Red Sox prospects well represented in Baseball America top 100

Four Red Sox featured in latest rankings from Baseball America

Baseball America has released their final in-season updates to their top 100 prospect list and the Boston Red Sox are well represented with their top four prospects appearing on the list.

Triston Casas remains the top prospect in the Red Sox system, ranking as the 15th best prospect in baseball. Casas was selected with the 26th pick of the 2018 draft. He gained national prominence when he helped propel Team USA to a silver medal in the Tokyo Olympics. Casas has continued to swing a hot back since returning to Double-A Portland, slashing .309/.456/.593 with six home runs.

Next on the list is 2021 fourth overall pick Marcelo Mayer. The 18-year-old shortstop is ranked as the 29th best prospect in baseball. Originally ranked as the draft’s top prospect, Mayer fell to the Red Sox. Since signing his slot value deal with Boston, Mayer has performed well in the Florida Complex League hitting .277 with a .833 OPS.

Right behind Mayer is Red Sox center fielder Jarren Duran ranked at number 37. While Duran has yet to solidify himself in the majors, his torrid numbers in Worcester have been enough for Duran to leap into the top 100 after not being ranked prior to the season. Duran was hitting .215/.241/.336 in 33 games at the major league level and  is currently on the COVID-19 IL.

Much like Duran, 2019 first-round pick Nick Yorke has taken a giant leap in the prospect rankings. The 19-year-old second baseman is now ranked as the 64th best prospect in baseball. The selection of Yorke with the 17th overall pick came as a bit of a surprise to many with Yorke as a projected second round selection. However, in his first full season he is proving that the Red Sox were right to reach.

Yorke began the year in Low-A. In 76 games he slashed .323/.413/.500 for the Salem Red Sox, leaving the organization no choice but to promote him. Since joining High-A Greenville, Yorke has continued to swing a hot bat hitting .375 with a 1.110 OPS in 16 games.

Notably, Jeter Downs, who began the year ranked as the 71st best prospect in Baseball America’s preseason rankings, is now fifth in the Red Sox system and outside the top 100 in baseball. In his first full season in the Red Sox organization, Downs has struggled hitting just .176 and striking out at an astronomical 33% rate. Downs was acquired as a part of the Mookie Betts deal and had just 12 games at Double A prior to beginning the season in Worcester.

While the Red Sox are well represented in this iteration of the Top 100; their farm system is also filled with talent at all levels. Jay Groome is finally healthy and starting to show why the Red Sox selected him in the first round in 2016. 18-year-old Blaze Jordan has impressed in first season since being taken in the 3rd-round of the 2020 draft forcing his way to Salem after just 19 games in the Florida Complex league. While depth pieces like Connor Seabold, Kaleb Ort and Kutter Crawford are making appearances in the majors as the team works its way through a COVID outbreak.

The Red Sox system is now ranked as the 12th best farm system by MLB Pipeline, after beginning the season ranked 24th.

While Chaim Bloom inherited some of the talent that is in the organization it is clear that he has made massive strides to improve the Red Sox farm system into one of the league’s best.