Boston Red Sox Prospect Watch: Monster performances headline
By Hunter Noll
Red Sox Double-A (Portland)
Ceddanne Rafaela was promoted to Double-A last Sunday after posting a ridiculous .330/.368/.594 slash line in High-A to star the year. His Double-A adventure started off with some bad luck. A couple hard-hit balls leading to great catches. Then Rafaela got hot, finishing the week with three straight multi-hit games. The right-handed hitter is now slashing .346/.393/.692 with three doubles and two homers in Double-A. Combined between the two levels he has 20 doubles (tied for a career-high), four triples, and 11 home runs (new career-high). He’s driven in 41 runs, scored 42 more, and stolen 14 bases.
Pedro Castellanos is on the run of his life. After a rough first month, he hit .333 in May and is hitting .349 in June. The right-handed hitter is now slashing .262/.292/.446 with 14 doubles, one triple, and seven home runs. He’s driven in 37 runs and scored 20 more. When he’s feeling it, Castellanos is terrifying with the bat. A whole lot of barrels.
Tyler Dearden had a strong week that included him getting a hit in four-of-five games he played in. The left-handed hitter slashed .241/.358/.352 with eight doubles, one triple, and two home runs. Two of those doubles and one of those homers came this week. He’s driven in 20 runs and scored 16 more.
Kole Cottam is slashing .263/.351/.353 with nine doubles and one home run. The right-handed hitter has driven in 11 runs and scored 15 more. Cottam has had a lot of bad luck at the plate lately, but he’s putting good wood on the ball so hopefully that turns around. Meanwhile, he continues to impress defensively at catcher.
Christian Koss is having a much better year than I feel like he’s getting credit for. He’s played good defense at multiple positions in the infield. Meanwhile, he’s slashing .283/.313/.445 with five doubles, four triples, and six home runs. The right-handed hitter has driven in 34 runs, scored 23 more, and stolen six bases.
David Hamilton’s numbers are dipping a bit. He’s now slashing .229/.300/.385 with three doubles, six triples, and five home runs. The run production has been solid with 20 runs driven in and 22 more scored. However, it’s the speed that has been the real prize, as he now has 23 steals in just 26 attempts.
Chris Murphy gave up four runs on five hits and two walks in six innings this week. However, he also managed 11 strikeouts – that’s tied for his career-high. The left-handed pitcher is having a fantastic year in Double-A. He now holds a 2.56 ERA, .165 BAA, and 1.01 WHIP on the year. Murph’s struck out 75 batters in 59 2/3 innings pitched.
Oddanier Mosqueda had a great week. In two appearances, he tossed three shutout innings and struck out four batters. The left-handed reliever is having easily his best year in the minors, and he’s doing it at the highest level he’s ever been in. Mosqueda holds a 2.66 ERA, .163 BAA, 0.85 WHIP, and 27 strikeouts in 23 2/3 innings pitched.
Jake Thompson’s dominance continued this week with two more shutout relief appearances. The right-handed pitcher now has a 1.10 ERA, .145 BAA, and 0.92 WHIP on the year. In 16 1/3 innings he’s struck out 22 batters.
Victor Santos is having a strong campaign. The right-handed pitcher built on that in his start this week. Although he gave up three earned runs in 5 1/3 innings, he also struck out a season-high eight batters. Santos has a 4.03 ERA, .233 BAA, and 1.06 WHIP this season. He’s struck out 50 batters compared to just 12 walks in 67 innings pitched.
Jay Groome had his second straight really solid start this week. The left-handed pitcher gave up just one run on four hits and four walks in five innings, striking out five batters. Groome currently boasts a 4.20 ERA, .234 BAA, and 1.36 WHIP on the season. He’s had some issues with walks lately, and now has 23 walks compared to 47 strikeouts in 49 1/3 innings pitched.