The Red Sox have promoted pitching prospect Max Carlson from Low-A Salem to High-A Greenville, according to the club’s MiLB.com transactions log.
Carlson, 22, has made three appearances out of the Salem bullpen to begin his first full professional season. The right-hander has allowed seven runs (five earned) on nine hits and four walks to go along with 14 strikeouts over 8 1/3 innings of relief. That translates to a 5.40 ERA, though he owns a more favorable 3.60 FIP and 2.98 xFIP.
A native of Minnesota, Carlson was selected by Boston in the 12th round of last year’s draft out of the University of North Carolina. The former Tar Heel was ranked by Baseball America as the No. 385 prospect in his class. He signed with the Red Sox for $150,000 and made his pro debut in the Florida Complex League, tossing a scoreless sixth inning in his lone outing of the year.
Listed at 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, Carlson throws from a three-quarters arm slot and utilizes a full wind-up in his delivery. The righty operates with a three-pitch mix that consists of a 90-93 mph that tops out at 95 mph, a whiff-inducing changeup that sits in the low-80s, and an infrequently-used 81-84 mph slider, per his SoxProspects.com scouting report.
Carlson, who does not turn 23 until September, is the second member of Boston’s 2023 draft class to earn a promotion in as many weeks. Lefty Zach Fogell, the club’s 18th-round pick out of Connecticut, also made the jump from Salem to Greenville last Friday.
In addition to promoting Carlson, the Red Sox added outfielder Kelvin Diaz to Salem’s roster from extended spring training. Diaz, 21, stole 21 bases in 48 Florida Complex League games last season. He originally signed with Boston for $300,000 as an international free agent coming out of the Dominican Republic in July 2019.
(Picture of Max Carlson: Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
Blogging the Red Sox 