Red Sox Prospect Watch: Devers and Wilkerson impressing
Triple-A Pawtucket
The name Aaron Wilkerson is coming up lately in Red Sox Nation due to his excellence at Triple-A this season. He is 4-2 with a 2.44 ERA this season, allowing just 41 hits over 48 innings while striking out 54 batters. The independent league veteran is 27 years old. His development was slowed by a Tommy John injury in his senior year at NAIA Cumberland University. While that cited article has good facts otherwise about the Texas native, Wilkerson has not actually been brought up.
Rusney Castillo has been ordinary this season at Pawtucket, logging just a .250/.304/.344 batting line. He does have a modest four game hitting streak at the moment, going six for 14 with a homer and double and two walks. If he doesn’t figure out how to improve soon, he will go down as one of the worst signings in history.
Henry Owens continues to be the Clay Buchholz of the minor league system, showing flashes of brilliance but never able to put it together for a sustained period. With a starter spot there for the taking, Owens has continue to struggle, walking 52 batters in 77 innings, allowing a 3.86 ERA and striking out 73 though allowing only 61 hits. His days as the top pitching prospect in the organization would appear to be behind him.
Next: Double-A Portland
Double-A Portland
It took a month, but Andrew Benintendi has settled in well to Double-A. After a .531 OPS in May, the first round pick slugged a .886 OPS in June with ten walks compared to just 12 strikeouts in 105 at-bats in the month. For the season in Portland, he has raised his numbers to a very respectable .289/.343/.497 slash line. His last five games have been outstanding, nine for 19 with two doubles, two triples and a homer to go along with two walks. A September call-up is likely in the works to see what they have with him going forward.
Yoan Moncada is the other name thrown around to cure what ails the Red Sox of late, though he can’t pitch so he probably couldn’t help for what they need. He continues to produce offensively, going six for 21 over his last five games with a homer, two doubles, two triples, two walks and a steal. His .292/.320/.563 slash line over his first 11 games in Portland is exactly what the team had hoped for in his march toward Major League stardom.
Mauricio Dubon has cooled off after his five hit splash into Double-A over his first three games ten days ago. In the six games since, he is just four for 23 with a triple and six strikeouts. Those who think he might be a sub for an obviously tiring Xander Bogaerts should slow their roll on that score. In nine games at Portland, his OPS stands at .698.
Next: High-A Salem
High-A Salem
Rafael Devers had his own growing pains this season (see Benintendi section), after a .504 OPS in April, some might have thought the 19 year old was over his head. He has slowly brought his numbers up this year, .652 OPS in May, and a .738 OPS in June. If his last first two games of July are any indication, he is continuing to improve, falling just a single short of a cycle last night, while showing great patience, taking two walks instead of pushing for the cycle. If he isn’t traded away for a starting pitcher, we should be seeing Devers at Fenway in a couple years.
Joseph Monge has shown that his promotion to Salem on May 26 was the right move for the Red Sox to make in his development. After an .877 OPS in Low-A Salem, Monge slugged an .818 OPS in June as part of a .746 OPS for his season in Salem. He has knocked in nine runs over this last ten contests, which included a seven game hitting streak and a four RBI game. The outfielder hails from Bronx, NY and is a graduate of the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy in Puerto Rico.
Bobby Poyner continues to make his way back from his four run, 55 pitch nightmare of June 12. His two inning appearance this week was an efficient one, finishing his outing in just 25 pitches, allowing one hit. The University of Florida star did not strike out anyone but also issued no walks. For a reliever, a terrible outing can destroy your ERA (as Red Sox reliever Robbie Ross, Jr. saw last night when his season ERA increased by two runs), so his 3.72 ERA over 9.2 Salem inning might seem high, but he was only scored upon in that one bad appearance.
Next: Low-A Greenville
Low-A Greenville
Jake Cosart should be on his way up to Salem soon, considering his eye-popping numbers in Greenville. When you have struck out 54 batters in 39.1 innings, allowing just 24 hits (.179 BAA), you should ready for it to happen. Perhaps the concern is the 20 walks he has issued over those 39.1 innings. In his last appearance on June 30, he struck out six over three perfect innings, needing just 41 pitches to get the job done. The right hander should be on your radar of important Red Sox prospects at this point.
Kyri Washington is a name that should also be one Red Sox fans know. His .293/.326/.577 batting line is one that grabs your attention. He also has ten steals to go along with his 15 doubles, two triples and 12 homers on the season. The 2015 23rd rounder out of Longwood University posted just a .722 OPS last season, but has obviously matured into an offensive force. The leftfielder is batting cleanup for the Drive. His 62 strikeouts compared to 11 walks in 208 at-bats is a concern, but he has also driven in 53 runs in 54 games.
Michael Chavis has come down to Earth since coming back from a thumb injury that kept him out from late April to early June. He had a homer in his last start, but before that he had five hitless games, taking an 0 for 19 collar over that time. As a first rounder (2014) he will certainly get time to develop. For the year he has a .287/.359/.453 batting line with ten extra base hits over 119 at-bats.
Next: Short Season Lowell
Short Season Lowell
Yoan Aybar has started off the season strong with a .320/.358/.440 batting line in his first 50 at-bats. The 19 year old centerfielder has just three walks so far this season, but over all, his .798 OPS this season shows improvement over last year’s .635 mark.
Carlos Tovar, the Spinners shortstop is a Venezuela native. He has posted a .298/.353/.468 line this season over 47 at-bats. The five foot eleven shortstop also shows little patience this season as he too has walked just three times this season in almost as many at-bats as Aybar. While the patience is currently lacking, the .468 slugging mark is an encouraging one.
Gerson Bautista is a right handed pitcher ranked 46th in the SoxProspects.com’s list of top Red Sox prospects. The 21 year old Dominican was suspended for the 2013 season for PEDs. If he can stay clean, perhaps he can help in the bullpen in a few years. This season he is off to a fast start with a scoreless 7.1 innings over five appearances, allowing just four hits. Bautista has walked just one batter while striking out eight.
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Casey Janssen is a project at this point at 34 years old. He has 110 major league saves to his credit, which is what makes him intriguing for trying to help the bullpen at some point down the stretch. The fact that he has not done well thus far at Lowell has to be a concern. After a scoreless first two appearances, he has allowed three runs on four hits over 2.1 innings of work. He has struck out five in 4.1 innings. The Red Sox might say he is just working things out so far and needs to get back into the major league grind, but unless he has a few good appearances, they might let Janssen go if he can’t get Short-A hitters out.
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