Kevin Thomas, Portland Press Herald - His patience at the plate appears mighty familiar; Zach Daeges is putting up numbers with the Sea Dogs that compare well with alum Kevin Youkilis
Daeges is strong, but he prefers a solid line drive or even a walk to a towering fly ball that may reach the fence – or may not. He has only one home run, but no one is worried.
Daeges is batting .349, top among the Sea Dogs and third in the Eastern League.
But where Daeges excels is in his discipline at the plate. He does not swing at bad pitches. Even though he missed 18 days with a sprained wrist, he is third in the league in walks with 35 and leads in on-base percentage at .488.
Sea Dogs fans have not seen a batter this prolific at reaching base since 2003. And Portland hitting coach Dave Joppie does not hesitate to make comparisons.
"To me, he's a left-handed-hitting Kevin Youkilis," Joppie said. "He just exemplifies our offensive philosophy to the fullest extent."
The Red Sox philosophy is to take pitches until you get a good one to hit. It is why Boston hits so well, driving up the pitch counts of the opposing pitcher.
"It's pretty impressive the way he gets into counts," Sea Dogs Manager Arnie Beyeler said of Daeges. "He's got that Youkilis-type plate discipline."