Boston Red Sox rookie Bryce Brentz last summer playing for the Portland Sea Dogs at Hadlock Field in Portland, Maine on May 26, 2012.
The Boston Red Sox would surely a love a season without drama. The end of the 2011 baseball campaign culminated in a collapse of such historic proportions that the side missed out on the playoffs after losing 16 of their final 21 games. And last year saw new skipper Bobby Valentine fail to inspire his charges with the Fenway Park outfit registering their worst season in 47 years, finishing up with a dismal 69–93 record.
But under new boss John Farrell, a year of peace and quiet wouldn’t go amiss, right? If that was the plan, the start of Spring Training has already been blighted by an incident which doesn’t augur well for the rest of the season.
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The 24-year-old outfielder, prospect Bryce Brentz, was forced to miss the pre-season training camp due to an extremely bizarre injury. “After the rookie program, I had an accident, Brentz told WEEI. “Everything is fine, but I was cleaning my gun and it accidentally discharged on me and I sustained an injury. Nothing serious. That’s why I was out of big league camp, because at the time I’m not able to participate fully, but I am recovering very fast and should be OK for the season.”
General manager Ben Cherington’s take accentuated the positive, with him acknowledging that “I guess you could say he got lucky relative to what happened. I think he understands he got lucky and it’s a serious thing and he has to be careful.”
In 2012, Brentz hit .290 split between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Pawtucket, with 17 home runs, 76 RBIs and seven stolen bases. He’s listed as the Red Sox’ No. 6 prospect, according to SoxProspects.com. Rumors that the Sox’ top five prospects have been wrapped in cotton wool and given security guards to watch over their every move couldn’t be confirmed.
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