Red Sox prospect Matthew Lugo is scorching at the plate
The Boston Red Sox minor league system is filled to the brim with talent that a lot of people will jump at the chance to praise. I feel like Matthew Lugo was on the cusp of being in that conversation before last season.
However, a pretty “eh” performance led to a lot of people writing him off. And that’s hilarious for a few reasons. First, he was 19 and 20 during the season last year – playing in Low-A (the highest level he had ever been at). Second, it was coming off the pandemic year where MiLB wasn’t even a thing.
Finally, the numbers really weren’t bad. Okay, Lugo had some major error problems. 35 errors in 850 1/3 innings between shortstop and second base isn’t great. He had a .911 fielding percentage at short, and a .935 fielding percentage at second.
A few things about that though. Lugo is very young, so getting a lot of errors at a position like shortstop isn’t unheard-of. The bigger thing in my opinion though is he was playing in Low-A. Everyone is inexperienced. Which means his teammates aren’t going to be helping him out much on not-perfect throws. It’s the same reason I don’t look into caught stealing numbers for catchers in the minors – too many variables.
He’s not a gold glover, but Lugo is far from bad in the field.
The other issue with Lugo was that slash line. A .270/.338/.364 line really isn’t terrible. It’s not turning any heads though. Especially with such a low slugging percentage. Putting up just four home runs to go along with three triples and 21 doubles will do that though.
It really was just a cold start to the season that plagued him though. Lugo hit under .230 in both May and June. And in those two months he combined for just four doubles, one triple, and one home run.
The last three months of the season saw Lugo put together a .303 average with 17 doubles, two triples, and three home runs. Clearly something had clicked.
And Lugo has kept that going into a new season. Still just 20, Lugo is now trying his luck in High-A. How is that going for him, you ask? How does a .514/.538/.865 slash with seven RBI, eight runs scored, and two steals in eight games sound?
Let me say that again. Dude is hitting .514.
Small sample size? Sure. But six doubles, two triples, and one home run certainly add some intrigue. Lugo is not only hitting for an insane average, but he has shown some real power. Legitimately building off his strong showing to end the year.
Lugo has all the talent to be a star. It was just a matter of if he could put it all together. As the season went on last year, he was showing what his game could be. Now – at an even higher level – Lugo is out to prove he is the real deal.
Obviously, we won’t see him hit .514 all year. A major uptick in average and (most importantly) power from last year should be expected though.
Great speed (already 2-for-2 on steals), promising glove (disregard some issues last year), and the ability to get on-base. All great things to have. Now Matthew Lugo is showing his true five-tool potential though. And that gives the Red Sox another prospect that they can covet for a whole number of reasons.