Boston Red Sox Prospect Watch: Major call-up headlines this week
This week’s Boston Red Sox Prospect Watch saw a major call-up
The big news for the Boston Red Sox this week has to be the call-up of catching prospect Connor Wong, one of the pieces acquired in the Mookie Betts trade. Admittedly, he was not having a great year in Triple-A – but was dealing with injuries. And this call-up came as a result of Kevin Plawecki landing him on the IL.
Wong made his MLB debut as a pinch-runner for J.D. Martinez. However, he also made his first career start this week. In that game, Wong collected his first hit, going 1-for-3. He’s hitting .333 with a run so far. This likely won’t be a long stint for the catcher but it’s good to see him getting a chance and proving he’s up to the task.
Bobby Dalbec slumped pretty hard, going 0-for-13 this week with one walk and one RBI (nine strikeouts). He’s now hitting just .206 but has shown good power (nine doubles, three triple, and nine home runs) and solid run production (19 runs scored, 33 RBI, one steal).
Michael Chavis is back in the Majors. He went 2-for-12 this week and drew his first walk of the year, so that’s a positive. It will be interesting to see how much of a chance he gets to prove he’s made improvements in Triple-A.
Garrett Whitlock appeared in two games this week, and both of them were against the New York Yankees. The right-hander threw 3 2/3 shutout innings, allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out four. He also managed to pickup one win over those two appearances, his third of the year. That was also Whitlock’s second win against the Yankees this year. He has a 1.42 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, .234 BAA, and 40 strikeouts in 38 innings.
Red Sox Triple-A (Worcester)
Jarren Duran was hot-and-cold this week. He had a few big games but ultimately saw his average dip from .286 to .276. However, Duran still managed to hit another home run (his 13th of the year) and stole two more bases (he now has eight). The outfielder has been more-than deserving of a call-up but barring injuries it’s unlikely the Red Sox make a move like that right now, not with the team playing the way it is.
Chad De La Guerra is back baybeeeeeeee. DLG has missed most of the season due to an injury but returned this week and had his best game of the year on Sunday. The left-handed hitter went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double, and a home run. He’s now slashing .227/.414/.500 over seven games. DLG back and healthy is major. I’ve said for a long time, I think he’s someone that could get plugged into the lineup in Boston and be a legitimate contributor hitting around .280. Could he get the call at some point this year?
Marcus Wilson bumped his average back up slightly, reaching .273 (.399 OBP). The outfielder has six doubles, three triples, and eight home runs. He has driven in 25 runs and scored 25 more, stealing eight bases in nine attempts. Another legitimate option should the Red Sox need help in the outfield.
Another really strong week for Jeter Downs. Last week he rose his average from .220 to 227. Now it’s up to .239. Downs has three doubles and six home runs so far. Meanwhile, he has driven in 15 runs and scored 19 more, stealing 10 bases. If he’s getting hot he’s another candidate for an infield spot should Boston need help.
Josh Ockimey saw another bump in his average as well (it’s been a good week for batting averages apparently). The first baseman is up to .187 and has one double and seven home runs on the year. He’s driven in 14 runs and scored 15 more. Most importantly, in the three games Ock played this week he struck out just one time, while walking three times. His .324 OBP has been rising nicely and is very solid considering his average. A really solid power hitter is starting to come around.
Tanner Houck threw 3 2/3 innings in his lone appearance this week. The right-hander allowed two runs on three hits, but struck out six. He now has a 4.66 ERA in Triple-A, to go along with a 1.24 WHIP and a .289 BAA. Impressively, he’s struck out 16 batters compared to just one walk in 9 2/3 innings. For Houck though, his Triple-A numbers are not that important. He’s proven he can be very productive in the Majors, and the Red Sox need some pitching help.
Red Sox Double-A (Portland)
Triston Casas has struggled for all of June. He’s now hitting just .197 in the month. The left-handed hitter still has a solid .266/.354/.414 slash line though. As a 21-year-old in Double-A, that’s nothing to be disappointed with. Casas has three doubles, two triples, and four home runs on the year. He’s driven in 22 runs, scored 25 more, and stolen two bases.
Pedro Castellanos is back and after going 0-for-7 in his first two games, the right-handed hitter went 4-for-11 in his last three games. Castellanos had a walk to go along with a double and a home run. He’s now slashing .261/.346/.458 with five doubles, one triple, and seven home runs. The 23-year-old has driven in 21 runs, scored 28 more, and has one steal.
Devlin Granberg is hitting .281 in Double-A so far with three doubles and one home run. Between Double-A and Advanced-A he’s now slashing .315/.386/.598 with 10 doubles, one triple, and eight home runs (tied for his career-high). The right-handed hitter has scored 25 runs and driven in 34 more, stealing two bases.
Jeisson Rosario saw his average drop pretty heavily this week from .266 to .250. However, he did manage two walks, a run scored, a double (his seventh of the year), and two more steals. Rosario now has 16 RBI and 19 runs scored to go along with four steals. He’s a solid all-around player who gives you good defense and gets on-base at a nice rate.
A really good week from Hudson Potts saw his average sky-rocket from .094 to .176. He’s hit two homers, driven in four runs, and scored four more. Potts is clearly starting to get more comfortable since returning from an injury that kept him out for a long stretch at the beginning of the season.
Ronaldo Hernandez is slashing .211/.250/.391 with six doubles and six home runs. He’s driven in nine runs and 11 more. Hernandez has had a few hot streaks this year and could definitely use one right now. Especially considering Connor Wong is in the Majors at the moment getting a chance to prove himself as the catcher of the future.
More from Red Sox Prospects
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- Predicting Red Sox top prospect Marcelo Mayer’s timeline to the majors
- Red Sox risk repeating rookie mistake with Eric Hosmer release
- Red Sox invited group of players you’ve probably never heard of to Spring Training
- Jeter Downs’ official departure will continue to haunt Red Sox
Grant Williams is slashing .307/.346/.378 with seven doubles and one triple. Clearly not a major home run hitter (one homer over 694 career at-bats) but Williams brings everything else to the table. He’s only driven in four runs but he’s scored a really strong 22 runs and stolen five bases. Williams is reminiscent of the classic top-of-the-order 1-2 hitter. He isn’t going to hit homers but he gets on-base, can steal bases, and scores runs.
Ryan Fitzgerald saw his average move back up to .245 with 13 doubles, one triple, and five home runs. That puts him on-pace for new career-highs in doubles and home runs. Fitzgerald also has 17 RBI, 16 runs scored, and two steals. The shortstop has a really strong .439 slugging percentage. Much better than his career number of .393 so that’s a major positive.
Brayan Bello threw just 1 2/3 innings this week. He allowed two runs on two hits, but walked four while striking out two. Bello now has a 2.53 ERA over the two leagues. He has a 1.13 WHIP, .219 BAA, and 59 strikeouts over 42 2/3 innings.
Kutter Crawford is back. The righty allowed three runs in 3 2/3 innings, striking out five. While that’s not the best outing, it is great to see Crawford back on the mound. He now has a 4.13 ERA, .202 BAA, and 0.88 WHIP – striking out 30 batters in 24 innings pitched.
Josh Winckowski gave up three runs on seven hits while striking out nine batters over five innings this week. The 22-year-old has a 3.35 ERA, .237 BAA, and 1.18 WHIP on the year. He has struck out 44 batters over 45 2/3 innings so far, walking just 12.
Zack Kelly threw three more innings this week. Those three innings saw the 26-year-old allow no earned runs on one hit and two walks while striking out three. Kelly now has a 1.23 WHIP – that’s far and away his worst stat, which is wild. He also has a .175 BAA and an insane 0.48 ERA – striking out 30 batters over 18 2/3 innings.
Denyi Reyes is down to a 3.03 ERA thanks to 4 1/3 shutout innings this week. Over 32 2/3 innings so far this year, Reyes has a .254 BAA and a 1.13 WHIP. He has struck out 32 batters and walked just five.
Dominic LoBrutto had another good week and is now down to a 3.60 ERA. His BAA is at .282, and his WHIP is 1.40. So as of right now he’s working out of some jams. While those numbers could do with going down, it’s good to see he doesn’t seem to get very flustered. LoBrutto has 17 strikeouts in 20 innings and has one win and three saves.
Two more shutout innings for Durbin Feltman who has absolutely dominated in June. He has a 3.43 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, and .244 BAA on the year. However, in June he has a 1.93 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and .182 BAA. The right-handed pitcher is 3-0 with one save and has 28 strikeouts in 21 innings pitched.
Red Sox Advanced-A (Greenville)
Take a guess at what lowered this week. If you said “Chris Murphy’s ERA, WHIP, and BAA” you’d be correct. You don’t win any prizes though, because at this point you should be expecting that – he’s been that good. Murphy now has a 3.22 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and .211 BAA. He has 47 strikeouts over 44 2/3 innings so far. The left-hander has absolutely dominated in June – could it lead to a promotion?
Jay Groome saw his ERA rise after a start for the first time all year. He went from 5.66 to 5.71 so it wasn’t that bad. In fact, he only allowed five hits and one walk over six innings (striking out eight) but three home runs hurt as he gave up four runs. Groome’s WHIP dropped to 1.54 and his BAA lowered to .261 so it was still a pretty productive game considering.
Alex Scherff now has a 3.05 ERA on the season. It’s incredible how effective he’s been. The WHIP bumped up to 1.35 so that is moving up a big but still solid. Meanwhile, his .213 BAA is still fantastic. Scherff has struck out 33 batters over 20 2/3 innings and is in the middle of his best season in the Red Sox minors of his career.
Tyreque Reed had a productive week that saw his average rise from .275 to .278. The slugging first baseman also smacked his first home run in quite some time. Reed has five doubles, one triple, and nine home runs. He’s driven in 37 runs and scored 28 more, even stealing two bases.
Tyler Dearden’s career-year continues. He’s slashing .272/.408/.579 with 11 doubles and a career-high eight home runs. The 22-year-old outfielder also has 27 runs scored and another career-high with 30 RBI.
Brandon Howlett’s slash line dropped a little bit to .286/.376/.531. He ripped another homer this week and now has 11 doubles, two triples, and seven home runs on the year. The 21-year-old right-handed hitter already has 29 RBI and 31 runs scored, as well as two steals. He landed on the seven-day IL though so let’s hope for a quick recovery.
Cameron Cannon’s average dipped to .263. His overall numbers are still really good though. The shortstop has 13 doubles and five home runs. He’s driven in 23 runs and scored 28 more, while stealing six bases. So even with the average lowering he rose all of those other numbers, that’s a great positive.
Tyler Esplin hasn’t played since June 18, his .288/.419/.381 slash line is definitely missed in the lineup so hopefully everything’s fine and he’s back soon too. Esplin was playing so well I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets promoted soon if he gets healthy and continues raking at this rate.
Kole Cottam is hitting just .240 but 20 walks already have him at a fantastic .378 OBP. The catcher’s .450 slugging percentage is really solid too thanks to six doubles and five home runs in 100 at-bats. He’s driven in 15 runs and scored 16 more. Another catcher that might be feeling the heat due to Connor Wong’s promotion, but I still think his offensive potential tops everyone at his position in the Red Sox organization.
Nick Sogard went just 3-for-26 this week. That dropped his average from .278 to .246. However, the 23-year-old still had a solid week because those three hits consisted of one double and two home runs. Sogard even threw in two steals. On the year he now has six doubles, one triple, and six home runs. He’s driven in 18 runs and scored 21 more, stealing five bases in six attempts.
Red Sox Full-A (Salem)
Gilberto Jimenez is slashing .296/.326/.373 at the moment. The 20-year-old outfielder has eight doubles, one triple, and one home run. Meanwhile, he’s driven in pretty impressive 23 runs and scored 26 more – showing off his speed with six steals. Jimenez has had a strikeout problem in June (23 of his 37 strikeouts), hopefully he can correct that because there’s not much else to complain about at the moment.
Nick Yorke’s average went up again this week. From .254 all the way up to .265. The 19-year-old also has a really strong .351 OBP and a .351 slugging percentage thanks to eight doubles, one triple, and one home run. Yorke’s driven in 16 runs and scored 21 more, stealing nine bases on the year.
Ceddanne Rafaela didn’t have the best week and his average has dipped down to .225. Still the 20-year-old is impressing though, making plays in the field and spending time at a ton of different positions. He has four doubles, three triples, and one home run so far. Meanwhile, he’s driven in 12 runs, scored 24 more, and stolen 13 bases on 13 attempts.
Jaxx Groshans followed up a big week last week with another massive one this time around. The catcher is now slashing .325/.449/.504 with seven doubles and five home runs. That slash line is pretty ridiculous if we’re being honest. He’s driven in 19 runs and scored 25 more, while stealing one base. If he’s feeling any pressure from Connor Wong’s promotion, he isn’t showing it at all.
Joe Davis had a massive game on Sunday that featured two home runs and is now slashing .316/.367/.541 on the year. The first baseman has 12 doubles and six homers to go along with 30 RBI and 22 runs scored. He was slumping slightly but clearly broke out of it.
Matthew Lugo had a great week and his numbers took a bounce up. The shortstop is now hitting .231 with three doubles, one triple, and one home run. He now has 14 RBI and 19 runs scored on the year, to go along with eight steals in nine attempts.
Aldo Ramirez hasn’t pitched in two weeks. I thought it was just a regular skip (don’t want to wear out a 20-year-old prospect’s arm. Hopefully that’s the case but two weeks seems like a long time. I’m also not a manager though, so what do I know.
Jeremy Wu-Yelland only threw 2 2/3 innings this week due to allowing four walks and one hit. However, he struck out two and managed not to give up a run. That helped lower the left-hander’s ERA to 3.26. Meanwhile, Wu-Yelland is working with a 1.25 WHIP and a .169 BAA. He has struck out 39 batters over 30 1/3 innings so far.
Brandon Walter had a phenomenal week. In two appearances the left-hander threw five total innings. He allowed no runs on just three hits and zero walks in that time, while striking out 10. Walter is down to a 1.33 ERA, .176 BAA, and 0.85 WHIP on the year. He has 40 strikeouts in 27 innings and one win to go along with two saves.
dark. Next. Boston sweeps New York again
Devon Roedahl threw 3 1/3 innings combined over two appearances this week. The right-hander didn’t allow a run in that time, surrendering just two hits and no walks while striking out four batters. Roedahl now has a 1.50 ERA, .172 BAA, and 0.79 WHIP this season. He’s struck out 20 batters over 24 innings, while allowing just four walks. Roedahl now has one win to go along with four saves.