Stock Standstill
Not everyone saw their stocks fluctuate this spring. Some didn’t do anything drastic enough to change anything.
Sam Travis takes a hit with the Martinez signing, but he’s a first baseman anyways. While his defense isn’t spectacular, it’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination. The simple reason he’s not a DH though is that he doesn’t have the power to put him in that spot full-time.
Travis is hitting .238 this spring but is actually flashing that limited power pretty spectacularly so far. He’s hit four doubles and three home runs, while driving in a team-high nine RBI (tied with Swihart). He’s still one of the first to be called up should something happen though, nothing’s really changed here.
Then there’s Tzu-Wei Lin. His stock is in a weird place because the Red Sox could be losing a lot of middle-infield help thanks to roster restrictions. His 4-for-27 spring hasn’t been friendly to him though.
In the end, Lin is a plus-defender with speed on the base paths. That’s enough to hold off a bad spring for the time being, especially if the utility depth is shrinking.
Finally, there’s Jalen Beeks. The left-handed pitcher is coming off a career-year that saw him dominate in Double-A and look strong in Triple-A. Due to that, the 24-year-old came into spring seen as someone who might not be that far off, but still needed some time to grow.
That’s exactly what his spring has looked like too. In two starts, Beeks has thrown 5 1/3 innings. In that time, he’s posted a 5.06 ERA and already allowed five walks compared to four strikeouts. He boasts a .211 BAA though, and has allowed just one extra-base hit.
So there’s potential there, and he’s clearly getting close to MLB-ready, but Beeks still has a little building to do. Basically, what we already knew.
Next: Red Sox: Predicting the 2018 Opening Day 25-man roster
There’s still plenty of time this spring for the storylines to change. At the time though, it’s hard for the Red Sox not to be happy with the overall performance of their prospects. It should be fun watching them grow this season, and seeing how those stocks move around some more.