Boston Red Sox prospect Matthew Lugo is powering his way to a promotion
We’ve seen a few major breakouts from Boston Red Sox prospects in the 2022 season. Few have made a bigger jump in a single category than Matthew Lugo has when it comes to power.
Lugo had a great first full season in the minors in 2021 (playing in Low-A). However, his .364 slugging percentage despite hitting .270 certainly wasn’t impressing anyone too much. He did that while spending the year as a 20-year-old though, so it’s easy to forgive him.
That’s the thing with minor league baseball, you’re looking for improvements in the prospects. It’s not all about dominating, but seeing if they can take steps forward in different areas of their game. And that’s what Lugo has done in 2022.
The right-handed hitting shortstop entered play on August 19 slashing .264/.320/.486 in High-A. That’s a monster jump in slugging percentage. But it was about to take an even bigger leap.
On August 19, Lugo went 3-for-5 with two home runs and five RBI. The very next day he went 4-for-5 with a double, two more home runs, and five more RBI. That’s a, quite frankly, ridiculous stretch.
Matthew Lugo is UNSTOPPABLE right now. 3-for-5 with two home runs and five RBI last night.
— Hunter Noll (@Hunter_Noll) August 21, 2022
He’s 2-for-2 with two home runs and three RBI tonight. Up to 17 home runs on the season.
The Boston Red Sox prospect wants to be in Double-A! pic.twitter.com/xSA3G2vTen
Suddenly Lugo’s slashing .275/.329/.508. For those keeping track at home, that’s a .144 jump in his slugging percentage from last season. That’s thanks to him setting new career-highs in doubles (23), triples (9), and home runs (17). Lugo has also set new marks in RBI (70), runs scored (65), and his 13 steals are just two away from tying his previous-high of 15.
The craziest part is that most of those aren’t even close to his 2021 numbers, he’s surpassed them heavily.
We’re about to see the end of the FCL (Florida Complex League) season. With it, there will be promotions throughout the Red Sox system. Lugo already seemed like a slam dunk to move from High-A to Double-A. This two-game stint has almost certainly made that a 100% guarantee though.
The Greenville Drive roster already has a bit of an issue when it comes to playing time. Nick Yorke, Marcelo Mayer, Blaze Jordan, and Max Ferguson also need playing time. And you’d assume there will be some promotions from Low-A to High-A. Getting Lugo to Double-A could clear that up a bit (especially if Christian Koss gets the promotion from Double-A to Triple-A that he deserves).
The Boston Red Sox have a pretty loaded minor league system. So it’s easy for some players to get lost in the shuffle with the fans. Matthew Lugo is definitely someone that has suffered from this. His ridiculous growth needs to be recognized though, as the 21-year-old has shown his game is rapidly improving.
Maybe when he gets his much-deserved promotion to Double-A, more fans will take notice.