Grading the aspects of Red Sox prospect Christian Koss’ game
The Boston Red Sox added Christian Koss to their minor leagues before the 2021 season with little fanfare. No one was really talking about him despite his massive 2019 season in the Colorado Rockies organization.
Maybe it was just because Boston’s system is stacked. Or maybe they felt Koss didn’t have the best tools in his game. Whatever it is, the shortstop prospect wasn’t get the love he deserved. Then came 2021 and Koss proved that his first season in the minors was far from a fluke. He has a well-round gamed and put up the numbers to mirror that.
Still, even with a really strong first season in the Red Sox system – it feels like Koss isn’t getting any attention. So let’s try to change that, by grading the tools of his game.
We’re going to be doing so with the same grading scale as the MLB. That means we are going to grade out the tools of the game of Koss. Those being hitting, running, fielding, power, arm, and overall. Just like MLB, we are going to give them grades from 20-80, with 20 being the worst it could possibly be and 80 being the best.
For this exercise, we are looking at not only the current skill set of Koss, but also looking at his potential. As sometimes things like “raw power” mean that a player has plenty of power potential, but isn’t hitting home runs at the moment. So while some numbers might not translate, you need to find a healthy medium ground between current talent and potential. I think we can get that done.
Well the first thing to do when trying to grade a player is to look at his numbers. And 2021 was a big year for Koss. Spending the season in High-A, with the Greenville Drive, the right-handed hitter put together a well-rounded campaign. Koss slashed .271/.325/.451, that’s a pretty healthy line. He was solid against both too, hitting .269 against righties and .279 against lefties. A solid .287 average with runners in scoring position helped Koss to 55 RBI and 65 runs scored as well. He does a lot right at the plate and could absolutely be a .280-type hitter. Hit: 55
Koss might not be a 30-plus home run type but he definitely has pop. In 2021, he managed 18 doubles, five triples, and 15 home runs. There’s definitely potential to grow there too, which is nice. With his type of swing, the 23-year-old could definitely stick with 15 home runs as a minimum and definitely be a 20-homer-a-year type bat. Throw in 25 every once in a while and maybe he sneaks into the 30 range once. Likely sits in the low-20s though. Still very solid especially for a middle infielder. Throw in 30ish doubles and a couple of triples and you’ve got a solid power bat. Power: 55
There is some nice speed with Koss. He isn’t going to be the fastest guy on the field, but he will be far from the slowest. In 2021, he stole 10 bases in 14 attempts. A pretty solid percentage right there. He definitely has potential for a few more and could even sneak into the 20s on occasion. He’ll get from first to third, and will add some runs to the offense thanks to his speed. The Red Sox would love some of that right now. Run: 55
Koss made some really good plays in the field in 2021. A lot of them helped show off a good arm. He doesn’t have an elite arm but it’s definitely above-average. Throws going across his body can be made, and he can even make them from deep in the infield. Accurate too. He definitely saved a few base hits thanks to it this year. Arm: 55
Like I said, Koss made some really good plays in the field in 2021. There were multiple occasions this year where he absolutely stole some base hits away from the opposing team. Not only can he make the flashy plays, but you should feel safe with him on the routine ones as well. That’s an underrated aspect in prospects as flash tends to outshine everything else. Maybe not a gold glover but he’ll definitely be above-average. Field: 55
Okay, I swear I didn’t do that on purpose. If you didn’t notice every single one of the tools were graded a 55 for Koss. I swear I ranked them individually and then realized what happened. There was a second where I considered lowering or raising one of them, but that felt very disingenuous. These were the ratings I felt appropriate, so we’re rolling with them.
Koss is a very good overall prospect. He isn’t the biggest stud in one particular aspect of the game, but he’s above average in all of them. That feels rare. Don’t mistake him not being “elite” in anything for a bad thing either. Because usually those guys aren’t going to give you much in a different category. Koss does it all.
He’s got a lot of competition in the Red Sox system, but if given the chance it feels like he could succeed in the Majors and put together a good career. You can probably take guess what the overall is going to be. DJ Kay Slay dropped that “Rolling 50 Deep” track with 50 emcees rapping on it (if you have 17 minutes to spare it’s worth a listen). Christian Koss rolls 55 deep. Overall: 55