Adopt-A-Prospect: Iggy Suarez

One of the best ideas over at SoSH is the Adopt-A-Prospect Forum. The rules are simple: a poster chooses a Red Sox minor leaguer and is then responsible for updating the board with information/links/stats on how the player is doing.

I picked Iggy Suarez, the slick fielding shortstop with the Nerf bat. Suarez was not invited to spring training, so my only post right now is some introductory information.

Ignacio Antonio "Iggy" Suarez
Age: 24
Born: May 3, 1981
Resides: Corona, NY
Height: 5-11
Weight: 165
B/R: Right/Right
College: SW Texas St. U.
High School: John Browne HS (NY)
Drafted: Selected by Texas Rangers in 34th round (1,035th overall) of 1999 amateur entry draft. Selected by Red Sox in 24th round (714th overall) of 2003 amateur entry draft.

Scouting Report:

May have the best glove in the whole system. Light-hitting, slick fielding Suarez was named the organization's best defensive middle infielder by Baseball America in 2003.

A few stats from Baseball Cube:

     Team             Age   AB  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS
2002 SW Texas St       21  201 .323 .402 .428 .830
2003 SW Texas St       22  257 .272 .335 .424 .759
2003 Lowell     NYPL A 22  207 .222 .326 .285 .611
2004 Augusta    SAL  A 23  141 .270 .373 .362 .735
2004 Sarasota   FSL  A 23  307 .257 .331 .319 .650
2005 Wilmington Car  A 24  403 .233 .287 .288 .575
 
Minor Totals: 3 years          .243 .320 .306 .626

From a recap of Iggy's 2005 season:

One of four players to be with the Blue Rocks from opening day until the final game of the season. Suarez hit .233 with no home runs and 38 RBI in 116 games. ... Put together an 11-game hitting streak from June 8-21. Was among the leaders for the Blue Rocks with a .304 batting average with runners in scoring position.

Suarez also led the Carolina League with 32 errors.

In September 2005, the Portland Press Herald said this about the shortstop spot for the 2006 Seadogs (AA):

This is up for grabs. Iggy Suarez finished his second season in advanced Class A but batted only .233. Christian Lara, a prospect, struggled in Greenville (.232). Middle infielder Jed Lowrie was a first-round pick out of Stanford in June. He hit .328 in Lowell but it would be a big leap to Portland from the rookie league.

SoxProspects has Ig penciled in as Portland's starting shortstop for 2006 (and on the Pawtucket bench in 2007).