Red Sox hopes for top prospect to make Opening Day roster might have just taken a hit

The Boston Red Sox's four top prospects are months away from MLB readiness. Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, Kyle Teel and Marcelo Mayer have all reached Triple-A, the highest level of the minor leagues, and could all be featured on the Opening Day roster if all goes well at spring training.

Boston's "Big Four" all rank within the top 25 best prospects in baseball, and they'll give the big league squad a huge boost when they make their debuts. They may not all debut together, though.

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow was non-committal when asked if Anthony or Campbell would make the big-league roster out of spring training. A recent answer about Teel's chances seems more definitive.

“Certainly feel excited about the progress Kyle has made,” Breslow said at general manager meetings on Nov. 4., via Christopher Smith of MassLive. “But I think the focus for him is to continue to develop. We saw a lot of success with some framing later on in the season. He obviously was good offensively for the season. And I just don’t think it’s fair to kind of like pencil him in or put timelines on him. What’s most important for him is to continue to develop.”

Craig Breslow doesn't put a timeline of Kyle Teel's arrival to Red Sox roster

Teel was promoted from Double-A to Triple-A on Aug. 12 alongside Anthony and Mayer. The young catcher struggled to adapt to pitching at the next level, though. Teel batted .148/.230/.167 in his first 12 games with Worcester. He later adjusted and finished his season strong. Teel batted .375/.516/.542 in September to finish his short stint in Triple-A with a .255/.374/.343 slash line and .717 OPS.

As Breslow said, Teel is a solid defender, but he may need more time in Triple-A to fine-tune his offense before his impending big-league debut. If the CBO's projection is correct, the Red Sox will need to sign a backup catcher this offseason — Reese McGuire and Danny Jansen are both free agents, and neither was great in a Sox uniform.

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