Red Sox Prospect Watch: Triston Casas steals the show
By Hunter Noll
Red Sox Double-A (Portland)
So many times this year I feel like I’ve said there’s no reason to worry about the power numbers for Triston Casas. He has it in him, he’s showed it in the past, and it would come. Well, the power showed up this week. The 21-year-old racked up five home runs in his last three games. All of a sudden, he’s slashing .283/.387/.482 with nine doubles, two triples, and 12 home runs. He’s driven in 48 runs and scored 49 more, stealing six bases in just 69 games. He’ll be in Boston at some point in 2022.
Another fantastic week for Ronaldo Hernandez. The catcher saw another major jump in his slash line and is now rocking a .276/.318/.497 line. Hernandez has mashed a career-high 25 doubles to go along with 14 home runs. He’s driven in 41 runs and scored 39 more in 84 games.
Kole Cottam has had no issue getting acclimated to Double-A. The catcher is putting up really solid numbers at a now pretty extended sample size. Cottam is slashing .274/.369/.493 with 18 doubles, one triple, and nine home runs between two levels. He’s driven in 31 runs and scored 29 more.
Devlin Granberg is slashing .289/.345/.502 with 20 doubles, two triples, and 15 home runs between two levels this year. The outfielder has driven in 67 runs and scored 60 more, stealing five bases. Most of those numbers are career-highs. Granberg has definitely played himself into a brighter spotlight this season.
Hudson Potts had a fantastic week and his numbers are quickly rising. The 22-year-old is slashing .217/.266/.389. Still not great, but major notable improvements. Potts has 15 doubles and nine home runs. Meanwhile, he’s driven in 38 runs and scored 29 more in just 244 at-bats.
Ryan Fitzgerald is slashing .265/.352/.498 this season between Double-A and Triple-A. The shortstop has three triples to go along with career-highs in doubles (28) and home runs (14). Meanwhile, he’s driven in 48 runs and scored 49 more – stealing four bases.
Tyreque Reed has spent time in both High-A and Double-A this year. The right-handed hitter has a .275/.381/.505 slash line with 15 doubles, one triple, and 17 home runs (one-off his career-high). Reed has driven in 66 runs and scored 55 more, stealing four bases.
Adam Cole made his AEW debut at the All Out PPV. I promptly went nuts and let my guard down, then out came Bryan Danielson a few seconds later and I almost woke up the neighborhood. It was Jay Groome’s debut that made me really freak out though.
Groome made his Double-A debut this week and promptly dominated. The left-handed pitcher threw five shutout innings, allowing just two hits and no walks – striking out an incredible 10 batters. Groome’s bounce back from the miserable start of the season is something to wonder at. He’s an elite pitching prospect.
Rio Gomez threw two more innings this week, allowing no runs on two hits and no walks – striking out two. He’s now thrown 22 straight shutout innings since the start of July. The left-handed pitcher is now down to a 3.47 ERA, .248 BAA, and 1.27 WHIP in 36 1/3 innings pitched in Double-A this season.
Victor Santos allowed two runs on six hits and two walks over 5 1/3 innings pitched, striking out five batters. This actually rose the ERA of Santos to 2.84 with Portland. He holds a .239 BAA and 1.09 WHIP. The 21-year-old right has 36 strikeouts compared to six walks in 36 1/3 innings pitched.
Chris Murphy allowed five earned runs in five innings in his start this week. The lefty was uncharacteristically wild with five walks, striking out four. Overall he still has solid numbers though. Between High-A and Double-A Murph has a 4.36 ERA, .235 BAA, and 1.26 WHIP. He’s struck out 117 batters compared to 35 walks in 95 innings.
Brayan Bello made his first appearance since August 21 this week. The righty allowed zero earned runs on four hits and three walks (striking out three) in 3 2/3 innings pitched. Bello now has a 3.69 ERA, .250 BAA, and 1.28 WHIP between High-A and Double-A. He’s struck out 120 batters compared to 28 walks in 85 1/3 innings.
Frank German has struggled this year. He has a 5.31 ERA, .291 BAA, and 1.56 WHIP in 81 1/3 innings. Meanwhile, he has 69 strikeouts compared to 29 walks. However, in the last two appearances, German has come out of the bullpen. In that time, he has thrown two shutout innings, allowing no hits and no walks – while striking out four. Could the move to the bullpen be what he needed? He even picked up a save.