Red Sox Prospect Watch: Halfway Point of the Season
By Mike El-Far
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.