Boston Red Sox Prospect Watch 9/5/22: Major call-ups finally happen

Major call-ups highlight this week’s Boston Red Sox Prospect Watch

Wow did we get the call-ups we’ve all been asking for or what? The Boston Red Sox promoted Zack Kelly at the end of last week, and he got to make his debut this week. That was amazing, but let’s be honest we were all expecting more names.

Then came the promotions of Connor Wong and Eduard Bazardo. Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. Finally, on Saturday it was announced that Triston Casas was going to Boston to make his MLB debut.

We’ve got life people. The Red Sox have won five in a row and they have some fun players to watch.

Triston Casas almost went bridge his first at-bat. The left-handed hitter ended up going 1-for-4 in his debut and made a couple of really nice plays at first base. Boy is it nice to see good defense at first base. Casas is an absolute UNIT and he’s ready for this moment. Love to see it.

Connor Wong did go bridge this week. He also showed off some really nice patience at the plate. The right-handed hitting catcher is 3-for-13 with a home run in the Majors this year. He’s driven in three runs, scored two more, and already drawn three walks.

Brayan Bello had his best start in the Majors this week (picking up his first-career win). The right-handed starter went out there Saturday and twirled six beautiful shutout innings. He allowed just three hits and one walk while striking out five. Bello has a 5.91 ERA, .321 BAA, 1.81 WHIP, and 29 strikeouts over 32 innings in the Majors.

Zack Kelly gave up two runs in his last outing, but his first two MLB appearances saw him throw a scoreless inning each time. The righty reliever has a nice pitch mix and has looked sharp most of his time in the Majors. Giving up two runs when pitching in your third game in four days can definitely be excused anyway. He has four strikeouts through three innings so far.

Eduard Bazardo gave up two runs in his first inning of work in the Majors this year. He bounced back beautifully with a quick 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout his next time out though. The right-handed reliever was having a strong season in Triple-A and definitely deserved this look.

With all these call-ups, the Boston Red Sox Prospect Watch is seeing a major shakeup and we love it! This means new names at every level, and we’re excited to see how they do down the stretch as the season winds down.

Red Sox Triple-A (Worcester)

Bryan Mata is now in Triple-A, which is insanely exciting. The right-handed starter was a little shaky in his first outing, allowing two hits and four walks (compared to one strikeout) over three innings. However, he allowed just one run. Mata’s second start saw him give up two runs in the first, but he shut things down the rest of the way. El Idolo finished the game allowing just those two runs on four hits and three walks over six innings, striking out five.

Frank German continues his dominance. The righty reliever has a 2.83 ERA, .155 BAA, and 0.92 WHIP between Double-A and Triple-A this season. German has 62 strikeouts over 47 2/3 innings so far. It’s looking like he won’t be in the Majors this year (I’ll probably get proven wrong immediately). That being said, a spot should be waiting for him in Spring Training.

The same exact argument for Andrew Politi is going to be made. It’s looking less and less like he’ll be in the Majors this season. But he’ll have a spot in Spring Training. The right-handed reliever has a 2.63 ERA, .194 BAA, and 1.01 WHIP between Double-A and Triple-A this year. He’s racked up 72 strikeouts compared to 20 walks over 61 2/3 innings pitched.

Victor Santos has officially bounced back from those miserable first outings in Triple-A. Suddenly the righty is untouchable. Last week he tossed six shutout innings. This week, Santos managed five shutout innings. He walked five batters and allowed four hits, but he struck out four and worked his way out of trouble.

Connor Seabold bounced back from a rough start with a dominant outing as well. The right-handed starter tossed seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits and no walks with seven Ks. Seabold has a 3.18 ERA, .234 BAA, 1.13 WHIP, and 79 strikeouts over 76 1/3 innings pitched in Triple-A.

Enmanuel Valdez has gotten hot at the plate again. What a pickup for the Red Sox. The left-handed hitting second baseman is slashing .236/.325/.500 with six doubles, one triple, and seven home runs in Worcester. He’s driven in 27 runs, scored 22 more, and stolen two bases in 28 games. Overall Valdez has a .304/.389/.579 slash line with 32 doubles, two triples, and 28 home runs this season. He’s driven in 104 runs, scored 88 more, and stolen seven bases. The offense is otherworldly.

Pedro Castellanos has been one of the best hitters in the Red Sox system this season. The right-handed hitting outfielder/first baseman holds a .292/.321/.461 slash line with 26 doubles, two triples, and 13 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A. He’s driven in 69 runs, scored 49 more, and stolen one base this season.

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.

Red Sox High-A (Greenville)

Nathan Hickey went nuclear this week. The last two games saw the left-handed hitting catcher go 6-for-10 with three home runs and five RBI. He’s now slashing .274/.424/.544 with 17 doubles and 16 home runs between Low-A and High-A this season. Hickey’s driven in 62 runs, scored 49 more and walked 61 times. If he keeps this up, he’ll start 2023 in Double-A.

Marcelo Mayer is off to a HOT start in September. He’s collected two hits in all three games this month (and has three walks in that time). The left-handed shortstop is finally finding his groove at High-A and has excellent numbers in total on the year. He’s slashing .272/.392/.477 with 28 doubles, two triples, and 12 home runs between Low-A and High-A. Mayer’s driven in 50 runs, scored 58 more and stolen 17 bases in 17 attempts this season.

Nick Yorke got hot to end the week. His last three games saw the right-handed hitting second baseman go 6-for-12 with two walks and two steals. Yorke’s slashing .234/.302/.364 with 10 doubles, one triple, and 10 home runs this year. He’s driven in 43 runs, scored 46 more, and stolen seven bases to this point.

Matthew Lugo’s season just keeps getting better and better. The right-handed hitting shortstop is slashing .290/.345/.507 with 24 doubles, nine triples, and 18 home runs. He’s driven in 75 runs, scored 74 more, and stolen 18 bases. The offensive production has been ridiculous, he’s improved in every aspect of his game. Gotta love growth.

Blaze Jordan came back down to earth this week. But you shouldn’t expect a 19-year-old to hit .400 in High-A all year. The right-handed corner infielder is slashing .289/.364/.444 with 30 doubles, three triples, and 11 home runs between Low-A and High-A so far. He’s driven in 67 runs, scored 59 more, and stolen five bases as well.

Big Joe Davis is having a monster start to September. In two games he’s 5-for-8 with two doubles, one home run, one walk, and an absurd seven RBI. The right-handed hitting first baseman is now slashing .247/.305/.471 with five doubles and 18 home runs this season. He’s driven in 43 runs and scored 36 more.

Alex Erro returned from injury to play his first game since July 31. In his first two games back, he went 3-for-7 with a walk, a double, an RBI, three runs scored, and a steal. The switch-hitting catcher/utility man is slashing .304/.377/.426 with four doubles, two triples, and two home runs in 115 at-bats this season. He’s driven in 17 runs, scored 19 more, and stolen two bases as well.

Tyler McDonough holds a .236/.318/.368 slash line with 23 doubles, four triples, and nine home runs so far. The switch-hitting outfielder/second baseman has driven in 48 runs, scored 60 more, and stolen 21 bases. McDonough can be streaky and has a lot of strikeouts, but the all-around game is obviously there.

Wikelman Gonzalez was up-and-down in Low-A this year but looked to be figuring it all out over the last month. Now he’s dominating in High-A. The right-handed starter gave up one run on three hits over four innings in his start this week, racking up eight strikeouts. Gonzalez has a 3.00 ERA, .222 BAA, and 1.25 WHIP with 19 strikeouts in 12 innings at the level.

Luis Guerrero has looked great in High-A so far, boasting a 3.00 ERA. The righty reliever has a 3.60 ERA, .178 BAA, and 1.14 WHIP in 35 innings between three levels this season. He’s managed to pick up an eye-popping 53 strikeouts compared to 17 walks in that time. Meanwhile, he’s only allowed one home run.

Jacob Webb made three appearances this week. The right-handed reliever gave up just one hit and no runs in 2 2/3 innings in the time. Webb now has a 2.79 ERA, .216 BAA, and 1.35 WHIP between Low-A and High-A. He’s struck out 80 batters (compared to 28 walks) over 51 2/3 innings, and even has nine saves so far.

Graham Hoffman was having a really strong season in Low-A, to the tune of a 3.48 ERA. This led to a promotion this week to High-A, and the righty reliever made his first appearance, tossing a shutout inning. Hoffman has a 3.38 ERA, .226 BAA, and 1.44 WHIP between the two levels this year. He has 42 strikeouts in 34 2/3 innings.