Red Sox Prospect Watch: Triston Casas steals the show

Red Sox Low-A (Salem)

The Red Sox took Tyler McDonough in the third round of the 2021 draft. He’s already dominating in Low-A. McDonough is slashing .311/.382/.443 with three doubles, one triple, and one home run in 15 games for Salem. The second baseman and centerfielder has driven in seven runs, scored 11 more, and stolen one base.

Gilberto Jimenez is slashing .308/.347/.401 with 16 doubles, six triples, and two home runs. The only complaints you could really post about the outfielder is the lack of power and the number of strikeouts (81). The strikeouts aren’t even really bad, and the power wouldn’t even be a discussion if it wasn’t for the fact that he looked like he bulked up this offseason. Jimenez is an elite prospect and wouldn’t it be fun to have a .300-hitter that can steal 50 bases?

Ceddanne Rafaela is slashing .248/.303/.438 with 18 doubles, nine triples, and 10 home runs. He’s driven in 45 runs and scored 63 more, stealing 21 bases. Elite defense from multiple positions. Remember when I was aggressively annoying about how good I thought Rafaela was when he was hitting in the .210s with very few extra-base hits? Yeah, I’m going to be a lot more annoying.

Niko Kavadas is off to a great start in Low-A. The left-handed hitter is slashing .286/.483/.524 with two doubles and one home run in seven games. Kavadas has driven in four runs and scored six more. Most impressively, the 2021 draft pick has eight walks already – compared to seven strikeouts.

Nick Decker is on an absolute roll. The outfielder is on a five-game hitting streak. In that time, he’s collected seven hits (two homers) in 17 at-bats. Decker’s driven in seven runs and scored seven more. This has helped to raise his slash line to .282/.386/.476 with 14 doubles, one triple, and eight homers in Low-A. Decker’s driven in 33 runs, scored 44 more and stolen three bases.

Nicholas Northcut is back from an injury and already mashing. The corner infielder is slashing a strong .245/.343/.473 with an impressive 28 doubles, two triples, and 12 home runs. Northcut has driven in 59 runs and scored 57 more in just 298 at-bats.

Blaze Jordan has done nothing but hit in the Red Sox organization. At the moment, the third baseman is slashing .250/.289/.444 with one double and two home runs in nine games in Low-A. Jordan has driven in seven runs and scored seven more. The right-handed hitter has such a dangerous bat and at just 18, he’s only going to mature.

Matthew Lugo has really turned his season around nicely. He’s up to a .261/.325/.341 slash line after a solid week that saw the shortstop hit his third homer of the year. Lugo has 17 doubles and one triple to go along with it. Meanwhile, he’s scored 50 runs and driven in 43 more – stealing 14 bases.

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Wilkelman Gonzalez is raw, but he’s already dominating in Low-A. The 19-year-old has now made two starts for Salem. In those games, the righty has a 0.93 ERA, .152 BAA, and 0.83 WHIP over 9 2/3 innings pitched. He’s struck out eight batters compared to just one walk. Gonzalez has a lot of refining to do but he’s decently polished for a 19-year-old and clearly has good stuff.

Chih-Jung Liu gave up one run on four hits and two walks, compared to six strikeouts, in 4 2/3 innings this week. The right-handed pitcher has been phenomenal outside of a blowup appearance. He now has a 4.83 ERA, .274 BAA, and 1.39 WHIP in 10 starts. Liu has 44 strikeouts compared to 10 walks in 41 innings pitched for Salem.

Shane Drohan turned out an absolute dominant start this week. The left-handed pitcher gave up one run on four hits and no walks in five innings. Oh, and he struck out a career-high nine batters in the process. Drohan now has a 3.89 ERA, .241 BAA, and 1.40 WHIP in 78 2/3 innings pitched this season. He’s had some walk issues (40) but has 75 strikeouts to go with it.

Devon Roedahl has a 1.70 ERA. He has a .199 BAA and a 0.91 WHIP. Those numbers are just ridiculous, especially this late in the season. The right-handed pitcher is 7-2 with one hold and 10 saves. He’s struck out 57 batters compared to just nine walks in 53 innings pitched.

Wyatt Olds now has six Low-A innings under his belt. The right-handed pitcher has allowed one run on six hits and four walks in that time. He’s also struck out a fantastic 12 batters and even picked up two holds.

Jacob Webb was selected in the 14th round of the draft this year. The right-handed pitcher now has five shutout innings in Low-A. He’s allowed just two hits and three walks in that time, striking out four. Webb has looked solid in all three of his outings and could rise through the ranks quickly if he keeps that up.