Bryce Brentz: Outfielder
Alright, so Bryce Brentz isn’t exactly new. After being drafted in the first round in 2010, Brentz has already made two separate appearances in Boston. He was called up for 9 games in late September of 2014 and batted .308 with 2 doubles before the end of the year.
He was called up again last year and appeared in 25 games from June 24th till August 10th. He managed to hit .279/.313/.377 with 1 HR before being sent back down.
It seemed like Brentz was all out of chances and was outrighted off the 40-man last year. No one claimed the struggling outfielder and he has remained in the Red Sox system. However, this year it looks like the 28-year-old may have finally broken through.
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This season in Pawtucket, Brentz has slashed .279/.344/.538 with 30 home runs. He also won the minor league home run derby, and looks like he’s finally developed some legitimate power.
You can’t really compare minor league stats to the majors, but Brentz and his 30 home runs would be leading the Red Sox by almost 10. If that’s not worth a late season flier, I don’t know what is.
Another under the radar addition is lefty reliever Jalen Beeks, who has been tearing up the minor leagues this season. Beeks, 23, has held opponents to a .213 batting average on his way to a 2.69 ERA over 130.1 innings of minor league ball.
He reminds me a lot of Robby Scott last season, and much like Scott, he should be called up and given a chance to face big-league hitting. Fernando Abad is in the final year of his contract, and with a strong showing this fall, Beeks could be pitching himself into a major league job.
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The only tricky part here is that Bryce and Beeks would have to be added onto the 40 man. That’s not an insurmountable obstacle by any means, but it might spell the end of Henry Owens, Austin Maddox, or Ben Taylor. Taylor is currently on the 10-day DL, and the Red Sox could open up a spot by shutting him down for the season and placing him on the 60-day DL.