Red Sox Prospect Watch: Two players traded away weaken ranks
By Hunter Noll
Garrett Benge was destroying Short-A baseball. So he’s already found his way to Full-A. He hasn’t had much time with the Greenville Drive however. The 22-year-old is 1-for-3 with a walk so far.
However, the third baseman’s numbers speak for themselves in Short-A. With the Lowell Spinners, he was slashing .351/.400/.486 with seven RBI and four runs scored. Drafted in the 13th round last season, Benge is someone I recommend you keep an eye on, he could surprise a lot of people.
1/3 of the mash bros is gone in the outfield and that crushes me. Lorenzo Cedrola was part of a deadly trio with Victor Acosta and Marino Campana. However, the other two are still on the roster.
Acosta has been slumping, but still holds a strong .286/.327/.444 slash line with 13 doubles and two triples, as well as seven home runs. The 22-year-old has 32 RBI and 30 runs scored, even stealing three bases on the season.
Campana meanwhile, boasts just a .241 average and .303 on-base percentage. His .490 slugging percentage shows where his value lies though. The 20-year-old already has 30 extra-base hits this year (12 doubles/five triples/13 home runs). He’s also driven in 45 runs and scored 28 more.
There’s a lot to like about the two right-handed outfielders.
Pedro Castellanos rates as someone with pretty solid power. That being said he has just five in his career and zero on the season. I’m perfectly okay with that though, as the first baseman makes up for it in a ton of ways. A career .315 hitter, the 20-year-old has more-than-enough time to find a power swing. He’s also in his first full season in anything above Rookie-Ball (and he’s spending it in Full-A).
The Red Sox could have a fantastic hitter in Castellanos. Right now, the right-handed hitter is slashing .267/.308/.315, but that’s in just 146 at-bats and at the ripe age of 20.
Denyi Reyes is back under a 2.00 ERA. That was getting scary, right? For a second he almost seemed human with that 2.01. It’s now at 1.91 after the right-hander threw six shutout innings in his last start. He allowed just three hits and struck out six in the process. The 21-year-old has a minuscule 0.93 WHIP and .210 BAA while striking out 92 batters in 89 2/3 innings compared to just 13 walks. Absurdity on so many levels.