Red Sox Full-A (Salem)
Did anyone hear that new Dave East and Millyz EP, “Pablo & Blanco”? They both went all-out on it, banger after banger. That’s sort of how Gilberto Jimenez and Ceddanne Rafaela are at the moment. Two 20-year-old prospects just doing work in Full-A. Producing hits (puns are fun).
Jimenez put on plenty of muscle weight this offseason, making many believe he might add some power to his swing but lose some of his crazy speed. So far, the outfielder has shown that he hasn’t lost a step. Meanwhile, his .352 batting average certainly hasn’t suffered. And on Sunday he smoked his first home run of the year. Jimenez now has six doubles, one home run, 10 RBI, and 15 runs scored on the season, to go along with a 4-for-4 on stolen base attempts. Running out of ways to describe his dominance.
Rafaela is hitting .275 at the moment and only has one walk and one double. However, he has driven in five runs and scored eight more. He’s also 5-for-5 on stolen base attempts and is just absolutely electric on both offense and defense. Rafaela plays plenty of positions and plays them all pretty well. I’m giving it a year before he starts getting all types of recognition.
Joe Davis is absolutely on-fire. He’s up to a .326 batting average and a .411 OBP with two doubles and one home run. The right-handed hitter has driven in 11 runs and scored nine more. He went from sub-.200 after week one, to .259 last week, to .326 this week. Davis can mash.
Matthew Lugo is hitting just .210 but does have one double, one triple, and one home run. The shortstop has driven in five runs and scored eight more, going 2-for-2 on stolen base attempts. Lugo has had some issues but also went 2-for-6 on Sunday. The bat is legit and he’s only 20, so give him some time to grow.
Nicholas Northcut had a fantastic week and now has a .245 batting average to go along with a .349 OBP. The right-handed hitter has four doubles, one triple, and two home runs so far. He has driven in 12 runs and scored 12 more as well. Northcut is at a loaded third base position but looks ready to breakout. He was highly-regarded when he was drafted in 2018 so the Red Sox might be intrigued by the strong numbers.
Nick Yorke is slashing .197/.265/.213 at the moment. Clearly, things aren’t going great for him. He’s 19 though and in his first season in the minors. The right-handed hitter has also shown a number of flashes to give hope for a breakout. At the moment he has just one double, six RBI, and seven runs scored – but he is 2-for-2 on steal attempts.
Jaxx Groshans had a monster week. Going 7-for-17 will certainly help thrust you into the spotlight. The catcher now has a .314/.468/.429 slash line with one double and one home run. Groshans has four RBI and eight runs scored and has walked more times (11) than he has struck out (8).
Jeremy Wu-Yelland has a 1.59 ERA, a 1.15 WHIP, and a .179 BAA. All of those are great numbers. The 21-year-old lefty has walked six batters and hit two more in 11 1/3 innings so far, however he’s also struck out 14. Boston fourth-round pick in 2020, Wu-Yelland already looks too good for Full-A.
Bradley Blalock has allowed two earned runs in nine innings so far. In that time, the 20-year-old righty also has a 1.11 WHIP and a .212 BAA. He’s struck out 12 batters while walking three. Blalock has thrown 150 pitches to get through those nine innings, but it’s all worked out so far. A 32nd round pick in 2019 this is his first chance above rookie ball and it appears Blalock is trying to prove he is a late-round gem.
Jordan DiValerio has allowed zero runs over his first 12 2/3 innings this season. In that time, the right-handed pitcher has allowed just six hits and walked zero batters (two HBP). That all equals out to a 0.00 ERA (obviously), a 0.47 WHIP, and a .140 BAA. Meanwhile, DiValerio has struck out 17 batters, proving he is not just getting lucky with BABIP.
Shane Drohan isn’t far behind DiValerio. The lefty has allowed just one run in 12 innings this year. Drohan has doen so on just five hits but has walked six batters. This all means he has a 0.75 ERA, a 0.92 WHIP, and a 135 BAA. Drohan has managed 15 strikeouts over those 12 innings so far.