Shane Drohan was caught ‘off guard a little bit’ on his promotion to Triple-A
The Red Sox promoted top pitching prospect Shane Drohan to Triple-A Worcester on Monday. The left-handed standout had been dominating Double-A lineups all season.
The left-hander made his WooSox debut on Thursday night in front of the WooSox crowd at Polar Park.
Despite pitching at the highest level of his professional career, he wasn’t phased by the moment.
“I’m not nervous,” said Drohan.
The soft spoken native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida seemed calm as he sat by his locker, scrolling on his cell phone in the empty WooSox locker room.
His call up was a dream come true, but also knows this is just another stop in his journey to Fenway Park.
“It’s the goal for all of us minor leaguers is to move up the ladder and get closer to the big leagues,” said Drohan.
With his promotion to the WooSox, Drohan becomes the first draft pick by chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom to play above Double-A.
Drohan posted a 5-0 record with a 1.32 ERA with 36 strikeouts, and 0.82 WHIP in six starts. The Red Sox named him the organization’s starting pitcher of the month for April.
Even though his performance warranted his promotion, the 24-year-old was surprised when he heard the news.
“I was a little surprised,” said Drohan on his call-up.
“It’s so early in the year, it did catch me off guard a little bit when the pitching coach [Shawn] came over and said ‘hey the you get dressed, come into Eppey’s office [Chad Epperson]. It’s usually one where you kind of have to feel it out,” added Drohan.
WooSox manager Chad Tracy had one important message for his new southpaw ahead of his first Triple-A start, to be himself.
“Were glad to have you, please be yourself, don’t change anything because you’ve moved up a level and you feel like you need to do something different,” said Tracy.
Drohan echoed the same sentiment of his new skipper on his approach with the WooSox.
“I’m going to have the same approach I have always had, I am going to go out there and be myself. I am going to do what I do well and not deviate from that. We’ve come up with a good plan for me, I want to attack hitters until teams prove I need to change that approach,” said Drohan.
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