Shoppach doesn't appear ready to hit the next level

With the weeks dwindling until Jason Varitek enters free agency, the Red Sox continue to carefully monitor Kelly Shoppach, their catcher of the future, in his climb toward the majors. The Sox like most of what they have seen at Triple A Pawtucket from Shoppach, though it remains highly uncertain whether he can make the adjustments at the plate to help the parent club next season.

For the first time in his career, Shoppach has struggled offensively over the course of a season. While he has flashed plenty of power -- his 20 home runs surpass the 16 Varitek hit in his final year at Triple A in 1997 -- Shoppach has yet to achieve the plate discipline he may need to make it in the bigs. Entering last night, he was batting .230 with a .312 on-base percentage while striking out 119 times in 339 at-bats. At his current pace, Shoppach would break Pawtucket's record for strikeouts in a season, set by Phil Plantier in 1990 with 148.

"It's really just about having more consistent at-bats and refining his mental approach at the plate," said Ben Cherington, Boston's director of player development.

Shoppach has impressed the Sox with his defense and his skill in handling Pawtucket's pitching staff. With a strong arm and rapid release, he has thrown out 37 percent (32 of 87) of runners trying to steal. He has earned praise for his pitch-calling from major leaguers such as Scott Williamson who have made rehab stops this year at Pawtucket.

Sox executives are pragmatic enough to understand he is only 24 and less than three years removed from winning the Johnny Bench Award as the nation's top collegiate catcher as a junior at Baylor in 2001.

"He's adapting to the Triple A level, and it's not atypical for a young catcher to struggle a little bit because of the adjustments he needs to make in addition to dealing with the pitching staff," Cherington said.

Shoppach, who hit .276 over his first two pro seasons at Single A Sarasota and Double A Portland, has been unable to push his average this season higher than .249 in early July. He hurt his cause by hitting only .174 in July before he began to show signs of improvement by batting .303 over his first nine games in August.

The Sox have yet to decide which minor leaguers will join the parent club after Sept. 1, when they can expand their 25-man roster. But they may conclude that Shoppach would be better served playing out the Triple A schedule, then beginning to prepare for spring training.

"He's knocking on the door," Cherington said. "He just needs a little more time at that level."

Ex-Husky is now a Sea Dog

Irrepressible lefthander Greg Montalbano, who has overcome multiple surgeries related to cancer and shoulder woes, is attempting another comeback with Portland. Montalbano, 26, a former Northeastern star from Westborough, made his third appearance Friday for the Sea Dogs, allowing two hits and three walks over three scoreless innings. The lefthander has held opponents scoreless over 7 1/3 innings in the three outings . . . Pawtucket outfielder Adam Hyzdu, who was named the International League Player of the Week, was batting .538 (21 for 39) with four homers and 13 RBIs through his first 11 games in August . . . Former Toronto righthander Scott Cassidy has been hot lately for Pawtucket, pitching 11 scoreless innings in his last four outings . . . Lefthanded-hitting outfielder Brandon Moss, who was promoted to Sarasota from Single A Augusta after leading the South Atlantic League with a .339 batting average, 147 hits, and 101 RBIs, was named Boston's minor league Player of the Month for July. He went 2 for 3 Wednesday in his debut for Sarasota. Moss replaced Matt Murton, who was traded to the Cubs in the four-team deal involving Nomar Garciaparra. Murton was batting .267 through his first eight games for Chicago's Single A Daytona . . . Sarasota righthander Jon Papelbon won the organization's Pitcher of the Month honors after he went 3-0 with a 1.30 ERA in five starts in July. He is 5-0 with a 1.16 ERA in his last seven starts. Overall, Papelbon is 11-5, ranking among the league leaders in wins, ERA (.285), and strikeouts (135) . . . Lefthander Randy Beam has saved five games and held opponents scoreless over 12 innings in nine appearances since he was promoted from short-season Single A Lowell to Augusta. Beam was an 18th-round selection in June out of Florida Atlantic . . . Lowell lefthander R.J. Swindle, a 14th-rounder in June out of Charleston Southern, was named the New York-Penn League Pitcher of the Week after going 2-0 while pitching 11 scoreless innings. He allowed just two hits and struck out 16 over the 11 innings without walking a batter . . . Third baseman Dustin Kelly, a 15th-round pick this year from Cuesta College in California, ranked among the leaders in the Gulf Coast League for the organization's rookie team with a .311 batting average and .407 on-base percentage . . . The Sox appear close to signing their top high school recruit, 12th-round lefthander Mike Rozier out of Henry County, Ga. Rozier, 19, was particularly difficult to land because he had signed a letter-of-intent to play football and baseball at the University of North Carolina, which considered him a top quarterback prospect.