Boston Red Sox Prospect Watch: Everyone’s settling in for week two
By Hunter Noll
How are the Boston Red Sox prospects adjusting in week two?
It’s Monday, you know what that means … It’s time for the weekly Boston Red Sox prospect watch.
Last week we saw the return of MiLB baseball, and with it the return of the prospect watch. Now, there was a lot of talk in the watch last week about how it was far too early to panic. It should be noted that this is still the case, we’re barely 10 games into the year – there’s plenty of time left and one or two good or bad games could completely change someone’s season at the moment.
That being said, this week also provided us with a nice showing of how players would respond to an off week or if they could keep the momentum rolling, and so on.
In the Majors, the Red Sox added a few younger players into the mix due to injury. Bobby Dalbec‘s job likely is not in jeopardy at the moment, but he seemed to respond to this as if that was the case.
Dalbec had an absolutely fantastic week that saw him rip three doubles, three home runs, steal one base, and drive in 11 runs. He’s now hitting .211 with four home runs and 17 RBI on the year. Nothing spectacular but clearly he’s heating up, the power numbers are going to surge.
Michael Chavis is back in the Majors and in his first game he smacked a two-run home run. He has struggled with strikeouts (12 in 27 at-bats) but has a decent enough .259 average and has had a few really nice moments. It is likely a short stay for Chavis but if he can get some more good ABs he could make a case to stay.
Jonathan Arauz is so smooth in the field, he’s one of those guys that you could watch take infield drills and be entertained. However, he hasn’t gotten many chances, as he’s basically just a depth piece while up at the moment. He’s been solid in those opportunities though, going 2-for-8 with two walks and one RBI and two runs scored.
Garrett Whitlock has a 1.77 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP through 20 1/3 innings this year. He’s been absolutely incredible and even when he hasn’t looked completely untouchable Whitlock tends to find a way out of a situation with minimal damage. A big part of that might be his 21 strikeouts compared to just three walks. The righty also picked up his first career save this week (a three-inning save against the Oakland A’s).