Chorye Spoone, pitcher

Will he amount to anything?

Almost certainly not. Spoone is a Baltimore-area boy, drafted out of a local junior college. He pitched well enough in his first two full seasons to establish himself as a prospect, then hurt his shoulder in the middle of 2008 and spent 2009 recuperating. He was a 24-year-old at AA in 2010, and stayed in the rotation all season. He even pitched superficially well, but a 79-88 BB/K ratio in 132 innings was a strong indication that he wasn’t really fully recovered.

He was promoted to Norfolk early in the 2011 season, and he made eight starts. In the starts I saw, Spoone pitched tentatively, as if he were afraid to challenge hitters. His starts were tortuously slow, and his statistics show someone intimidated by the environment — 34 innings in eight starts (indicating that he was throwing a lot of pitches), a 26-16 BB/K ratio, only one home run allowed. He was demoted to Bowie and shifted to the bullpen; his 2011 Bowie stats are about the same as his 2010 Bowie stats.

Now 26, Spoone has signed with the Red Sox for 2012. He hasn’t established himself in AA. He doesn’t have good control or command. That’s a lot of reasons for pessimism about his future.