Red Sox Next-Up Prospect of the Year – Brainer Bonaci and Eddison Paulino
TWO players? It looks like we have ourselves a wild card entry, everyone! Look, this is my article I’ll do what I want.
The “next-up” award goes to the player (or in this case player) that produced this year but isn’t quite there yet with the recognition. That’s not to say the media and the fans don’t talk about them ever. But that, at this time next year, they have a chance to be a star in the system.
That means this disqualifies certain prospects. You aren’t going to see someone like Mikey Romero win, because he was the first-round pick in the 2022 draft. There is already a ton of hype surrounding him. Even Miguel Bleis is disqualified because he’s already sitting at number six in the prospect rankings according to MLB.com. And fans that haven’t even seen him play are already going crazy over Bleis.
Just thought that should be explained so we don’t get the comments asking where certain players are.
Now, that being said, Brainer Bonaci and Eddison Paulino 100% deserve this award. Paulino built his name up very well this season. He plays most positions in the field and has decent pop out of his left-handed bat. Paulino slashed .266/.359/.469 with 35 doubles, 10 triples, and 13 home runs in Low-A this year. The 20-year-old drove in 66 runs, scored 96 more, and stole 27 bases.
Paulino nearly disqualified himself from this list if we’re being honest. There’s a decent buzz around him already. But it’s not nearly as big as it should be. Next year on a bigger stage, Paulino could take another step forward and get the fans salivating.
Bonaci is one of the better defensive players I’ve seen in the minor leagues in a while. He plays second base and third base but is primarily a shortstop. And it’s just smooth. Bones can make circus plays without breaking a sweat.
Meanwhile, as the season went on, he came along nicely on the offensive side of things. The switch-hitter slashed .262/.397/.385 with 19 doubles, six triples, and six home runs in Low-A. He drove in 50 runs, scored 86 more, and stole 28 bases.
You’ve seen me say it 1,000 times, but what impressed me most about the 20-year-old was his plate discipline. Bonaci walked as many times (89) as he struck out (89) this season. That would be impressive for anyone, let alone someone that was still a teenager for half the season.
Honorable Mention:
(SS) Luis Ravelo: 18-year-old switch-hitter who flashed a glove and excitement in his bat in a short Low-A stint at the end of the season.
(SP) Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz: 19-year-old righty with an interesting pitch mix, posted a 1.88 ERA over 38 1/3 innings between Rookie Ball and Low-A this season.
(SP) Luis Perales: 19-year-old righty with a disgusting curveball, posted a 1.77 ERA over 35 2/3 innings between Rookie Ball and Low-A this season.
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