Wearing Sox of a different color now

Published 10:34 pm Monday, January 5, 2015

Don’t write off former Dalton High School baseball standout Mitchell Boggs just yet.

Following a 2014 season spent in the minor leagues, the right-handed reliever will get a chance to compete for a spot on the 25-man roster for the Boston Red Sox next month after signing a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.

Despite a pair of seasons that weren’t up to par with the success he had enjoyed in the past, Boggs hopes a change of scenery with what he considers a top-notch ballclub will change his fortunes.

“It’s an organization that I’ve always had a ton of respect for,” Boggs said in a phone interview with The Daily Citizen on Monday. “I was in college in 2004 when they won that first World Series (since 1918), and you understand that it’s one of the best organizations in sports. The fans, the staff, the entire organization seems like a really good fit.”

Boggs, a 2002 graduate of Dalton High School who went on to play for the University of Georgia, signed a $1.1 million deal with the Chicago White Sox shortly before spring training last year, but he was cut on March 23 after posting a 12.79 ERA in seven relief appearances in the Cactus League. He was signed to a minor league deal by the same club just a week later and was assigned to the Charlotte (N.C.) Knights, the Triple-A affiliate of the White Sox.

Boggs spent half of the 2014 season in Charlotte, where he posted a 2-3 record and 9.50 ERA in 36 innings of work before being released on July 1. He was signed to a minor league contract a couple weeks later by the Fresno (Calif.) Grizzlies, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, and he went 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA over the rest of the season.

“It was a tough year, but that’s part of it,” Boggs said. “I’m feeling good about how I’m throwing the baseball right now, and it’s a chance for me to bounce back.”

A fifth-round draft pick for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2005, Boggs spent the better part of six seasons in that organization, making his MLB debut as a starting pitcher for the Cardinals in 2008.

While in St. Louis — mainly as an eighth-inning setup man — Boggs posted a 13-15 record and 4.17 ERA. He was part of the Cardinals’ World Series title win in 2011 before being traded to the Colorado Rockies in July 2013.

Boggs enjoyed his best MLB season in 2012, when he finished 4-1 with a 2.21 ERA in 78 appearances with a National League-leading 34 holds.

His career took a turn for the worse at the start of the 2013 season after being asked to move into the closer’s role for the Cardinals following a season-ending injury to Jason Motte, their projected closer. Boggs posted four saves in 2011 and two in 2013, when he went 0-3 with an 11.05 ERA in 18 appearances before being traded. He posted a 3.12 ERA in nine games with Colorado’s MLB club.

Boggs believes his experience with the Cardinals, another historically highly-regarded MLB organization, is part of the reason Boston — which added World Series titles in 2007 and 2013 — showed interest.

“I think there was some interest on (Boston’s) part because they know that I know how an organization like that runs and what the expectations are,” Boggs said. “I’ll be able to come in and compete. I’m excited because I understand what that organization represents.”

Boggs said the challenge of competing for a spot on the team is nothing new to him.

“I’ve gone into spring camp in the past with the Cardinals,” Boggs said, “and I’m certainly not shy with the competition, I’ve been there before.”