Red Sox Prospect Watch: Halfway Point of the Season
As the All Star Break is upon us, here is a quick look at highlights of the Red Sox system. Included are two players who could get called up in September.
The All-Star Break is something that both players and fans love to see. The players get a much needed couple of days to recharge the batteries. And the fans get two nights of truly exciting baseball. This year, the Home Run Derby was “must-watch” TV with the emergence of young stars in baseball. And the All-Star Game featured five players in both starting lineups under the age of 25.
With the entire league going through a youth revolution, where does that leave the Boston Red Sox? At the major league level, they have a young core that could rival most teams. While their minor league system was considered to be elite just 2 years ago, trades have taken some of the talent away.
That being said, there are still some players in the system that are extremely talented. Just a couple days ago, a member of the Pawtucket Red Sox won the Triple-A Home Run Derby. Also, three members of the system have just been named to the Baseball America Midseason Top 100 List.
So clearly, this system is very talented. But there are many questions that can be asked. Are they any players that could be called up and make an immediate impact? Which players seem to be unfairly rated, both over and under? If the Red Sox wanted to unload more prospects at the deadline, who might be on the move?
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox have this great young core of players, but all have passed their prospect status. Andrew Benintendi, Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, and Jackie Bradley Jr are all young players, but have logged too many innings to be considered a prospect. But, there are currently only two prospects on this current team.
That would be Sam Travis and Tzu-Wei Lin. I’ve spoke my praises on multiple occasions on Travis, so this is going to be all about the “Tzunami”. Lin was signed as an international free agent all the way back in 2012. Ben Cherington saw something in an undersized 18 year-old from Taiwan.
Lin was not ranked in the top 30 Red Sox prospects by MLB. In fact, if a Red Sox fan was asked even a month ago who Tzu-Wei Lin is, they would more than likely not know who he was. But, after getting called up, Lin has done nothing but been a hot bat that the team has utilized in his short time with the club.
It is obvious that the third base situation has been an absolute mess from day one for the Red Sox. Pablo Sandoval will go down in the history of Boston sports as the worst free agent signing this city has ever seen. When you somehow make Carl Crawford‘s time in Boston pale in comparison to your time, there is a serious problem.
Make no mistake about it, Tzu-Wei Lin is not the “key piece” that the Red Sox have been missing. If he was, maybe the reports that Boston is still looking at upgrading the third base position wouldn’t keep popping up. But in the mean time, there are very few times sports can be this fun. So let’s enjoy the ride, and see where the Tzunami takes us next.
Pawtucket Red Sox
Triple-A baseball is a very different level of baseball. If a player is there for a long period of time, it points to the fact that they are probably a career minor leaguer. But, there are always stories of players that emerge into a full-fledged major league player.
We might be watching another one of those stories unfolding with Bryce Brentz. The former Middle Tennessee State Blue Raider, Brentz was a first round pick all the way back in 2010. At one point, he was the 6th highest rated prospect in the system.
In the offseason after the 2012 season, Brentz accidentally shot himself in the leg. He missed the beginning of the 2013 season in Pawtucket, and things were compounded when he tore his meniscus in July. After 2013, he started to struggle heavily in Pawtucket.
Over the past couple seasons, many pundits wrote Brentz off. There was a serious lack of offensive production, and Brentz has always been an average defender. But, this season it seems that he is turning back into the offensive powerhouse that he was a couple years ago.
May 23rd is the date that Bryce Brentz seemed to turn around his production this year. He has been an offensive juggernaut, leading some offensive categories in both major and minor league baseball. Here is a tweet that has illustrated the production Brentz has provided for the PawSox.
Bryce Brentz since May 23:
— Pawtucket Red Sox (@PawSox) June 28, 2017
RBI: 35 (1st in MLB/MiLB)
OPS: 1.196 (2nd in MLB/MiLB)
SLG: .748 (3rd in MLB/MiLB)
HR: 13 (t-3rd in MLB/MiLB) pic.twitter.com/TRiwlv1uUR
Now, the outfield for Boston is one of the most secure parts of the team. Betts, JBJ, and Benintendi should be the outfield at Fenway for the next number of years. But, the offensive production of Brentz will warrant him a September call-up at the very least. And, there is a school of thought that he might get called up even earlier.
Yes, Chris Young is the 4th outfielder who John Farrell has used in matchups against left-handed pitchers. But, Young has only 4 home runs on the entire season. Now, obviously major league pitching is more talented than minor league. But, if the Red Sox wanted to shake things up, calling up Brentz to be the 4th outfielder might add some life to the offense.
Portland Sea Dogs
In 2017, Hadlock Field has been the showcase of one player. The 20 year old Dominican sensation at the hot corner, Rafael Devers has put on a show for the great people of Maine. One of the best prospects not only for the Red Sox, but all of baseball, Devers has been on fire for the Sea Dogs.
Devers is currently on the temporary inactive list. What that means is the player is not hurt, but he is unable to play. There are a couple reasons that this happens. Sometimes it is because the player is dealing with a family emergency. That is not the case for Devers.
The reason he is on this list is due to acquisitions the Red Sox have made. Pablo Sandoval is currently on a rehab stint for an ear infection. Dave Dombrowski signed Jhonny Peralta to a minor league contract a couple weeks ago. The school of thought is that the Red Sox will be releasing one of these two players (probably Peralta), and Devers will be getting called up to Pawtucket once that roster move happens.
Rafael Devers is hitting .300 with 18 home runs in 77 games this season. Again, he is only 20 years old. Make no mistake, he is the future of third base for the Boston Red Sox. But, expect him to make his major league debut when the rosters expand to 40 men in September.
If Devers is able to effectively hit at the major league level, there is a good chance that when the Red Sox go into the postseason, he is the third baseman. If not, he could be the everyday third baseman as early as April/May of next season.
Salem, Greenville, and Lowell
In Class A baseball, the future is on full display. For the Boston Red Sox, their first round draft pick has been assigned to the Lowell Spinners. Tanner Houck, the former ace for the University of Missouri, will look to start his career for the Boston Red Sox in a city only 45 minutes away.
It will be very interesting to see how Houck does. Last year, Jason Groome only was able to pitch 2.2 innings for Lowell. Houck should be starting for Lowell before the season ends, but he has not registered into a game just yet.
One of Groome’s teammates in Greenville has been one of the best stories in all of the Red Sox system. Bryan Mata, an 18 year-old Venezuelan right hander, has been a very productive starter for the Drive. Signed as an international free agent in January of last year, Mata was very productive last season for the Dominican Red Sox.
Transitioning to Greenville this year, he has been great in his 7 games he has started. Mata sports an ERA a shade over 3 while being able to strike out over 30 batters. Also, his strikeout to walk ratio is 4:1, which shows that he is able to get batters out while controlling the baseball.
Next: Betts makes All-Star impact with his glove
When you look at the future of the Boston Red Sox, it is clear that the system has changed the direction they have gone in. Their young core was built on the backs of position players. Now, due to the idea that these young players should be in Boston for the considerable future, it seems like the focus in on developing young arms. They have made a young core of Groome, Mata, and Houck. If all are MLB ready in 3-4 years, the Red Sox might have one of the best emerging rotations in baseball.