Back on April 7, the Boston Red Sox made a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers. Boston sent pitcher Quinn Priester to Milwaukee in exchange for outfield prospect Yophery Rodriguez, a Competitive Balance Round A draft pick, a player to be named later, and cash considerations.
On May 5, they announced the player to be named later to finalize the Sox's return in the trade. Boston received pitching prospect John Holobetz. He was assigned to High-A Greenville the following day.
Holobetz is a 2024 fifth-round pick from Pottsville, PA, out of Old Dominion University. The right-handed pitcher has a 3.00 ERA, .180 BAA, and 0.88 WHIP in five appearances (three starts) this season in Single-A. He's struck out 31 batters compared to five walks in 24 innings.
Red Sox, Brewers finalize Quinn Priester trade, send righty pitching prospect John Holobetz to Boston
Holobetz was mainly a reliever in college. He appeared in 53 games, with only eight being starts. However, he's averaging a tick under five innings per appearance this season. The 22-year-old has actually thrown at least five innings in all but one game (his second appearance, when he got hit around and only lasted 2 2/3 innings). We don't have a ton of information on Holobetz yet, but his fastball has hit at least 96 this season.
It's unclear what the plan is for Holobetz in Boston's system. Will he be used as a starter or a reliever? Do they continue to try to let him go five-plus innings like Milwaukee was? Or do they limit his usage?
The Red Sox are absolutely loaded with pitching prospects, especially in the low minors, and college pitchers have dominated their last two drafts. That's a big reason why a lot of those questions exist. However, it's never a bad thing to have too many pitchers.
We don't know much about Holobetz yet, but we'll learn quickly as he joins the organization.