Boston Red Sox Prospect Watch: Monster performances headline
By Hunter Noll
Red Sox High-A (Greenville)
Bryan Mata made his first rehab start last week in Low-A. The righty went two innings, giving up no earned runs on zero hits and two walks while striking out two. Now he’s up in High-A. Mata tossed three innings, giving up one run on one hit and two walks while striking out five. El Idolo has looked phenomenal. His breaking stuff has had great snap and drop to it and he’s touching 100 on his fastball.
Shane Drohan made two starts this week. In his first, he gave up three runs in 5 2/3 innings. The big news there was the lefty’s career-high 14 strikeouts. Drohan now has a 4.61 ERA, .229 BAA, and 1.29 WHIP on the year. He’s struck out 75 batters in 56 2/3 innings.
Chih-Jung Liu hasn’t been great this year, but the left-handed pitcher had one of the best starts of his career this week. Liu tossed five shutout innings, giving up just three hits and two walks while striking out nine. He holds a 5.31 ERA, .250 BAA, 1.35 WHIP, and 52 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings.
Wow what a stretch from Nick Northcut. The right-handed hitter is riding a four-game hit-streak, that featured a three-homer game. Northcut’s hit two doubles and four homers, while drawing three walks in that stretch. He’s now up to a .231/.286/.574 slash line with seven doubles and a ridiculous 20 home runs. Kid Cutty has 46 RBI and 30 runs scored on the year. This has been an insanely promising week.
Joe Davis has been on a tear too. The right-handed hitter hasn’t had many at-bats this year but he’s definitely made the most of them. Davis has a homer in three-straight games. Now he holds a .242/.312/.556 slash line with one double and 10 home runs. He’s driven in 19 runs and scored 18 more. Oh, and those 10 home runs have come in just 99 at-bats.
Gilberto Jimenez is riding a three-game hitting-streak. The switch-hitter is up to a .276/.327/.427 slash line with 11 doubles, one triple, and five home runs. He’s driven in 21 runs and scored 28 more, stealing 10 bases. Strikeouts have been a slight issue this year but Jimenez is starting to hit again.
Tyler McDonough ended the week with a bang. The switch-hitter and back-to-back multi-hit games and added a Grand Slam in there. He’s now slashing .243/.338/.414 with nine doubles, three triples, and seven home runs. McDonough has driven in 33 runs and scored 35 more, stealing 10 bases.
Matthew Lugo’s average dipped a bit this week, but his on-base percentage went up thanks to a handful of walks. The right-handed hitter is slashing .281/.342/.518 with 15 doubles, seven triples, and six home runs. He’s driven in 34 runs and scored 30 more, stealing six bases. The triples and homers are already career-highs, and he’s not that far off with the doubles. Definitely a major step forward this year.
Alex Binelas is slashing .230/.356/.472 with five doubles, one triple, and 12 home runs this season. The left-handed hitter has driven in 37 runs and scored 35 more, stealing seven bases. Binelas has shown an incredible ability to hit the opposite way, and do it with a lot of power. That’s something that could really play at the higher levels. Imagine him using the Green Monster for some hits non-stop.