Boston Red Sox Prospect Watch: End of another minor league season
By Hunter Noll
The Red Sox Prospect Watch sees the end of another MiLB season
Well we’ve reached the end of the 2021 MiLB season – it’s a sad day. Obviously, that means that this is the last Boston Red Sox Prospect Watch of the year. We’ll be back next year though. And importantly, remember that the Top-30 Prospect list is still set to come out after the Red Sox season is over.
So there is still a lot to look forward too. And while we’re waiting for that, expect to see some specific prospects highlighted over the next few weeks.
For now though, we still have to focus on the Prospect Watch. And as always we are starting with the “prospects” that are working in the Majors right now.
Man, if Bobby Dalbec could’ve gotten hot just one month earlier. The first baseman has been the best rookie in baseball for over a month now. Give him a little more time and he would’ve won AL Rookie of the Year. Dalbec is up to a .245/.306/.497 slash line. That’s solid no matter what. It’s incredible when considering how bad it looked midway through the year. He also has 20 doubles, five triples, and 23 home runs. Dalbec’s driven in 76 runs and scored 47 more, stealing two bases in two attempts.
Garrett Whitlock has thrown 72 1/3 innings this season. That’s amazing. He never pitched above Double-A before this year and was a Rule-5 draft pick. The New York Yankees didn’t think he was worth saving. Well Whitlock’s been one of the best relievers and rookies in baseball. He holds on to a 1.99 ERA, .235 BAA, and 1.12 WHIP. Whitlock is 8-4 with 14 holds and two saves. He’s struck out 79 batters compared to 17 walks. The pitcher suffered an injury on Sunday and is listed as day-to-day at the moment. Hopefully it’s nothing bad. The Red Sox need Whitlock for their playoff push.
Tanner Houck was moved to the bullpen this week and dominated in his first appearance there. Well, it wasn’t his first appearance there this year. It was his first since getting moved there again though. And ironically enough, he got his first win of the year in a game where he came out of the bullpen. Houck has thrown 60 1/3 innings this season. In that time he has a 3.58 ERA, .237 BAA, and 1.16 WHIP. He’s struck out 73 batters compared to 16 walks and has one win and one save this season.