After missing the final three months of the 2025 season with a shoulder impingement, Red Sox pitching prospect Max Carlson rebounded from a rough start and bounced back nicely in 2026.
Carlson, a 2023 12th-round draft pick out of North Carolina who signed for $150,000, opened his third full professional campaign with Double-A Portland. In his first taste of the upper minors, the righty initially struggled mightily, surrendering 20 earned runs over 14 1/3 innings in April.
Despite the early difficulties, Carlson gradually turned a corner as the season progressed. From May 3 through August 26, he posted a 2.48 ERA with 68 strikeouts to 12 walks over 26 appearances (two starts) and 58 innings for the Sea Dogs, earning Eastern League Pitcher of the Week honors for the week of July 20-26 during that stretch.
On August 30, Carlson received his first promotion to Triple-A Worcester. In his lone relief appearance for the WooSox, he picked up the win in his Triple-A debut after allowing two earned runs on five hits, no walks, and two strikeouts over three innings against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at Polar Park. He subsequently returned to Portland and closed out the season by yielding two earned runs on three hits, no walks, and 10 strikeouts across seven innings in September.
Altogether, Carlson forged a 4.37 ERA with 96 strikeouts to just 18 walks in 36 total appearances (two starts) and 82 1/3 innings between Portland and Worcester this season. Opponents slashed .253/.296/.402 against him across 339 plate appearances, including a .250/.273/.403 line from right-handed hitters and a .257/.323/.400 line from left-handed hitters.
Among the 10 Red Sox minor leaguers who logged at least 80 innings in 2026, Carlson finished second in FIP (3.57), swinging-strike rate (15.8%), WHIP (1.19), and xFIP (3.69). He also ranked third in strikeouts per nine innings (10.49), strikeout rate (28.3%), walks per nine innings (1.97), and walk rate (5.3%), according to FanGraphs.
“This season was a bit of a roller coaster for me,” Carlson told Andrew Parker of SoxProspects.com in September. “I felt really good coming into spring training. Over the first month in Portland, I was probably the worst pitcher in the Eastern League. Slowly but surely, I started to climb out of it. The biggest thing I did over that big stretch of time was to just be where my feet are.
“I was trying not to change who I was coming to the field every day and making sure I got my work in,” he continued. “I kept thinking to myself it was going to come around. I strung a couple good outings together, and the confidence started coming back. Before you know it, I had put together two good months. During that stretch, my stuff ticked up a little bit and warmed up. I have definitely made a lot of improvements to my arsenal as well, which helped.”
Listed at 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, Carlson throws from a three-quarters arm slot and primarily works with a three-pitch mix. As he explained to Parker, the Minnesota native featured a low-90s fastball that reached 93.6 mph, an upper-70s changeup that reached 81.6 mph, and a mid-80s cutter that reached 87.7 mph this season.
Carlson, who turned 25 in September, is not currently ranked among Boston’s top 60 prospects by SoxProspects.com. Unless the Red Sox add him to their 40-man roster later this month, he will become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft for the first time this winter.
Assuming he remains with the organization through the offseason, SoxProspects.com projects that Carlson will open the 2027 campaign at Triple-A, where he could provide valuable depth to Worcester’s pitching staff given his ability to work multiple innings as either a starter or reliever.
“It doesn’t really matter what my role is,” Carlson said. “I am just grateful that I am here and that I am alive and pitching. It has been interesting how they were managing the bullpen arms in Portland this year. Most of the guys have been able to go at least two to three innings. If you were going to go up and help the big league team this year, you were most likely going to be going up there to throw two to three innings. I believe it is the general idea of how they are trying to prepare us.”
(Picture of Max Carlson: Olivia Faulkner/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images)
