A Red Sox fan’s minor league All-Stars
By Rick McNair
Mar 7, 2015; Sarasota, FL, USA; A general view of Boston Red Sox hat and glove laying in the dugout at a spring training baseball game at Ed Smith Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Infielders and catcher
When you pay a signing bonus that shatters all records you better produce – not for yourself, but for baseball operations that approved such a contract. Yoan Moncada has done just that.
The slow start in lowly Greenville was attributed to rust and that was a spot on analysis. When Moncada took off it was like a P-51 Mustang. A switch hitter with speed, power, agility and about a hundred other superlatives. Recently a comparison to Mike Trout surfaced.
Moncada, age 20, slashed .278/.380/.438 with eight home runs and 38 RBI for The Drive. And the speed! A final total of 49 steals in 81 games. Moncada will move up fast (no pun intended).
Marco Hernandez appears to be a PTBNL that may actually accomplish something. Extracted from the Cubs in exchange for Felix Doubront the free swinger (17 walks) slashed an impressive .326/.349/.482 at Portland to warrant an advance to Pawtucket.
The 23-year-old left handed hitter started slow at Pawtucket, but finished at .271. Hernandez has some excellent speed, but that hasn’t translated into a bundle of steals. Hernandez also is a fundamentally sound shortstop with a strong arm. Look for him to be at Pawtucket in 2016.
Javier Guerra is – yet again – another shortstop. The 19-year old is a left-handed hitter with exceptional defensive skills. A native of Panama (so was Rod Carew) Guerra slashed .279/.329/.449 in his full season 116 games for the Greenville Drive. The attention getter was 15 home runs and 68 RBI.
When the Red Sox talk trade invariably the name Rafael Devers is mentioned somewhere in the discussion.
The 18-year-old left-hand hitter played third for the Greenville Drive and slashed .288/.329/.443 with 11 home runs and 70 RBI. What the scouts mention is his hitting potential and his physical “room to grow” that means legitimate MLB power potential.
Devers will move up next season and may just finish off the season in Portland.
Sam Travis moved from Salem to Portland during the season and the jump had no impact on his performance. Travis, a right-handed hitting first baseman, is a second round draft choice in 2014 who slashed .300/.384/.436 at Portland.
Travis’ extra base potential was on display in 2015 with a combined nine home runs and 72 RBI while hitting 32 doubles and six triples. Travis may be locked in at first base for the 2016 PawSox.
Mauricio Dubon is primarily a shortstop, but has seen extensive duty at second base and a bit at third base.
A 21-year-old right-hand hitter who split duty between Salem and Greenville in 2015 for a combined slash of .288/.349/.376 with 30 steals in 37 attempts. Dubon has good defensive skills and versatility that may offer opportunity.
Michael Chavis is a raw talent with some excellent power potential. Chavis plays primarily at third with some DH tossed in. Two things stand out is the home runs (16) and the strikeouts (144). At 20-years-old Chavis the .223/.277/.405 slash will have to improve.
Being a catcher in the Red Sox system is not the most fortuitous position to be in with Blake Swihart and Christian Vasquez both young and talented.
Jordan Procyshen, a 22-year-old right-hand bat, started out in Greenville and moved on to Salem half way through the season and moving up a level showed as his average dipped from .285 to .209. Procyshen is, like the rest of the catchers in the system, a long way off.