Boston Red Sox prospect watch 8/22/22: Milestones being reached

Red Sox Low-A (Salem)

Brainer Bonaci has quickly become one of my favorite prospects to watch. His play in the field is absurd, he’s one of the best naturally gifted shortstops I’ve seen in a while. And his offense is almost just as fun. The switch-hitter is slashing .259/.395/.378 with 18 doubles, six triples, and four home runs. He’s driven in 45 runs, scored 75 more, and stolen 22 bases. Bones also has 80 walks compared to just 79 strikeouts. Wild.

Eddinson Paulino is right up there with Bones in terms of “favorites to watch”. The left-handed hitting utility man has a .258/.351/.442 slash line with 29 doubles, 10 triples, and nine home runs. He’s driven in 51 runs, scored 81 more, and stolen 24 bases. Paulino plays great defense at a ton of different positions, has sneaky good pop, gets on-base, and has plenty of speed. Could take a big leap next season sort of like Ceddanne Rafaela did this year.

Chase Meidroth is putting up monster numbers in Low-A. Despite being there for just a few weeks (was a fourth-round draft pick this year), the right-handed hitting second baseman has made a big impact. He’s slashing .350/.491/.525 with one double and two home runs. Meidroth has driven in eight runs, scored 12 more, and stolen two bases. He also has more walks (9) than strikeouts (7).

Johnfrank Salazar has also made a big impact in a short amount of time in Low-A. The right-handed hitting third baseman is slashing .308/.400/.410 with two doubles and one triple. He’s driven in six runs and scored five more. Salazar hasn’t looked overwhelmed at all despite being a 19-year-old with very little experience playing in Low-A.

Kier Meredith has had a fantastic month of August, helping to boost his numbers. The left-handed hitting outfielder is now slashing .260/.417/.320 with five doubles, one triple, and one home run. He’s driven in 21 runs, scored 31 more, and is a perfect 21-for-21 on stolen base attempts to this point.

Yorberto Mejicano continues to impress in his much larger role. The right-handed hitting catcher holds a .270/.335/.384 slash line with 10 doubles, one triple, and four home runs. He’s driven in 31 runs, scored 35 more, and stolen seven bases. Meji seems to have pretty good athleticism and has shown good defensive potential at both catcher and first base.

Eduardo Lopez has shown flashes of greatness in nearly every area of his game. The switch-handed hitting outfielder is slashing .230/.335/.339 with 11 doubles, one triple, and four home runs. He’s driven in 22 runs, scored 35 more, and stolen eight bases. Lopez has some big games but hasn’t been able to put together a really strong stretch.

Luis Perales made his Low-A debut this week and looked phenomenal. The 19-year-old righty gave up one run on two hits and two walks over two innings, striking out four. Perales looked to have some pretty devastating breaking stuff and didn’t seem intimidated by the higher level at all.

Luis Talavera made his Low-A debut in the same game as Perales. The 20-year-old righty also looked great. He gave up one earned run on three hits and one walk over four innings. Talavera didn’t manage to pick up any strikeouts but was extremely effective in his four innings.