Boston Red Sox Prospect Watch: Major call-up headlines this week

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.