Boston Red Sox Prospects: 2020 Will be the Year of Pedro Castellanos

The 2020 regular season is almost upon us. So it’s time to talk about which Boston Red Sox prospects have big things in store for the upcoming campaign.

Pedro Castellanos is definitely an extremely exciting prospect in the Boston Red Sox system. But he’s had some questions raised about him in the past. How the 22-year-old first baseman answers the questions could shape his future. The good news is that 2019 was a major step in the right direction and 2020 is poised to be his year. Here’s why.

Castellanos joined the Red Sox system in 2016. Between then and 2019, he was hitting well over .300 in his career. However, the power that many expected from him had not come yet.

Now, Castellanos was only 21 for all of 2019. So he was extremely young up to that point in his career. Therefore, you can excuse him for not hitting home runs at a torrid pace.

Still, everything seemed to be going well. He was now basically a full time first baseman (had worked the corner outfield in the past). His defense was improving at the position as well.

Obviously, the right-hander was hitting for contact. However, the low power numbers were hindering his run production. His 6’3″, 195 lbs frame and natural swing gave him high power potential though.

And last season some of that potential came through.

Castellanos slashed .276/.321/.397 with two triples and career-highs in doubles (23) and home runs (9). This also led to highs in RBI (71) and runs scored (61).

Before last season, Castellanos’ high in home runs was just three. His high in RBI was 47 and in runs scored it was 39. Those are massive jumps.

Not only were the power numbers improved, there were multiple points in 2019 where Castellanos was one of the hottest hitters in baseball. I’m not saying he was one of the hottest hitters on the Salem Red Sox. And I’m not saying he was one of the hottest hitters in the Boston Red Sox system. I’m not even saying he was one of the hottest hitters in the minors.

What I am saying is that Pedro Castellanos was one of the hottest hitters in all of baseball. Majors, minors, independent, College, high school … it doesn’t matter. The man was stupid hot.

From April 24 through May 13 Castellanos hit .412 with nine doubles and 19 RBI.

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Then there was a stretch from July 27 to August 13 that saw him hit seven of his nine home runs. That included a stretch of three homers in two games and another of three in three games.

Sure, that might not sound like much. But it was power. And it was power at the end of the season. So could it be what the future has in store for Castellanos?

There’s a very strong chance that power stroke that he found was his game evolving. Which puts Castellanos in a perfect position for 2020.

Now we could start to see that complete package. The great contact bat and the total power bat that brings in all the runs.

He’s more comfortable at first base than he looked in the outfield too. That could translate well, even at the plate.

So in 2020, here are a few things we could see from Castellanos.

• Starts season in Advanced-A (where he played all of last season).
• Finishes season in Double-A.
• Sets new career-high in home runs (even in a shortened season).
• Hits closer to .300 again (career average is .303).
• Climbs back up the Red Sox prospect ladder even more.

That sounds like a pretty incredible 2020 season, right? Pretty easy to see why 2020 could be the year of Pedro Castellanos if you ask me.