Certain Boston Red Sox players have left for the World Baseball Classic, opening up the doors for prospects to get their chance to make a mark.
Due to the World Baseball Classic, some members of the Boston Red Sox have left camp to represent their countries. Xander Bogaerts has joined the Netherlands team, while both Fernando Abad and Eduardo Rodriguez are trying to win it all for their homeland.
Due to their absence, there is now more playing time for younger players that could benefit from MLB-caliber experience. There are certain players, like Sam Travis, who have already been crushing the ball this spring. The counter to that is certain players like Brian Johnson who have continued to under-perform.
All of these statistics have to be taken with a grain of salt. For most pitchers, Spring Training is a place where they are able to work on pitches they might not have full control of. Also, they might be trying to refine a current pitch they have, or starting a new pitch sequence with their catcher. And the same argument for pitchers can carry over for position players. Most of these guys are not seeing the best types of pitches, or a pitch sequence that is very easy to predict.
With that being said, Spring Training is somewhere that a young player can start getting into a rhythm that can carry over into the regular season. The number one young player that Boston would like to carry his hot start is also the number one prospect in baseball: Andrew Benintendi.