Boston Red Sox Prospect Watch: Big performances mark breakouts

Red Sox Triple-A (Worcester)

Chris Murphy finally got the promotion to Triple-A that he deserved after putting up some ludicrous numbers in Double-A. The left-handed pitcher gave up three earned runs on five hits and two walks (while striking out four), in six innings. And the only reason it was an elite Triple-A debut is that he went back out for the seventh inning, and that didn’t work out great. Murph proved he was ready for the next step.

Brayan Bello just won’t stop. He’s making fans scream themselves hoarse with “he’s gotta be coming up right?” every time the Red Sox need a pitcher. The righty was ridiculous in Double-A and in Triple-A he has a 2.81 ERA, .209 BAA, and 1.17 WHIP. He’s struck out 72 batters in 51 1/3 innings with Worcester and 114 strikeouts in 85 innings pitched total on the year.

Chase Shugart got the jump to Triple-A as well and on Sunday made his debut. The right-handed pitcher gave up one run on just one hit and no walks while striking out two batters over three innings. It’s been a great year for Shugart and now he’s proving it at the highest level in the minors.

Fantastic week from Eduard Bazardo. The right-handed pitcher gave up no runs on just one hit and no walks in five innings over two appearances. He struck out three batters and added a save in that time. Bazardo now has a 2.37 ERA, .277 BAA, 1.45 WHIP, and 32 strikeouts (compared to 11 walks) in 30 1/3 innings pitched.

Zack Kelly continues to be one of the most reliable options out of the bullpen for the Red Sox minor leagues over the last two years. The righty has a 3.38 ERA, .209 BAA, and 1.30 WHIP in 29 1/3 innings pitched. He’s struck out 40 batters compared to 15 walks and has only walked two since the beginning of June.

Pedro Castellanos was dominating for the last few months in Double-A. And somehow he’s even better in Triple-A. The right-handed hitting first baseman/outfielder is slashing .433/.471/.767 with two doubles, one triple, and two home runs in eight games with Worcester. Castellanos has already driven in nine runs and scored eight more.

Ronaldo Hernandez is getting better day by day. The right-handed hitting catcher is somehow suddenly slashing .290/.313/.465 with 17 doubles and seven home runs. He’s driven in 27 runs and scored 28 more. If you told me Hernandez was hitting .750 over the last two months I’d probably believe you.

The numbers still don’t look great, but Jeter Downs has been awesome since that one-game-stint in the Majors. Upon returning to Triple-A the right-handed-hitting shortstop is 10-for-31 (.323) with nine walks (only six strikeouts), three doubles, one homer, six RBI, 13 runs scored, and four steals. He’s now slashing .200/.330/.427 with nine doubles, one triple, and 13 home runs. Downs has driven in 27 runs, scored 48 more, and stolen 15 bases.

Devlin Granberg has been really solid since being promoted to Triple-A. In 14 games the right-handed hitting outfielder is slashing .241/.323/.362 with two doubles, one triple, and one home run. He’s driven in eight runs, scored five more, and stolen two bases. The strikeouts have been up since the promotion, but Granberg is still getting used to the new level.

Red Sox Double-A (Portland)

Bryan Mata was promoted to Double-A this week and made two really strong starts. His first outing saw the right-handed pitcher give up one run on two hits and one walk (three strikeouts) over 3 1/3 innings. The next time out was four innings of one-run (zero earned) on two hits and one walk (five strikeouts). Mata has looked phenomenal during his return.

Ryan Fernandez was promoted to Double-A this week as well, thanks to a strong stretch in High-A. The righty reliever gave up one hit while striking out two batters in one inning in his Double-A debut. He did give up a run, but it was unearned.

Another pitcher made his Portland debut this week. You might not have heard about the prospect but I think he could have something special, so indulge me for a second. Chris Sale gave up one run on four hits, striking out seven batters in four innings. Give him a chance, he’s got the “it” factor.

Jay Groome continues his strong season with a great game this week. The lefty gave up one run on two hits over five innings. He did walk four batters but struck out seven as well. Groome has a 3.69 ERA, .206 BAA, and 1.27 WHIP in 70 2/3 innings pitched. He’s walked 37 batters but has struck out 74. The walks have never been an issue like this before, so hopefully, it’s something he can work through – because everything else has been fantastic.

Oddanier Mosqueda holds a 2.35 ERA, .173 BAA, and 0.98 WHIP on the year. The left-handed pitcher has 37 strikeouts compared to 12 walks over 30 2/3 innings pitched so far. Mosqueda is enjoying what is easily the best year of his minor league career so far and could climb the ranks.

Rio Gomez continues to impress after that rocky start. The lefty made just one appearance this week but did his job. He pitched a season-high 3 1/3 innings, giving up no runs on two hits and two walks while striking out six. Gomez now has a 7.00 ERA, .306 BAA, 1.89 WHIP, and 13 strikeouts in nine innings.

Ceddanne Rafaela is now slashing .314/.357/.589 with 22 doubles, six triples, and 15 home runs between High-A and Double-A this season. That’s absurd. The right-handed hitter already has career-highs in doubles and homers. He also has a career-high in RBI (54) to go along with 51 runs scored and 17 steals. Give him a top-100 prospect spot at the end of the year or I riot.

David Hamilton was slumping hard for a while. Then he moved to the six-hole this week and wow did that change things. Holding a .206 average, he went 9-for-17 with three walks, one double, one triple, and six steals this week. The left-handed-hitting second baseman is now slashing .229/.301/.371 with six doubles, seven triples, and five home runs. He’s driven in 23 runs, scored 33 more, and stolen 31 bases. Just get on at a decent clip and he’ll steal every base.

Christian Koss had a mammoth game this week and boosted the numbers nicely. The right-handed-hitting shortstop is now slashing .265/.313/.419 with seven doubles, four triples, and eight home runs. He’s driven in 43 runs, scored 27 more, and stolen seven bases.

Tyler Dearden has been steadily getting his numbers up as well. The left-handed-hitting outfielder is now up to a .251/.357/.346 slash line with nine doubles, one triple, and two home runs. He’s driven in 27 runs and scored 19 more. The power that was on display last season hasn’t really shown up yet, but he’s turning it on at the plate so maybe the homers will join the party.

Kole Cottam is quietly having a great season. The numbers aren’t super flashy for the catcher, but he’s produced really well. Maybe that will make people underestimate him, but he brings it all to the table. The right-handed hitter is slashing .259/.349/.337 with 10 doubles and one home run. He’s driven in 14 runs and scored 19 more so far.

Stephen Scott was called up to Double-A last week and has been pretty solid so far. The left-handed-hitting utility-man struggled mightily in High-A but has boosted his numbers in Portland. Scott is slashing .240/.367/.280 with one double over seven Double-A games. He’s yet to drive in a run but has four runs scored and nearly as many walks (5) as strikeouts (7).

It’s been rough for Alex Binelas since getting the promotion to Double-A. The lefty third baseman is 1-for-28 (although that one hit is a home run). He’s driven in three runs and scored three more so far. The good news is, Binelas has drawn eight walks already – so he is finding a way to get on base. He’ll be fine, just needs to adjust.

Red Sox High-A (Greenville)

Nick Yorke hasn’t been able to replicate the success of his 2021 season yet. However, he could be turning things around. The right-handed-hitting second baseman collected a hit in four-of-five games this week. He even drew a few walks and drove in some runs. Yorke’s slashing .237/.310/.342 with five doubles and five home runs. He’s driven in 24 runs, scored 30 more, and stolen five bases.

Tyler McDonough’s strong overall year continued with a walk-off home run on Saturday. The switch-hitting second baseman/outfielder is slashing .245/.329/.397 with 13 doubles, three triples, and eight home runs. Run production has been great too. He’s driven in 37 runs, scored 42 more, and stolen 14 bases.

Niko Kavadas has been on-a-tear for most of the season. And somehow the first baseman is even better since getting the promotion to High-A. He’s slashing .385/.529/.923 with two doubles and four home runs in nine games with Greenville so far. Kavadas has already driven in eight runs, scored six more, and drawn six more walks (60 total on the season).

Big Joe Davis is slashing .265/.315/.581 with one double and 14 home runs so far. The right-handed hitting first baseman seems to hit a home run every other at-bat. 14 homers in 136 at-bats is pretty wild. He’s driven in 27 runs and scored 25 more.

Matthew Lugo has a .279/.330/.506 slash line with 17 doubles, eight triples, and nine home runs. The right-handed-hitting shortstop has 41 runs batted in, 39 runs scored, and six steals. His power has seen a major uptick and he’s already close to the same amount of run production he had last season.

Gilberto Jimenez is having a strange season. The switch-hitting centerfielder is currently slashing .266/.314/.393 with 12 doubles, one triple, and a career-high five home runs. He’s driven in 21 runs, scored 29 more, and stolen 11 bases. Tons of speed, but he needs to work on his base running. Still, there’s insane potential here.

Nathan Hickey was promoted to High-A with Kavadas. The right-handed hitting catcher is currently 3-for-15 with two doubles so far. He put up some monster numbers in Low-A, so a slightly slow start in Greenville is nothing to worry about. He’ll figure it out quickly enough.

Nicholas Northcut may only be hitting .220 with a .288 on-base percentage, but that .520 slugging percentage is pretty wild. The right-handed hitting third baseman has nine doubles and 22 home runs already. He’s driven in 50 runs and scored 37 more. The 22 home runs are already a career-high, and he’s not exactly slowing down too much.

Jacob Webb made just one appearance this week, but the right-handed reliever did his thing in that outing. Webb tossed two shutout, hitless innings. He walked just one batter while striking out four. Webb has a 1.13 ERA, .143 BAA, 1.13 WHIP, and 15 strikeouts in eight innings pitched.

Michael Getty is having a really good season in his first year as a pitcher (used to be an outfielder). The right-handed reliever had a phenomenal June (one earned run in 10 1/3 innings pitched), and already has a shutout inning in July. He’s down to a 3.62 ERA, .321 BAA, 1.54 WHIP, and 23 strikeouts compared to six walks in 27 1/3 innings pitched.

Shane Drohan struggled a bit in his start this week (four runs on nine hits over 4 1/3 innings pitched). He did add six more strikeouts to his eye-popping total though. The left-handed pitcher now holds a 4.18 ERA, .235 BAA, and 1.32 WHIP on the season. In 71 innings, he’s walked 30 batters and struck out 93 more.

Red Sox Low-A (Salem)

Marcelo Mayer was slumping for a while. The southpaw shortstop showed some signs of breaking out, but couldn’t seem to get over the hump. His last two games of the week certainly flipped the script though. Mayer gave back-to-back three-hit games to start the month of June. In that time he picked up three doubles, a home run, and a walk. He’s now slashing .291/.371/.525 with 21 doubles and seven home runs. Mayer’s driven in 29 runs, scored 32 more and is a perfect 10-for-10 on steal attempts.

Blaze Jordan had a ridiculous month of June. It looks like July is going to see him try to add something else to his game. The right-handed hitting third baseman already had a good eye. But four walks in his last two games (and quite a few in his last week-or-so) really give him a boost. Jordan’s slashing .305/.374/.491 with 22 doubles, two triples, and eight home runs. He’s driven in 42 runs, scored 43 more, stolen two bases, and now has 28 walks on the season.

Yorberto Mejicano is getting more playing time now that Nathan Hickey is in High-A, and he’s capitalizing. The right-handed hitting catcher is holding a .288/.328/.448 slash line with eight doubles and four home runs. He’s driven in 21 runs, scored 22 more, and stolen two bases.

Eddinson Paulino had his 20th birthday on July 2 and celebrated by hitting a home run on July 3. The left-handed-hitting utility-man is slashing .248/.339/.450 on the season. He’s racked up the extra-base hits with 23 doubles, eight triples, and six home runs. Paulino’s driven in 38 runs, scored 53 more and stolen 14 bases.

Brainer Bonaci continues to have a really solid campaign despite low power numbers. The switch-hitting shortstop is slashing .249/.375/.318 with 10 doubles and three triples. He’s driven in 23 runs, scored 43 more, and stolen 12 bases. Bonaci’s drawn 48 walks compared to 52 strikeouts.

Phillip Sikes is slashing .258/.390/.516 with 18 doubles, four triples, and five home runs. The right-handed outfielder has driven in 28 runs and scored 36 more while stealing 12 bases. Sikes has gotten hot and been one of Salem’s better, more consistent, hitters for a while now.

Eduardo Lopez had a phenomenal month of June and is staying hot in July. In fact, the switch-hitting outfielder is currently riding a 10-game hitting streak. Lopez is slashing .252/.353/.388 with eight doubles and four home runs on the year. He has 13 RBI, 23 runs scored, and six steals so far.

Reidis Sena continues to impress. The right-handed pitcher now has 13 2/3 innings under his belt in Low-A this season. In that time, Sena has 15 strikeouts compared to four walks. He’s also put up a 1.98 ERA, .220 BAA, and 1.10 WHIP.

Angel Bastardo tossed six innings of one-run ball in his start on Saturday. Six innings was a new career-high for the righty pitcher. Bastardo now has a 3.62 ERA, .261 BAA, and 1.47 WHIP. He’s struck out 52 batters compared to 24 walks in 49 2/3 innings pitched.

Hunter Dobbins has looked great in his last few outings. But it was his most recent one that really showed the potential. The right-handed pitcher tossed four scoreless and hitless innings, allowing just one walk with six strikeouts. On the year he holds a 3.57 ERA, .258 BAA, and a 1.25 WHIP. In 17 2/3 innings pitched, Dobbins has 12 strikeouts compared to five walks.

Maceo Campbell with another strong week as he continues to put up great numbers. The right-handed pitcher now has a 2.67 ERA, .209 BAA, and 1.38 WHIP in 30 1/3 innings this season. Campbell has 38 strikeouts compared to 19 walks and has limited his opponents to only two home runs.

Joey Stock had a weird week, simply because he only made one appearance and it was for 1/3 of an inning. It was a good 1/3 of an inning though, as he didn’t allow a baserunner and picked up a save. The righty now has a 2.08 ERA, .181 BAA, and 0.99 WHIP on the year. He’s racked up 53 strikeouts compared to 15 walks in 43 1/3 innings pitched.