Prospects to watch on the Red Sox Triple-A roster
The MiLB season is officially upon us with the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox kicking off the festivities on Tuesday. Triple-A is (usually) the last stop to the Majors. Sometimes you’ll see a prospect skip that level and go from Double-A to the show, but it’s not all that common.
And for the Red Sox, some of their best prospects are rocking up in Triple-A this year. So with that in mind, who should you keep an eye out for?
There are some obvious names on there. Triston Casas is one of the best prospects in all of baseball. He had a strong year last season that included a big showing in the Olympics. It’s expected that he’ll make his big league debut at some point this season.
Jarren Duran is another obvious one. He struggled in the Majors last year but has all the tools to be a great player. It will be interesting to see if he can get back into a groove in the minors and earn a call-up relatively early.
Connor Wong and Ronaldo Hernandez are two of the catchers. Wong has already had a small taste of the Majors and looked really good in that sample. Hernandez enjoyed a strong first year in the Red Sox system last year and has a lot of tools to be a great catcher for a long time.
Jeter Downs came to the team with much fanfare, but looked pretty miserable last season. He’s still just 23 though and if he can recover, he could still be a long-term solution for the middle infield. There are a few prospects ahead of him in those rankings though, so if he’s going to make that ground back up he has to do it quickly.
Ryan Fitzgerald finally jumped onto everyone’s radar thanks to a ridiculous Spring Training. Maybe he’ll finally get the respect and recognition he deserves. Elite glove and a really good bat. He went from a “there’s a chance” to “it’s going to happen” when it comes to making his MLB debut this season.
Yolmer Sanchez has a Gold Glove. Could he be called up to help at some point this year? What about Roberto Ramos and his impressive power? Grant Williams doesn’t have much in terms of power, but the second baseman has solid contact. Maybe not at risk of getting called up, but he’s close to the Majors now.
Then there’s Johan Mieses, who started last season scorching hot with insane power before cooling off. Another crazy start could put him back on the map.
As for the pitchers, Eduard Bazardo was phenomenal for the Red Sox in his limited time with the team last year. It’s more a matter of “when” he gets the call back up. So keep an eye on his performance early in the year.
Darwinzon Hernandez has been really good for Boston so far. He’s inconsistent and has some serious control problems though, which sometimes gets him into trouble. Despite a strong 3.38 ERA over 40 innings in the Majors last season, there’s clear room for improvement. If he can figure that out in the minors, the lefty could be one of the best relievers in the game.
Connor Seabold made his MLB debut last season. It didn’t go great, but let’s not judge someone on three innings of not miserable baseball. Seabold could absolutely help the rotation at some point this year. But he’ll likely need to show he can give seriously strong innings in Triple-A first.
Zack Kelly shot up the rankings in 2021. And now should be considered one of the top options for bullpen help out of the minors. A 2.18 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and .194 BAA between Double-A and Triple-A last year. Can he build on those?
Durbin Feltman also took an enormous leap forward last year. After falling off the map in years prior, Feltman should once again be looked at as a potential future closer. He’ll be in the Majors relatively quickly if he can start off looking like he did last year.
Finally, Josh Winckowski put together a good first season with the Red Sox after being part of the return for Andrew Benintendi. The starter has to iron out a few not-so-perfect parts of his game first, but he has the tools to be a solid arm in the rotation immediately. So if he can give the WooSox a strong first two months or so, Boston might be calling him if they find themselves in need.
The Boston Red Sox season is only a few days away. However, the minor leagues kick-off tonight. There are a lot of storylines to follow in the system, and we’re getting a taste of that with the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox coming up first.