01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, July 21, 2005

BY JOE McDONALD
Journal Sports Writer

PAWTUCKET -- Manny Delcarmen's pitching has been described as dirty, nasty and soiled, similar to Pig Pen, the character in the Peanuts cartoon.

Fortunately for the 23-year-old right-handed pitching prospect for the Boston Red Sox, that's meant to be a compliment. Whereas Pig Pen is always surrounded by a cloud of dust, Delcarmen has an aura of confidence.

"Get rid of the cloud of filth and put the words confidence all inside that cloud," said PawSox pitching coach Mike Griffin. "He doesn't come out and talk it, he shows it."

Delcarmen, a Hyde Park, Mass., native, is well spoken. He's intelligent and has a genuine love for his craft. The only thing missing is a trip to the majors and the opportunity to pitch in front of the hometown crowd at Fenway Park. He admits that he's probably sat in almost every section at Fenway and there's only one more spot he would like to try -- the mound.

Since Delcarmen's arrival at the Triple-A level on July 6, the seats at McCoy Stadium have

been loaded with 40 to 50 of his closest family and friends. Some players have a difficult time performing in front of the hometown crowd; Delcarmen enjoys it. So, when he finally toes the rubber at Fenway Park, there will be a lot of focus on him.

"With all my family and friends, once I make it, it's going to be crazy," he said. "Being from Boston and knowing how the fans are, it's going to be awesome."

Delcarmen has been honing his skills in the minors for the last five years.

"He's right where he needs to be," said Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson. "He's got plus stuff and I've been pleased with Manny's preparation, because that's something we focus on with a young guy at this level. He's been able to maintain that and I've been impressed with his mound presence and composure. He's just defining his skills.

"To date he's adjusted very well. I've been very pleased. We all know about his fastball -- it's hard. But the most impressive thing is that he's able to throw his curveball and changeup for strikes when he's behind in the count."

It's unusual for a young pitcher to come up to this level and have command of his off-speed pitches. But Delcarmen clearly has that ability. And he has the confidence to go with that.

He's so confident that when he arrives on the mound, Griffin can sit back and relax. When Delmaren does get hit around, which hasn't been too often, you'll see him step off the mound, take a deep breath, compose himself and rebound.

In four appearances for the PawSox, he's 0-1 with a 2.57 E.R.A with two walks and 10 strikeouts.

He's already wowed fans at McCoy with his electrifying fastball, which hit 99 miles per hour on the radar gun recently. The gun at McCoy may not always be accurate because of its high angle behind the plate. Still, he regularly reaches 97 on the gun.

"Everybody likes to talk about his fastball," said Griffin. "Well, I do too. It's hard. It's outstanding, but for a young pitcher at this level to show me that he can throw his breaking ball and changeup for strikes when he's behind in the count says it all for me."

Since the Red Sox bullpen has struggled this season, Delcarmen gains a little bit of inspiration knowing that there could be an opportunity in Boston.

"If there's an opportunity," he says, "you have to jump on it and not let it slip by because you never know. But, I'm ready to go."

Originally a starter, the Red Sox converted him into a relief pitcher this season and it has worked. He had Tommy John surgery in 2003 and hasn't had any setbacks. He says he's 100 percent. Working out of the bullpen certainly helps.

"I'm comfortable coming out of the bullpen," he said. "I've been throwing the ball well. I'm still learning coming out of the pen."

The Sox' second-round pick in the 2000 First-Player Draft, Delcarmen needs to improve his overall command, according to one major league scout. The scout added that the young right-hander has excellent stuff and he will improve once the natural progression takes over and he logs more innings.

The Sox have been very careful with Delcarmen's development. During his first pro season as an 18-year-old rookie in 2001, he was playing well for the Gulf Coast League Red Sox. Instead of promoting him to Single-A Lowell, where he could play in front of the hometown fans and possibly lose focus, the Sox decided to keep him where he was.

At the time Delcarmen was disappointed, but in retrospect he realizes it was the right thing.

In 2002 he played for Augusta and spent the last two seasons in Sarasota. A star shortstop at West Roxbury High School, his father convinced him to concentrate on pitching after his junior year and the rest is history.

With the July 31 trade deadline, there's always talk about prospects being part of a deal. Delcarmen's name has not been part of the rumor mill and he's not even worried about it. His goal is to play for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

When that will become reality for him remains to be seen, so what is his the timetable?

"That's a good question," said Griffin. "I've thought a lot about that lately. Is he ready? I'm looking at it from a development side of the pitcher and I think he needs a little more time here to continue to get his feet wet. I think he's close, don't get me wrong. But as far as development standpoint, I think he needs to log a few more innings here first."

Still, it shouldn't be long before Pig Pen demonstrates his dirty, filthy, nasty ability at the big league level.