Red Sox pitching prospect Jedixson Paez was the youngest in the organization to reach the century mark in strikeouts this season.
Paez, 20, struck out 113 of the 390 batters he faced in 2024. The young right-hander posted a 3.17 ERA (3.17 FIP) with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 113:12 in 22 appearances (12 starts) spanning a career-high 96 2/3 innings between Low-A Salem and High-A Greenville. Opponents batted .258 against him.
In seven outings (five starts) to open the season, Paez pitched to a 2.53 ERA (2.17 FIP) with 35 strikeouts to four walks over 32 innings for Salem. He was promoted in late May and subsequently produced a 3.48 ERA (3.67 FIP) with 78 strikeouts to eight walks in 15 outings (seven starts) spanning 64 2/3 innings for Greenville.
Among the 70 pitchers who threw at least 60 innings in the South Atlantic League this year, Paez led in walks per nine innings (1.11), walk rate (3.1 percent), swinging-strike rate (17.8 percent), and xFIP (2.70). He also ranked ninth in WHIP (1.05), 17th in strikeout rate (30.2 percent), 23rd in groundball rate (45.2 percent) and strikeouts per nine innings (10.86), 26th in FIP, and 29th in ERA, per FanGraphs.
A native of Venezuela, Paez originally signed with the Red Sox for $450,000 as an international free agent coming out of Tinaquillo in January 2021. He made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League shortly after that and was later recognized as the organization’s Latin Program Pitcher of the Year.
Since then, there is no denying that Paez has emerged as one of the more intriguing pitching prospects in Boston’s farm system given his strong command-and-control profile. Red Sox assistant general manager acknowledged as much when speaking with MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith back in July.
“He’s always had this incredible poise and just an advanced feel,” Romero said of Paez. “It’s always been like that — strike-throwing ability over high velo or pure off-the-charts stuff. But his pitchability is incredible. We’ve seen the velo tick up now into the low 90s. Really good feel for a breaking ball. He has a four- or five-pitch mix that he really controls and commands really well. And that’s been kind of what has driven his success.”
Listed at 6-foot-1 and 170 pounds, Paez complements his lower-90s fastball that tops out at 94 mph with an 84-86 mph changeup, an 80-83 mph slider, a 78-80 mph curveball, and an 86-88 mph cutter. The athletic righty throws these offerings from a three-quarters arm slot and can manipulate them effectively while attacking the strike zone.
“Now that he’s physically getting stronger we are seeing that velo start to tick up a little bit,” said Romero. “So he’s really exciting. A true starter in every sense. … He does a lot of the little things like he fields the position really well and holds runners well. So he’s mature in a lot of ways.”
Paez, who turns 21 in January, is currently regarded by SoxProspects.com as the No. 29 prospect in Boston’s farm system, which ranks 15th among pitchers in the organization. While Baseball America does not have him ranked among the Red Sox’ top 30 prospects, FanGraphs has him at No. 8 and MLB Pipeline has him at No. 23 on their respective lists.
If he remains with the Red Sox through the offseason, Paez is projected by SoxProspects.com to return to Greenville for the start of the 2025 minor-league campaign. He can then become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft for the first time next winter.
(Picture of Jedixson Paez: Gwinn Davis/Greenville Drive)
Blogging the Red Sox 