In the beginning
PawSox manager Kevin Boles & coach Bruce Crabbe marvel at the heights Boston's star OF has climbed
Before Boston slugger Mookie Betts made a name for himself in the Bigs, he honed his craft under the guise of PawSox coaches.
Inthe same office the Pawtucket Red Sox clubhouse is where you’ll find two knowledgeable and well-versed baseball lifers who just so happened to manage Red Sox All-Star Mookie Betts at the opposite ends of the outfielder’s minor-league career. “It’s just amazing to me, seeing where he’s come from,” said PawSox coach Bruce Crabbe, who was Betts’ manager in Single-A Lowell for 71 games in 2012. “You saw athleticism, but no thoughts of what he could be like and where he is right now.” With PawSox skipper Kevin Boles sitting close by, Crabbe stopped a reporter short when he started to say, “I hate to use the word project …” “Nobody in their right mind saw this coming and if they did, they’re lying to you,” Crabbe stated matter-of-factly. “He wouldn’t have gone in the fifth round,” Boles chimed in. “You don’t draft players of that caliber in the fifth round and ask everyone to bide their time.”
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Boles managed Betts for 45 Triple-A games in 2014. It was a PawSox apprenticeship that featured a .335 batting average and Boles summing up the short-and-sweet stint by saying, “He wasn’t here long. It was between haircuts.”
When you mention Betts’ ascension to stardom and talk about his ability to clear the fences, you have to hearken back to yesteryear when the long ball wasn’t part of his minor-league arsenal. Betts never hit a home run for Crabbe in Lowell. In Pawtucket and playing for Boles, he went deep five times.
At the MLB All-Star break, Betts pulled in with 23 homers and a .359 batting mark. For another dose of perspective, Betts hit 26 home runs spanning 252 minor-league games prior to becoming an everyday fixture in Boston’s outfield.
“He was a gap-to-gap hitter in the minors,” Crabbe explained. “There’s some awkwardness to Mookie. There’s not fluid motion when he moves. Who thought he would emerge as one of the best players in baseball, you know what I mean?
“The power numbers … to me I think it’s a big-league thing where the conditions are conducive. I’m not taking anything away from him, but it’s much more conducive to hit for power in the big leagues,” Crabbe added. “You can tell me you’re crazy or whatever, but pitchers in the majors are more around the plate and the fields are more batter friendly.”
Betts is listed at 5-foot-9 and 177 pounds – not exactly the prototypical measurements for a slugger. What he does have going for him is that he’s blessed with a fast-twitch body that has enabled him to turn on a dime and, in many instances, drive the ball with authority where it ends up sailing over the wall.
That ability, coupled with taking full advantage of unlimited big-league resources such as video analysis, has enabled Betts to decipher the strike zone with greater clarity.
“You’re able to see what you’re doing and that allows you to make adjustments which Mookie is good at. He really is,” Crabbe said.
When Boles talked with then-Red Sox manager John Farrell in the days leading up to Betts’ 2014 callup, he offered Farrell the following scouting report: “Look, I don’t know what kind of player he’ll eventually be, but this is a neat little athlete. There’s still a lot to learn, but you’re going to like the things this kid does. He’s got a chance to be really good.”
Four years later, Boles can look back and say he was close to hitting the bull’s eye regarding Betts – sans the home-run stroke, of course. Barring anything unforeseen the rest of the 2018 regular season, Betts will eclipse the 30-home run plateau for the second time in three seasons.
“What we see now is terrific. It’s unbelievable,” Boles said. “It’s funny. You look back at the conversations regarding all these players before they become stars. Will Mookie be able to take to right field? Now it looks like he’s able to manage everything. Every time you see him in spring training, he looks a little bit more comfortable.”
The conclusion was based on Boles witnessing Betts firsthand as the latter was transitioning to the outfield. For the bulk of Betts’ Red Sox minor-league career, he manned second base. In Lowell under Crabbe, Betts was a shortstop.
Then again, perhaps we should refrain from jaw-dropping at Betts’ ability to make everything look seamless and just accept what he does as routine. He reportedly has bowled 10 perfect games. Crabbe, however, has golfed with Betts during spring training and says his swing has room for growth.
“He’s just a natural athlete and at the same time an unnatural athlete. He may have a better bowling motion than when he runs the bases. His throwing motion from the outfield is much better than when he was in the infield,” Crabbe said. “It’s funny how that kind of stuff plays. He doesn’t have the prettiest golf swing, but he could be a big hitter off the tee.
“He’s super competitive and wants everything to be perfect,” Crabbe went on to say. “He’s always striving.”
The Mookie Betts that Boles had in Pawtucket actually went up to the skipper in 2014 and apologized for all the media attention that he was generating.
“That’s him. Early in his career, he was a guy who didn’t want to say no. Now every time I talk to him, I ask if he’s learned to say no,” Boles said. “At times when he was getting a lot of attention, he was trying to please everybody because he’s got such a big heart. Understanding where he had a chance to go, there has to be balance and show people that this is his job and profession. I think he’s figured out that balance.”
When it comes to leaving an indelible mark, it’s tough to rival the one that Betts left on Boles and Crabbe before crossing over into the realm of superstardom and emerging as one of baseball’s marquee names.
“Greatest kid in the world. I had a tear in my eye when he made his major-league debut,” Crabbe said. “That’s how he affected me as a person. I love him to death.”