Red Sox catching prospect Kyle Teel delivered a standout performance in the 2024 All-Star Futures Game at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas on Saturday afternoon.
Teel went 2-for-2 with a pair of doubles in the American League’s 6-1 loss to the National League, making him the only player on either side to record multiple hits in the seven-inning exhibition.
Representing the Red Sox alongside fellow top prospect Marcelo Mayer — who went 0-for-2 with two groundouts — in the 25th annual Futures Game, Teel entered the contest as a defensive replacement for starting catcher Samuel Basallo in the fifth inning. The 22-year-old backstop was unable to throw out Dylan Crews stealing second base in the top half of the frame but made up for it with his first plate appearance in the latter half.
With one out and the bases empty, Teel found himself matched up against Reds pitching prospect Rhett Lowder. The left-handed hitter worked a 2-2 count before barreling an 86.3 mph slider from the right-hander to deep left-center for an opposite-field double. The ball left his bat at 98.8 mph and traveled 379 feet over the outstretched glove of National League center fielder Druw Jones.
Teel advanced to third base on a fielding error but was left stranded there. He got his next opportunity with one out in the bottom of the seventh, this time pitted against another righty in the Pirates’ Bubba Chandler. Though he fell behind in the count at 1-2, Teel kept things rolling by lacing an 86.3 mph fastball down the left-field line for his second double of the day.
Teel was, yet again, left in scoring position as Chandler recorded the game’s final two outs to seal the 6-1 victory for the National League. Reds prospect Cam Collier was named Futures Game MVP after going 1-for-2 with a 409-foot solo home run.
Selected by the Red Sox with the 14th overall pick in last year’s draft out of Virginia, Teel is currently ranked by Baseball America as the No. 3 prospect in Boston’s farm system and the No. 27 prospect in the sport. He has batted .298/.384/.455 with 16 doubles, eight home runs, 49 RBIs, 53 runs scored, six stolen bases, 33 walks, and 70 strikeouts in 65 games (294 plate appearances) for Double-A Portland to begin his first full professional season.
Defensively, Teel has unsurprisingly seen all of his playing time on the field this season come at catcher. The 6-foot, 190-pounder has logged 380 innings behind the plate for the Sea Dogs, allowing three passed balls and throwing out 11 of 64 possible base stealers in that time.
Along with Mayer and outfielder Roman Anthony, who won the inaugural Future Skills Showcase on Saturday, Teel is the third member of the Red Sox’ Big Three. The top three prospects in the organization are knocking on the door for a promotion to Triple-A Worcester but are all planning on returning to Portland after the All-Star break, according to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.
“We still have half a season left,” Teel told Speier. “This is a really cool journey. [The Futures Game] is a little sidequest we get to do midway through our season, but we’ve still got to compete for the playoffs with the Sea Dogs. The only thing that we can really control is playing for the Sea Dogs right now. That’s it. So we want to do that the best that we can and develop the most that we can.”
(Picture of Kyle Teel: Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)
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