Red Sox Prospect Watch: The final week of the 2018 season
By Hunter Noll
The minor league baseball regular season is over. That means this is the last prospect watch of 2018. How did the season end for these intriguing prospects?
September marks two important moments in a baseball season. First being the roster expansion, allowing teams to hold 40 men on their Major League roster. This leads to the number of “prospects” in the Majors to increase heavily.
The other moment is the end of the MiLB season. This is a rough one for me, as I don’t know what I’m going to do instead of watching all those games. I’ll figure it out though.
The regular season is officially over for the minors, meaning this is the last Boston Red Sox Prospect Watch of 2018. It also means I feel the need to mention some players that definitely didn’t get enough love from me during the season.
For now, let’s talk about the Majors. Brandon Phillips was called up, but the 37-year-old is far from a prospect. In fact, the Hall of Fame is a possibility for the second baseman.
Other hitting call-ups included Tzu-Wei Lin and Sam Travis. For the pitchers, Bobby Poyner and William Cuevas joined the team, as did Robby Scott.
Lin will probably see some late-inning work as a defensive substitute or pinch-runner. Travis, on the other hand, will have trouble seeing the field. Boston could give him a game here-or-there, but don’t expect much. He’s played the outfield some, but at the time being is only really available for first base or designated hitter. Those spots are occupied by a few too many people.
Maybe if the Red Sox can clinch the best record in baseball early enough those two will get some true playing time.
Poyner was fantastic for the Red Sox when called upon this year. Due to that, I feel like he could get some meaningful innings in there. Cuevas meanwhile can eat some innings, while Scott is a wild card. I’m personally higher on him than a lot of Red Sox fans, but would still be surprised if he was given any high-leverage situations.