Boston Red Sox Prospect Watch: Returns and promotions headline

FORT MYERS, FLORIDA - MARCH 14: Triston Casas #94 of the Boston Red Sox at bat against the Minnesota Twins during a Grapefruit League spring training game at Hammond Stadium on March 14, 2021 in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
FORT MYERS, FLORIDA - MARCH 14: Triston Casas #94 of the Boston Red Sox at bat against the Minnesota Twins during a Grapefruit League spring training game at Hammond Stadium on March 14, 2021 in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 5
Next
Boston Red Sox Tyler Esplin
FORT MYERS, FL – FEBRUARY 22: Tyler Esplin #30 of the Boston Red Sox makes a diving catch on the ball hit by Vidal Brujan #22 of the Tampa Bay Rays for the final out of the game on February 22, 2020 at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Florida. The Red Sox defeated the Rays 4-3. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images) /

Red Sox Advanced-A (Greenville)

Brandon Howlett had himself an absolutely phenomenal week. The third baseman went 0-for-5 (with three walks and two runs scored) in his first two games of the week. He ended it with a four-game hitting streak though. And in that hitting streak Howlett went 9-for-18 with four doubles, two home runs, five RBI, and three more runs scored. Now Howlett holds a .292/.386/.531 slash line with 11 doubles, two triples, four home runs, 20 RBI, 25 runs scored, and two steals.

Tyreque Reed appeared in just one game this week, going 0-for-3. He still holds a phenomenal .322/.431/.680 slash line with five doubles, one triple, and eight home runs. The first baseman has 33 RBI and 23 runs scored in 24 games played. The run production is elite.

Dominic D’Alessandro has only appeared in eight games so far, but has been incredibly productive. The right-handed hitter holds a .333/.395/.567 slash line with two doubles, one triple, and one home run. He has driven in five runs and scored three more.

Devlin Granberg is slashing .333/.422/.656 with seven doubles, one triple, and seven home runs. The outfielder has driven in 27 runs, scored 19 more, and stolen one base. He’s currently on-pace to set new career-highs in average, OBP, slugging, home runs, and RBI.

Cameron Cannon is currently rocking with a seven-game hitting streak. In that time, his average has gone from .245 to .268. The shortstop has nine doubles and four home runs so far. Meanwhile he has driven in 18 runs, scored 21 more, and stolen four bases. Cannon is solid defensively but it’s the all-around offensive game that makes him such an intriguing prospect.

Tyler Esplin has seen the average dip but is working on a tiny three-game hitting-streak. The outfielder is hitting .252 and has a .396 OBP. He has seven doubles and one home run to go along with 18 RBI, 30 runs scored, and three steals. I know I mention this a lot, but Esplin is such a great well-rounded player and his OBP makes him very valuable.

Kole Cottam is down to a .247 average but he’s having some big moments. The catcher has five doubles and three home runs on the season. Meanwhile, he’s driven in 13 runs and scored 13 more. He also has an impressive .378 OBP. It feels like we could be working towards a hot stretch for the 24-year-old, who has a hit in two straight games.

More from Red Sox Prospects

Nick Sogard saw his average dip very slightly this week but is also currently working with a three-game hitting streak. The second baseman is slashing a really solid .272/.355/.467 with four doubles, one triple, and four home runs. He’s driven in nine runs and scored 15 more, stealing three bases.

With Brayan Bello getting sent to Double-A, it’s hard to argue that anyone other than Chris Murphy is the ace of this staff now. And Murph took up that mantle nicely. In his lone start this week, the left-handed pitcher picked up the win. He did so by throwing five shutout innings, allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out three. In the month of June, Murphy has a .189 BAA and 0.90 WHIP. On the year, he has a 3.82 ERA, .240 BAA, and 1.33 WHIP. He’s struck out 33 batters in 33 innings.

Yorvin Pantoja is quickly turning himself into an elite bullpen prospect. The 23-year-old lefty has thrown 18 1/3 innings so far this year. In that time he has a 1.47 ERA, .197 BAA, and 0.87 WHIP. Pantoja is 2-0 and has 26 strikeouts compared to just three walks to this point.

Grant Gambrell was part of that Andrew Benintendi trade and made his first start in the Red Sox organization this week. The 23-year-old right-handed pitcher allowed just one run on three hits and one walk (one strikeout) over five innings. Gambrell only has 19 strikeouts over 27 2/3 innings so far this year but has a solid 3.90 ERA and a superb BAA (.184) and WHIP (0.98).

Alex Scherff continues to just put up fantastic numbers. He now has a 3.14 ERA. The right-handed pitcher also has a 1.12 WHIP and a .135 BAA. Scherff has struck out 25 batters over 14 1/3 innings. Basically, if you put the bat on the ball against him you should be happy. If you actually manage to get a hit you should maybe be surprised.

Jay Groome saw his BAA and WHIP spike back up a little this week. However, his ERA dipped again. Groome allowed two earned runs on eight hits and one walk (four strikeouts) over four innings. The left-handed hitter now has a 6.84 ERA, .284 BAA, and 1.64 WHIP. He’s gotten a lot better since the beginning of the season and it wouldn’t surprise me if he ended the year with legitimately solid numbers. Groome also has 34 strikeouts over 25 innings.

Dylan Spacke has thrown 20 1/3 innings so far this year. In that time, the right-handed pitcher has put up absolutely dominant numbers. Spacke has a 2.21 ERA, .149 BAA, and 0.89 WHIP. Meanwhile, he has struck out 26 batters compared to eight walks.

Chase Shugart had two starts this week. The first one did not go all that well, as the right-hander allowed four runs on five hits in five innings. However, he was fantastic in start number two. In six innings, Shugart allowed one run on seven hits and two walks. On the year, he now has a 4.45 ERA, .268 BAA, and 1.25 WHIP. Shugart has 28 strikeouts compared to five walks over 30 1/3 innings.

Oddainer Mosqueda allowed a run over 3 1/3 innings this week. The reason that’s wild is because he did so without giving up a hit. It’s not even like he was wild either. In 1 1/3 innings in one appearance the lefty walked one batter and gave up the run. In the other two innings he walked one batter and picked up the save. That’s it, that’s the damage. Mosqueda has great overall numbers though. The 22-year-old has a 3.55 ERA, .119 BAA, and 0.87 WHIP. That WHIP and BAA are both absolutely insane. Mosqueda has struck out 16 batters in 12 2/3 innings so far.