Red Sox Low-A (Salem)
Edge at the 2020 Royal Rumble. CM Punk at AEW: Rampage on August 20, 2021. Marcelo Mayer back to the Boston Red Sox prospect watch. These are all similar returns, right? Mayer had been out since April 23 when he returned on May 10 to go 1-for-4 with a steal. Then he didn’t play again until May 15 when he went 3-for-6 with three doubles and two RBI. Mayer is now slashing .343/.397/.522 with nine doubles and one home run on the season. The left-handed hitter has driven in 12 runs and scored nine more, stealing four bases.
Blaze Jordan is riding a 12-game hitting streak that started at the beginning of May. He’s gone from a .162/.230/.250 slash line to a .248/.305/.393 slash line in that time. Impressive jump. The right-handed hitter has eight doubles and three home runs, to go along with 15 runs driven in and 17 more scored.
Brainer Bonaci has been one of the most impressive prospects this year. The 19-year-old switch-hitter is hitting .325 with just a .400 slugging percentage. That’s due to him having only two doubles and two triples, no home runs. However, he has an insane .467 OBP. Bonaci has actually walked (23) more times than he’s struck out (22). He’s also added 13 RBI, 20 runs scored, and three steals.
Niko Kavadas is slashing .256/.438/.433 with 10 doubles and two home runs. The left-handed hitter has 13 RBI and 13 runs scored, to go along with one steal. Kavadas hasn’t hit a lot of home runs yet, but it’s still early. And his 10 doubles is very encouraging, as are the 27 walks he’s drawn.
Eddinson Paulino holds a .260/.336/.465 slash line with 10 doubles, five triples, and two home runs. The left-handed hitter has 17 runs batted in, 25 more runs scored, and two steals. A surprising amount of pop and a lot of speed is a dangerous combination and Paulino has done a great job making the two work together for good production.
Jacob Webb threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings this week. The right-handed pitcher now holds a 2.57 ERA, .192 BAA, and 1.43 WHIP on the year. He’s struggled a bit with walks so far (10 in just 14 innings). But his insane strikeout numbers (26) has kept him out of trouble so far.
Wikelman Gonzalez had a strange week. His first start saw him go 3 1/3 innings. The righty didn’t allow a run on just one hit and four walks, striking out five. Next time out, the 20-year-old gave up four runs on six hits and one walk – again striking out five. It might not sound like it but that’s a seriously positive start. Why? Because he threw six innings, which is a new career-high. Gonzalez has a 3.16 ERA, .211 BAA, and 1.36 WHIP on the year. He’s struck out 31 batters in 25 2/3 innings.
Angel Bastardo has been utterly dominant in May. Coming into the month he held some gaudy numbers. The 19-year-old righty had a 4.30 ERA, .310 BAA, and 1.77 WHIP. In two starts this month he’s given up just one run on three hits and five walks (striking out 10) in 10 innings. This has helped lower Bastardo’s numbers a lot. He now holds a 2.92 ERA, .233 BAA, 1.38 WHIP and 27 strikeouts over 24 2/3 innings.