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Red Sox top-30 prospect rankings after the 2018 season

By Hunter Noll

BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 18: Dave Dombrowski the President of Baseball Operations of the Boston Red Sox stands at home plate before a game against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park on September 18, 2016 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Red Sox won 5-4. (Photo by Rich Gagnon/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 18: Dave Dombrowski the President of Baseball Operations of the Boston Red Sox stands at home plate before a game against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park on September 18, 2016 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Red Sox won 5-4. (Photo by Rich Gagnon/Getty Images) /
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MIAMI, FL – MARCH 29: A detailed photo of the Rawlings baseball glove of Derek Dietrich #32 of the Miami Marlins before Opening Day between the Miami Marlins and the Chicago Cubs at Marlins Park on March 29, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL – MARCH 29: A detailed photo of the Rawlings baseball glove of Derek Dietrich #32 of the Miami Marlins before Opening Day between the Miami Marlins and the Chicago Cubs at Marlins Park on March 29, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

7. Denyi Reyes

This is a weird situation. Denyi Reyes was one of my “clients” (again, shoutout to Paul Heyman), but is now in the Top-30 prospects list for the Red Sox. That being said, I still find him to be grossly underrated as he barely cracks the list at 30. As you can tell – I’m much higher on the right-handed pitcher.

The 21-year-old posted a 1.45 ERA in 62 innings for Short-A in 2017. He followed that up with a 1.97 ERA in 155 2/3 innings between Full-A and Advanced-A in 2018.

Two things. First, yes those numbers are as ridiculous as you think – and second, that’s not the most impressive stat.

Reyes has a career 2.12 ERA and 0.95 WHIP. Yes, his career WHIP is under, 1.00. Still not the most impressive thing though.

In 327 1/3 innings, Reyes has 286 strikeouts … compared to 33 walks. THIRTY-THREE WALKS.

To put that into perspective, there’s only one pitcher with 200-plus innings this year in the Majors with fewer walks. That would be Miles Mikolas (200 2/3 innings) with 29. So he’s barely behind what Reyes has done his entire career.

The kind of command Reyes has makes him one of the most impressive prospects in the Red Sox organization. It gives him something that will translate at any level already.

As you can tell, the command has served Reyes well when it comes to his stats.

Beyond the stats, Reyes has four pitches in his repertoire. Nothing is completely dominant, but with his control, Reyes uses them all well.

He has a fastball that sits in the low-90s but has fantastic movement. His slider has a nice sharp cut to it when it’s on – so does his curveball. He doesn’t seem to have the best feel for the curveball yet though. Meanwhile, the changeup is his best pitch – showing a nice dip.

Although none of the pitches are plus-plus, they come together to be a solid repertoire. His command makes everything that much better as well.

MLB has his ceiling projected as a number five starter at best and it appears to be due to his pitches. The command plays at any level though and should make things easier on Reyes as he tries to improve his tool belt.

Any pitcher would kill to have the ridiculous career-walk rate of 0.9-per-nine-innings. That’s ace-level command. I think his ceiling is as high as that can take him, and it’s a lot more than a number five.

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