Jordan Weems hadn’t pitched since his freshman year of high school, having been exclusively a catcher his entire pro career.
But this season, the 23-year-old Red Sox prospect traded in his catcher’s gear and took the mound, pitching 17 innings in the Gulf Coast League before moving up to Single A Lowell.
“I’ve always been blessed with a good arm, and I think they recognized that,’’ Weems said. “I had some success [catching], but I feel like I was a little too up and down, not very consistent, so I made the transition to pitching and I’ve picked it up pretty nicely, I think.
“Just listening to all the coaches we have in our organization, just taking what they have to say, and going in stride with it.’’
Weems was selected by the Red Sox in the third round of the 2011 draft. He caught 14 games in the Gulf Coast League in 2011 and played at Single A Greenville in 2012 and 2013. He was promoted to High A Salem during the 2014 season and to Double A Portland last year.
A career .193 hitter, Weems began this season with the Sea Dogs, but he played first base in the 18 games he appeared in. He made his pitching debut June 25 with the GCL Red Sox, tossing just one-third of an inning but earning the win. He pitched in eight games in the GCL, allowing six hits and two earned runs over those 17 innings for a 1.06 ERA. He also recorded 10 strikeouts.
“I feel like being on the catching side of it helped me a lot because I’ve always been around pitchers,’’ Weems said. “I’ve always had to coach them. Just being around the pitchers and the coaching staff and listening to how they correct guys who maybe fly open, or their arm’s dragging.’’
The 6-foot-3-inch righthander has a fastball and a curveball in his arsenal and is working on developing a changeup.
“I’m just excited to work with Lance Carter, our pitching coach,’’ Weems said. “He’s been an All-Star in the big leagues, so I was really excited when I was told I was coming here just to get to work with him.
“You don’t get to work with guys like that every day.’’
Weems has made two appearances on the mound for Lowell. He earned a win Wednesday night despite allowing two earned runs on three hits in two innings.
“I’ll always miss catching,’’ Weems said. “My dad was a catcher, my brother’s a catcher. I’m from a family of catchers. When you grow up and that’s all you know and that’s what you love to do, I’ll always miss that.’’
However, he doesn’t see himself getting back behind the plate.
“I’m committed to this change, and that’s what I’m going to do,’’ he said. “I feel like this is my best opportunity to get to the big leagues now, so I’m going to listen to all the coaching and just go with it.’’
Hill is tops in Lowell
Drafted by the Red Sox in the 19th round in 2014, 20-year-old outfielder Tyler Hill is making a name for himself in Lowell, leading the Spinners with a .378 average and a .983 OPS. He also leads the team in hits (54) RBIs (27), and runs (25).
“All this year I’ve been trying to work on staying into one plan,’’ Hill said. “And even if something’s going wrong try to stick through it, grind through it, not try to change too much, and so far it’s working pretty well, obviously.’’
Hill has hit safely in eight of his last 10 games and has helped Lowell take hold of first place in the New York-Penn League Stedler Division.
“I like playing in front of the fans and stuff; the fans in Lowell are great,’’ he said. “Right now I just want to win and we’re doing that right now.’’
Good work by Kopech
Michael Kopech allowed one hit (a soft single), walked one, and struck out a career-high 10 over six scoreless innings for Salem Tuesday night. In 28⅓ innings spanning six starts, Kopech has a 1.27 ERA with 42 strikeouts and 16 walks. His dominance and ability to overpower hitters with his fastball might suggest a promotion to Portland, but his need to make up lost innings makes it more likely that he’ll stay in Salem — particularly given that Salem will be in the playoffs, meaning more starts — then pitch in a fall or instructional league . . . On Tuesday, righthander Teddy Stankiewicz became the first Sea Dogs pitcher to ever throw a one-hit shutout, matching his season high with seven strikeouts in the process . . . Also on Tuesday, 18-year-old Roniel Raudes allowed one run on three hits and a walk over six innings for Greenville while matching a season high with eight strikeouts. The strike-throwing righthander is now 9-4 with a 4.22 ERA, 90 strikeouts, and 18 walks in 91⅔ innings.
Alex Speier of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Emily McCarthy can be reached at emily.mccarthy@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @emilymccahthy.
