The final Boston Red Sox prospect watch of the 2023 season
Welp, it's here, the final Boston Red Sox prospect watch of the 2023 season.
Salem's season is officially over in Single-A. Meanwhile, Greenville enters the playoffs in High-A. That's, at most, six more games for them over the next two weeks combined.
Portland still has another week of games but won't be making the playoffs after that. Worcester still has two more weeks in the regular season.
The Red Sox are technically still in the wild-card race but hanging on by a thread. It hurts to see them potentially get eliminated. However, this should open up more playing time for Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu. At the very least, that will keep games exciting.
Triston Casas had a short slump this week but homered on Sunday. The left-handed hitting first baseman is slashing .263/.365/.494 with 20 doubles, two triples, and 25 home runs. He's driven in 64 runs and scored 65 more. Even with that rough first month, Casas has 25 homers and 70 RBI in view.
Wilyer Abreu had a five-hit game this week. The left-handed hitting outfielder is slashing .342/.405/.526 with four doubles and one home run. He's driven in eight runs, scored six more, and stolen one base.
Ceddanne Rafaela is slashing .381/.409/.476 with two doubles. The right-handed hitting utility has driven in one run, scored five more, and stolen one base. Rafaela will likely see more playing time with the Red Sox starting to lose a grip on any playoff chances.
Connor Wong is slashing .254/.309/.420 with 24 doubles, two triples, and nine home runs. The right-handed hitting catcher has driven in 36 runs, scored 54 more, and stolen six bases. At the very least, Wong has proven he can be part of Boston's catching rotation until Kyle Teel is ready.
Enmanuel Valdez is slashing .252/.295/.426 with five doubles and five home runs. The left-handed hitting second baseman has driven in 15 runs, scored 14 more, and stolen four bases. Valdez's bat is legit, but he needs to make strides defensively.
Brayan Bello allowed three runs on seven hits over five innings this week. The right-handed pitcher struck out four batters without walking any. Bello has a 3.68 ERA, .262 BAA, and 1.28 WHIP in 142 innings. He's struck out 117 batters and walked 38.