Catching prospect Brooks Brannon hit his third home run of the season for the Florida Complex League Red Sox in their 12-11 loss to the FCL Twins at JetBlue Park on Friday afternoon.
Batting third and serving as the Sox’ designated hitter, Brannon went 1-for-4, but he made his only hit of the day count by cranking a three-run home run over the faux Green Monster off Twins reliever Yon Landaeta to cap off a six-run fourth inning.
Following Friday’s performance, Brannon is now batting .296 (8-for-27)/.367/.741 with one double, one triple, three homers, 12 RBIs, eight runs scored, three walks, and six strikeouts in his first six games for Boston’s Fort Myers-based affiliate this season. The right-handed hitter ranks fifth in the league in home runs, second in RBIs, seventh in slugging percentage, 10th in OPS (1.108), and fifth in isolated power (.444), per MiLB.com’s leaderboards.
On the other side of the ball, Brannon has made three starts behind the plate for the FCL Red Sox so far this season. The 5-foot-11, 210-pound backstop has thrown out three of 12 would-be base stealers while only allowing one passed ball and committing one error in 30 defensive chances.
Brannon, 19, is in the midst of his first full professional season after being selected by the Red Sox in the ninth round of last year’s amateur draft out of Randleman High School (N.C.). Despite having strong ties to the University of North Carolina, the Tar Heel State native forwent his commitment and signed with Boston for a well over-slot bonus of $712,500.
“Leading up to the draft, if I could have picked any team it would have been the Red Sox,” Brannon told HighSchoolOT.com’s Kyle Morton last July. “They did the best as far as establishing a relationship… Everything is very family oriented… the fact that they have that is huge. I’m just glad to be a part of an organization that values that like they do.”
Though he is unranked by publications such as Baseball America and FanGraphs, Brannon is currently regarded by MLB Pipeline as the No. 20 prospect in Boston’s farm system. MLB Pipeline also identified Brannon as the Red Sox’ best prospect in rookie ball earlier this month, noting that he has some of the best raw power in the farm system as well as plus arm strength. SoxProspects.com, meanwhile, has him at No. 34, which ranks third among catchers in the organization behind only Nathan Hickey and Johanfran Garcia, who is also playing in the Florida Complex League.
Considering that he made a brief cameo in the FCL after going pro last year, one has to wonder if Brannon — who does not turn 20 until next May — could make his way up to Low-A Salem at some point this summer.
(Picture of Brooks Brannon: Bryan Green/Flickr)
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