Boston Red Sox Prospect Watch: Prospects ready to move in the rankings

Red Sox Advanced-A (Greenville)

It’s time for a promotion for Tyreque Reed. A lot of players put together nice hitting streaks at some point in their career. Well Reed is currently on a streak of his own, nine games. Not a hitting streak though. In nine straight games Reed has recorded at least one RBI. That’s nuts. Reed is slashing .333/.443/.690 with five doubles, one triple, and eight home runs. He has driven in 33 runs and scored 23 more in 23 games. Reed is 10-for-22 in June – an incredible find by the Red Sox, now get him up to Double-A.

I’m going to be honest with you, I have not talked about Devlin Granberg nearly enough. In the words of R-Truth, “that one’s on me, that’s my bad!” Granberg has been consistently productive his entire career and is having a star-making season right now. The outfielder (and first baseman although he hasn’t spent any time there in 2021) is 11-for-18 with three homers and nine RBI in June. He’s slashing .347/.440/.694 with seven doubles and six home runs (his career-high is eight). The right-handed hitter has 22 RBI and 16 runs scored and the is on an amazing hot streak that could see him get a call-up soon as well.

Kole Cottam is currently hitting .270 and has at least one RBI in each of his last three games. In fact, in the month of June, Cottam two doubles, one home run, and six RBI. All of those double or nearly double his season totals. The catcher has a .402 OBP with four doubles, three home runs, and 12 RBI on the year. He’s walked 13 times and managed 12 runs scored, making Cottam a very well rounded offensive player.

Christian Koss entered May 26 with a .203 batting average. Since then, the right-handed hitter has been on a 10-game hitting streak and is hitting .381 in five games in June. This has risen his average heavily all the way up to .253. Koss has five doubles, two triples, and one home run to go along with five RBI and 18 runs scored, stealing four bases along the way.

Brandon Howlett has struggled a little lately, but has also enjoyed some massive games. The third baseman enjoyed two separate monster games this week, that combined included one double, two triples, and one home run. In those two games, he also walked five times, stole one base, drove in four runs, and scored EIGHT more. Howlett is now slashing .267/.368/.456 with seven doubles, two triples, and two home runs. He has scored 20 runs, driven in 15 more, and stolen two bases on two attempts.

Cameron Cannon was slumping hard in June, going 0-for-15 in his first three games and 1-for-19 in his first four. On Sunday the shortstop went 4-for-6 with two RBI and a steal though. For the year, Cannon is slashing .267/.323/.431 with seven doubles and four home runs. He has driven in 16 runs, scored 18 more, and stolen four bases as well.

Tyler Dearden is 5-for-16 with nine RBI in June so far. On the year, the outfielder is slashing .300/.430/.600 with nine doubles and (already a career-high) five home runs. He has 21 runs scored and (again already a career-high) 26 RBI. Dearden’s got some legitimately decent pop and a great eye. He’s a serious offensive weapon.

Tyler Esplin is slashing .260/.405/.346 at the moment. The outfielder has six doubles and one home run, to go along with 16 RBI, 27 runs scored, and three steals in three attempts. He has walked (24) just as many times as he has struck out. An incredible eye mixed with a good combination of speed, contact, and power makes Esplin a dangerous batter.

Nick Sogard has been so consistently solid at the plate for almost the entire year. The switch-hitter is currently working with a .282/.360/.513 slash line with four doubles, one triple, and four home runs. He has eight RBI and 13 runs scored, as well as one stolen base.

Brayan Bello is a superstar and an ace. There’s no argument against it and even if there is, I won’t believe you. Bello made two starts this week for a total of 10 1/3 innings pitched. In those two starts he allowed three earned runs on 11 hits and three walks, striking out 15. On the year, the right-handed pitcher has a 2.27 ERA, .217 BAA, and 1.01 WHIP. He’s struck out 45 batters compared to seven walks in 31 2/3 innings. Insanity.

Chris Murphy made one start this week, and it happened to be on his birthday (June 5). In that start, the lefty went five innings, allowing two runs on four hits and one walk, striking out four. Through 28 innings so far, Murph has a 4.50 ERA, .252 BAA, and 1.43 WHIP. He has struck out 30 so far.

Yorvin Pantoja has thrown three innings in June so far. The left-handed pitcher has yet to allow a run, or even a hit, in those three innings. The only damage Pantoja has given up is a lone walk, striking out four batters. On the year Pantoja has a 1.76 ERA, .196 BAA, and 0.85 WHIP to go along with 21 strikeouts (compared to two walks) in 15 1/3 innings.

Alex Scherff has thrown two innings in June, not allowing a run on just one hit and one walk – striking out three and earning his first career save. The right-handed pitcher has a 3.55 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and a ridiculous .114 BAA on the year. He’s struck out 22 batters in 12 2/3 innings pitched.

Chase Shugart threw five innings in his lone start this week. The righty allowed two runs on four hits and no walks while striking out five. On the year Shugart has a 4.66 ERA, .266 BAA, 1.24 WHIP, and 21 strikeouts over 19 1/3 innings. However, most of that damage was done in one outing. On May 21, Shugart allowed six runs in 3 1/3 innings pitched. In the other 16 innings, he’s given up just four runs.

Jay Groome continues to slowly fix his numbers. In his five innings of work this week, the lefty allowed three runs on four hits and one walk while striking out eight. This lowered Groome’s numbers to a 7.29 ERA, .256 BAA, and 1.52 WHIP. While the numbers still aren’t good they are once again improvements from last week. He even has 30 strikeouts over 21 innings pitched. Groome’s fantastic and he’s starting to fix his stats.