Red Sox infield prospect Cutter Coffey ended the first half of his first full professional season on a strong note.
In his last 10 games for Low-A Salem leading up to this week’s brief two-day hiatus, Coffey went 12-for-39 (.308) with two doubles, one triple, two home runs, six RBIs, eight runs scored, one stolen base, six walks, and 11 strikeouts.
After a slow start at the plate, Coffey has begun to pick up the pace offensively. The right-handed hitter is now batting .222/.351/.343 (106 wRC+) on the season with 11 doubles, two triples, three homers, 23 runs driven in, 31 runs scored, 12 stolen bases (in 16 attempts), 38 walks, and 56 strikeouts across 56 games (239 plate appearances) with Salem.
Among 71 qualified hitters in the Carolina League, Coffey ranks 11th in walk rate (15.7 percent), 29th in strikeout rate (23.4 percent), 27th in on-base percentage, 30th in isolated power (.121), 25th in speed score (6.6), fourth in line-drive rate (28.1 percent), 15th in swinging-strike rate (8.6 percent), and 30th in wRC+ (106), per FanGraphs.
That Coffey has shown a propensity to hit the ball hard is certainly encouraging. Defensively, the 6-foot-1, 190-pounder has logged 252 innings at shortstop and 185 innings at third base. He has also made one start at second base and has committed 11 total errors in 166 defensive chances between the three positions.
Coffey, 19, was selected by the Red Sox in the second round (41st overall pick) of last year’s amateur draft out of Liberty High School (Bakersfield, Calif). Boston obtained the 41st selection in the 2022 draft after failing to sign Florida outfielder Jud Fabian in 2021. The club swayed Coffey away from his commitment to Texas by signing him for $1.85 million.
Like fellow early-round picks Mikey Romero and Roman Anthony, Coffey took batting practice and officially put pen to paper at Fenway Park last July. He then struggled in the rookie-level Florida Complex League (.456 OPS in 11 games) and — according to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier — had to play his way into a full-season roster spot this spring.
Coffey was, of course, able to accomplish that by breaking camp with Salem. He is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 28 prospect in Boston’s farm system. As was recently the case with Anthony, one has to wonder if Coffey could soon be on the verge of a promotion to High-A Greenville. That may be something worth monitoring on the other side of the All-Star break next month.
(Picture of Cutter Coffey: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
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