Ty Buttrey/Portland pitching staff

No, He just became a reliever!

Rather than taking a negative stance on what I and many people have seen in person, reported on MilbTV, Stadium Guns / Red Sox guns in both Portland and Reading, why don't you and Ian call any Portland player or coach and settle this. Or better yet, ask any pitching coach in the system, then report back to the blog.  I think their evaluation will carry more weight than the both of us. 

I love three bullpen arms such as Jalen Beeks, Jamie Callahan, and Ty Buttrey. All of them performs well in Portland and scouting reports say that they have stuff to succeed in big league as a bullpen.

I don't think any of them have the combination of control plus stuff to be loved. That being said they are having good years finally. Of the three Beeks I like best because he's lefthanded with the best track record.

Came across this also. Boston beat writer Chris Smith posted this on twitter post game. From a conversation he had with Brian Bannister, link below:

"Red Sox's Brian Bannister said to me the other day to watch for Ty Buttrey, who reached 100 mph at Portland. 25 Ks, 15.1 IP. 1.76 ERA."

What's this now about Buttrey hitting 100? That has my attention (though, I've seen Joe Kelly hit 100 and that has meant... not a ton).

Maybe Buttrey and Callahan can give pen a boost in middle innings later in the year. That would be huge if it means no deadline overspend on a reliever.

Daniel Bard's slider was unhittable at the highest level not because it was plus-plus pitch but because hitters focused on his high 90s fastball. Assuming Buttrey's fastball is high 90s, his above-average changeup should look like a wipeout pitch in games.

I've always pulled hard for Ty Buttrey. He went to a High School very close to where I live. Same school as David Mailman for those with longish prospect memories.

It is great to see him climbing the ladder and getting some attention. If you read this Ty, keep putting in the hard work, kid!

This is starting to feel a lot like the Kopech 105mph fastball rumors, and i hate to contribute to that but.....from Alex Speier today:

"While mention is made of Buttrey hitting 100 miles per hour, that was on a stadium gun that was believed to run 1-2 m.p.h. hot. Still, Buttrey has been pitching in the mid- to upper-90s, with one evaluator having recently seen him at 96-98 with a swing-and-miss changeup and an improving slider."

Regardless, if he's sitting 96-98 with improved secondaries, thats awesome for a guy we'd probably all pretty much given up on.

Ty Buttrey promoted to Pawtucket according to the Portland twitter feed.

Apologies if it's posted earlier in a different thread.

I'm not sure Buttrey's being "fast-tracked", to be honest. He'd thrown 100 innings at the level and had shown this year that he was ready for a new challenge. Pretty standard time for a promotion, IMO.

Fast-tracked would be a promotion to Pawtucket after just 13 innings at the level (Callahan) or a promotion to the majors after 34 innings at the level and skipping Pawtucket entirely (Taylor).

It's turning into a very interesting bullpen situation in Pawtucket. Workman, Taylor, and Ramirez are the up-and-down guys already. Martin's on the 40-man but looks like he's getting passed on the depth chart. Shepherd, Callahan, and Maddox were in that final group of NRI's with Taylor in camp. And now Buttrey has entered the conversation. Even Marcus Walden has quietly been very good in the swingman role I used to as a rule ignore until Robby Scott became a thing.

As we knew entering the year, if this org is deep in one area, it's potential relief arms in the high minors. I'm not sure there's even necessarily a setup guy in there, but you can fill out the fifth through seventh with what's in Pawtucket right now, almost certainly.