9 | .343 | .489 | .486 | .975 |
Despite his massive power, Anderson is not a dead-pull hitter. He's also talented enough to launch outside pitches to the opposite field, and to let balls that he can't handle pass him by. If anything he's a little too patient, and can be fooled by breaking balls or borderline strikes on 0-2 counts. He's a below average runner, and won't be useful in the field anywhere other than first base.
There's no clear opening in Boston until 2011, but Anderson will probably be ready for big-league duty by 2010 or even late 2009, so something will need to change in the Red Sox roster in order for the team to provide an opportunity in Boston.
Update: Starting at high-A Lancaster again in 2008, Anderson is continuing to show an advanced hitting approach with additional power by launching 7 home runs in his first fifty games while maintaining a batting average over .300. He should see a promotion to AA before the year is up.
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