Red Sox Double-A (Portland)
Ceddanne Rafaela is back after missing a few games due to injury. And he’s already reminding everyone how good he is. The last game of the week saw Rafaela smoke a triple and a home run. That homer was pretty significant too. The right-handed hitting utility star is slashing .300/.350/.554 with 32 doubles, nine triples, and 20 home runs. He’s driven in 70 runs, scored 77 more, and stolen 26 bases. Rafaela now has a 20/20 season. He’s also entered the top-100 prospects, elite.
Niko Kavadas is still getting on-base. The left-handed hitting first baseman is slashing .286/.454/.580 with 25 doubles, one triple, and 26 home runs between three levels this season. He’s driven in 83 runs, scored 68 more, and stolen one base. Kavadas has walked an absurd 98 times, showing his good patience and just how terrified pitchers are of him.
Christian Koss has been flexing his muscles lately. The right-handed hitting shortstop has been on a home run tear. He’s now slashing .275/.323/.451 with 21 doubles (career-high), five triples, and 16 home runs (career-high). Koss has driven in 82 runs (up from his previous career-high of 55), scored 66 runs (career-high), and stolen 15 bases (career-high).
Wilyer Abreu took a little bit, but he’s clearly gotten comfortable in Portland. He has hits in six-of-eight games, including two home runs. Abreu’s also drawn nine walks in that time. The left-handed hitting outfielder is now slashing .246/.395/.433 with 28 doubles and 17 home runs between two teams. He’s driven in 67 runs, scored 99 more, stolen 28 bases, and walked a frankly ridiculous 102 times.
David Hamilton holds a .227/.319/.376 slash line with 13 doubles, eight triples, and 11 home runs this season. He’s driven in 34 runs, scored 70 more, and stolen 62 bases – a Portland Sea Dogs record. The left-handed hitting second baseman has shown flashes of decent power and he has a solid eye. The speed is the elite attraction though.
Nick Northcut has hit nukes all year. And this week he hit his 30th bomb of the season. The right-handed hitting corner infielder is slashing .222/.276/.499 with 17 doubles and 30 home runs between High-A and Double-A this year. He’s driven in 73 runs, scored 52 more, and stolen one base as well.
Taylor Broadway was the PTBNL in the Jake Diekman trade. Extremely interesting player as he doesn’t have the best ERA, BAA, or WHIP. However, he strikes out a ton of batters and has pretty nasty stuff. A lot of the advanced numbers work in his favor. And it’s better to have a guy that has the tools, and you just need to work stuff out – compared to a guy who is outperforming his ability. Broadway’s debut went great. The right-handed reliever tossed two scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and no walks while striking out three batters.
Michael Getty’s continues to be untouchable in Double-A. The righty reliever finally gave up a run, but it was great to see him not let that spiral into anything as he bounced back immediately. Getty’s has a 0.61 ERA, .191 BAA, and 1.16 WHIP over 14 2/3 innings in Double-A. He’s being used in high-leverage situations too and is 4-for-4 in save opportunities.
Brendan Nail’s dominant run continues. The left-handed reliever hasn’t allowed a run in his last seven outings (eight innings). He now holds a 3.79 ERA, .226 BAA, and 1.40 WHIP this season, In 35 2/3 innings, Nail has picked up 44 strikeouts compared to 20 walks.
Shane Drohan has been impressive since moving up to Double-A. I think the most impressive part has been his lack of strikeouts. In High-A, it felt like the lefty was striking out every other batter. He has just 10 in 15 innings in Double-A though. What’s impressive about that is, he’s managed to work out of trouble and limit runs even without the Ks. He’s creating weak contact. Obviously, it would be great to see him strike out everyone. Seeing he can do it without the K is nice though. Drohan has a 4.03 ERA, .228 BAA, 1.25 WHIP, and 146 strikeouts over 120 2/3 innings this season.