Future of the Franchise

As a freshman in High School, Wisler only threw his fastball in the low 70's and was drafted in the 7th round. Scouts were not overly impressed with him.

However, don't let him sneak up on you. Once in the system, he was promoted through the ranks quickly, as one scout notes: "with an advanced feel for pitching that belies his age, a sneaky bulldog demeanor and, this is most important, an arsenal of pitches that he's honed for years; pitches he developed early because he had no other choice."

Without overpowering stuff, this young prospect developed into a pitcher. He's now described as crafty, and cerebral. He's a pitcher that uses good mechanics and quality of pitches to get guys out. He won't blow anyone away, but he will still put them down. And an out is still out, whether its on a soft grounder to short, or down on three strikes. So pitch on Wisler, embrace your style.

Team MVP

As a child, Pedroia would get made fun of his upper cut and corkscrew type swing. Whose laughing now huh. 

Regardless of seemingly being the smallest player on the field at any time, Pedroia excelled at baseball and proved himself to be incredibly adept at it. Boston took Pedroia with their second round pick, signing him with a $575,000 bonus beginning his proffesional career in 2005. In 2007 he beat out Alex Cora for a starting job, eventually winning the ROY honors with a .317 average and 50 RBI. Boston loved him. And now so does Chicago.

He brings a lot with him. "He is a Gold Glove-caliber fielder, a swift and opportunistic baserunner, and a dangerous, attacking hitter." He goes up to the plate and swings as hard as he can, hoping contact is made. Luckily for him, he's pretty good at making contact.