The catching position was completely barren for the Boston Red Sox throughout the organization in 2025. They had very little going for them in terms of prospects.
Johanfran Garcia was at the top, but he was coming off an injury that kept him out of action for over a year. Brooks Brannon was in the mix, but he was playing more first base than ever before. Gerardo Rodriguez was intriguing, but his bat held a lot of question marks. Nothing there was going to get the fan base too excited.
Fast forward to the offseason, and the Red Sox clearly recognized it was an issue they had to address. They added a couple of veteran catchers for the Triple-A roster. Meanwhile, the prospect ranks were bolstered by Raudelis Martinez via the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft. Other prospects were brought in via trade with the additions of Nate Baez, Adonys Guzman, Ronny Hernandez, and the subject of this article — Luke Heyman.
Offseason trade return proving to be a legitimate catching prospect
When the Red Sox acquired so many catchers, it was a nice change of pace from barely having anyone to fill the position throughout the system. However, it did create a logjam so severe that we’ve seen Martinez spend time on the developmental list while Brooks Brannon has been turned into a full-time first baseman. Then there’s Hudson White, who has pitched almost as much as he has hit this season.
Heyman entered the year as a 2025 14th-round draft pick out of Florida who had yet to play in a minor league game. His bat brought a lot of intrigue, but there were some question marks on whether or not he would stick at catcher. Before the season, I had mentioned that if the Red Sox started him in High-A, he’d likely be playing first base, but if he was in Single-A, it would be to get him time at catcher.
Heyman began the year in Single-A. With Salem, he has appeared in 27 games. He’s been the designated hitter in 10 games, and he’s caught the other 17. Heyman’s looked fine defensively, and is even throwing out a solid 29.3% of would-be base stealers.
As of May 15, the right-handed hitter is slashing .240/.389/.480 with six doubles and six home runs. He’s driven in 20 runs and scored 15 more. Heyman’s struck out 23.1% of the time and walked 18.2% of the time.
There are a few things to take from all that. The strikeout rate isn’t bad, and the walk rate is phenomenal. His power has been eye-popping, especially at Salem’s pitcher-friendly ballpark. However, you could also argue that he’s a college hitter and maybe Single-A pitchers are simply not competitive enough for him.
It’s hard not to get excited about what we’re seeing from Heyman, though. The power is real, and the defense has looked servicable behind the dish.
If you were to rank the catching prospects currently playing in affiliated ball, Garcia should still hold the top spot in my humble opinion. However, Heyman has overtaken the number two ranking, with a clear path to becoming the team’s top option.
Luke Heyman came into the Red Sox system at a time when he could’ve been buried by all the additions at the catching position. Instead, he’s stood out as a massive bright spot through the first month of the season. It feels like this is only the beginning.
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