Author: Brendan Campbell

Writing about the Red Sox and the Red Sox farm system.

Red Sox activate Jonathan Araúz from COVID-19 related injured list and option infielder to Triple-A Worcester; Josh Taylor transferred to 60-day injured list

The Red Sox have activated Jonathan Arauz from the COVID-19 related injured list and subsequently optioned the infielder to Triple-A Worcester. In order to make room for Arauz on the 40-man roster, left-hander Josh Taylor was transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list, the club announced Thursday afternoon.

Arauz was originally placed on the COVID-related injured list on April 19 after testing positive for the virus. It was not until May 1 when the 23-year-old was cleared to begin a rehab assignment with Worcester.

Prior to getting sick, Arauz had made the Sox’ Opening Day roster out of spring training and appeared in five games for the big-league club, going 0-for-7 at the plate with one RBI, one run scored, and two strikeouts. Since returning to action with the WooSox earlier this month, the versatile switch-hitter has batted .125/.222/.167 with one double, four runs scored, three walks, and three strikeouts across seven games spanning 27 trips to the plate.

Because he is on the 40-man roster and has the ability to be shuttled between Boston and Worcester, Arauz will undoubtedly be back with the Red Sox at some point this season.

Taylor, on the other hand, began the year on the injured list due to a low back strain that began bothering him last fall and has yet to pitch at the big-league level in 2022. After making three rehab appearances between Double-A Portland and Worcester last month, the 29-year-old southpaw suffered a setback and has since been shut down from throwing.

By being transferred to the 60-day injured list, Taylor cannot be activated until the first week of June at the earliest, though according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, “the expectation is that he probably won’t be ready to be activated when he’s eligible.”

Following Thursday’s series of moves, the Red Sox now have 39 players on their 40-man roster on account of Rich Hill still being on the COVID IL himself. The expectation is that Hill will be activated this weekend, which would require the Sox to send his substitute in John Schreiber back to Worcester since he is not currently on the 40-man roster.

That being said, Schreiber has pitched well out of Boston’s bullpen and very well could remain with the team for the foreseeable future. For that to happen, though, the Sox would have to clear a spot on their 40-man roster for the righty, and they would likely do so by designating another player for assignment.

(Picture of Josh Taylor: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Trevor Story’s first home run of season goes for naught as Red Sox blow another lead and get walked off on by Braves in 5-3 loss

The Red Sox had to settle for a series split with the Braves on Wednesday night after getting walked off on in the ninth inning. Boston fell to Atlanta by a final score of 5-3 in what was their fifth walk-off loss of the season. Their record is now 11-20.

Matched up against Braves starter Ian Anderson out of the gate, the Sox got off to a quick start beginning in their half of the second inning. Following a one-out double off the bat of Alex Verdugo, Trevor Story came through with his highly-anticipated first home run of the season.

Story took a 1-1, 88 mph changeup that was down and in and proceeded to crush it 422 feet to dead center field. The second baseman’s first homer in a Red Sox uniform left his bat at 105.8 mph and give his team an early 2-0 lead.

An inning later, Rafael Devers kept the top of the third alive with a hard-hit double to right field. He immediately scored from second base on a J.D. Martinez RBI single that increased Boston’s advantage to 3-0.

Nathan Eovaldi, meanwhile, was in the midst of his seventh start of the season for the Sox. The right-hander wound up allowing three runs on six hits and one walk to go along with six strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings of work.

After getting through the first two innings rather smoothly, Eovaldi ran into some trouble in the bottom of the third when he gave up his first hit of the night — a one-out single to Orlando Arcia. On his very next pitch, Eovaldi was taken 415 feet deep to left field by Travis Demeritte.

Demeritte’s two-run blast cut Atlanta’s deficit down to one run at 3-2. Dansby Swanson then drew a seven-pitch walk off Eovaldi, stole second base, and scored from second on a blistering, game-tying 106.5 mph RBI double from Georgia native Matt Olson.

Eovaldi did manage to strand Olson in scoring position, though, and then retired 10 of the next 12 batters he faced before yielding a one-out single to Arcia in the seventh, which is how is outing would come to a close. Finishing with a final pitch count of 98 (68 strikes), the 32-year-old hurler induced a total of 18 swings-and-misses while topping out at 99.1 mph with his vaunted four-seam fastball.

Shortly before Eovaldi’s night ended, a Red Sox lineup that had been held in check by Anderson since the third inning had a real chance to break out in the sixth. Martinez led off with a single and Verdugo put runners on first and second with a one-out walk. Following an Atlanta pitching change that saw old friend Collin McHugh take over for Anderson, Franchy Cordero loaded the bases for Kevin Plawecki by drawing a two-out walk.

Plawecki worked a 3-2 count against McHugh and was prepared to take the bases-loaded walk by taking an 89.3 mph cutter that was well below the strike zone. Rather than call ball four, however, home plate umpire Adam Beck rung Plawecki up. Plawecki spiked his helmet and was understandably furious, as was Red Sox manager Alex Cora. Both were ejected from the game and Christian Vazquez took over behind home plate.

Picking it back up with one out in the bottom of the seventh, acting manager Will Venable gave Eovaldi the hook in favor of Matt Strahm, who struck out both Demeritte and Dansby Swanson to end the seventh before recording the first out of the eighth as well. John Schreiber then took over for Strahm and got through the rest of the frame unscathed.

Ryan Brasier was responsible for sending this one into extras as he got the call for the ninth. He gave up a leadoff single to Ozzie Albies, got the first out of the inning, but then served up a game-winning, walk-off homer to Arcia.

Arcia’s two-run shot sent the Braves home happy with a 5-3 win. It sent the Red Sox back on the road with a sour taste in their mouths.

Next up: Off day with Rangers on deck

The Red Sox will enjoy their second off day of the week on Thursday before opening up a three-game weekend series against the Rangers in Arlington on Friday night.

Boston will send right-hander Nick Pivetta to the mound on Friday. Texas has yet to name a starter.

First pitch from Globe Life Field is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Alex Cora: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Josh Winckowski goes just 2 innings in latest start for Triple-A Worcester in case Red Sox need additional pitching in coming days

Red Sox pitching prospect Josh Winckowski went just two innings in his fifth start of the season for Triple-A Worcester on Wednesday afternoon.

Taking on the Rochester Red Wings at Polar Park, the right-hander allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out a pair over two scoreless innings of work. 19 of the 32 pitches he went for strikes.

Given his rather low pitch count, it was somewhat surprising to see Taylor Cole take the mound in the third inning as opposed to Winckowski. However, several members of the media — including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo — that the plan all along was for Winckowski to pitch just two innings.

Shortly after the WooSox fell to the Red Wings by a final score of 3-2, manager Chad Tracy told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Katie Morrison) that Winckowski’s outing was shorter than usual just in case the Red Sox need to call up a pitcher in the coming days.

“Just potential stuff that could happen up top that they don’t know yet,” explained Tracy. “So we wanted to make sure between [Connor] Seabold, who threw yesterday, and Winc that there’s options available. I’ll leave it at that. I don’t know what’ll happen, but those things happen sometimes. And we’ll see where all that falls.”

Winckowski, who is on Boston’s 40-man roster, has now posted a 2.75 ERA and .181/.234/.264 slash line against to go along with 19 strikeouts to five walks over 19 2/3 innings of work for Worcester this season.

The 23-year-old is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 9 prospect in Boston’s farm system, which ranks third among pitchers in the organization. The Red Sox, of course, acquired Winckowski from the Mets as part of the three-team trade that sent Andrew Benintendi to the Royals last February.

While Winckowski, a former 15th-round draft pick of the Blue Jays, has mostly been used as a starter throughout his professional career, the Florida-born righty does have past experience as a reliever. In the Arizona Fall League last year, for instance, he made six relief appearances for the Scottsdale Scorpions.

Pitching in shorter bursts allows Winckowski to add more velocity to his fastball that typically sits at 94-96 mph, and he put that on fill display on Wednesday.

“I tried to keep it the same,” Winckowski said when going over his performance. “I kind of came out a little bit hotter than normal, I guess you could say, obviously when you only have two it’s a little bit shorter, but relatively, it was all the same for me.”

The Red Sox, at present, have two starters and one reliever on the 10- and 15-day injured lists in Rich Hill (COVID-19), Michael Wacha (left intercostal irritation), and Josh Taylor (low back strain).

Following their series finale against the Braves in Atlanta on Wednesday night, the Sox will head to Texas for a three-game series with the Rangers that begins on Friday.

Per The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham, Nick Pivetta will get the start for Friday’s series opener. The hope is that Hill will start on Saturday or Sunday and whichever one he does not start will be a bullpen game that could fall to Seabold or Wincowski.

Wacha, on the other hand, is out until May 20 at the earliest since his stint on the injured list was backdated to May 5. Garrett Whitlock will make his next start against the Astros back in Boston on Monday so he is not available.

With that, Alex Cora and Co. will likely shake up their pitching staff this weekend since Hill will either be activated or Seabold/Winckowski will be recalled from Worcester.

Because of this, corresponding moves will need to be made in the not so distant future. Kutter Crawford, for instance, has not pitched since last Thursday and is a candidate to be optioned to Worcester. Hirokazu Sawamura is another reliever who has minor-league options, so there is some flexibility there.

All that being said, Seabold and Winckowski represent internal options for the Red Sox when they find themselves in need of reinforcements on Saturday and/or Sunday.

Seabold made his big-league debut against the White Sox last September. Winckowski would be getting called up for the first time if it were to happen.

(Picture of Josh Winckowski: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox shortstop prospect Matthew Lugo is thriving with High-A Greenville

Before the minor-league season began, The Athletic’s Keith Law identified Matthew Lugo as a potential sleeper prospect within the Red Sox farm system. A little more than five weeks into the 2022 campaign, Lugo has shown why he is worthy of more recognition.

In High-A Greenville’s 6-3 loss to the Asheville Tourists at McCormick Field on Tuesday, one day after celebrating his 21st birthday, Lugo went 1-for-4 with his lone hit being an eighth-inning two-run home run.

Through 24 games with the Drives this season, the right-handed hitting shortstop has batted a stout .333/.385/.576 with eight doubles, three triples, four home runs, 19 RBIs, 16 runs scored, five stolen bases, six walks, and 17 strikeouts over 109 plate appearances.

Among qualified South Atlantic League hitters, Lugo ranks eighth in strikeout percentage (15.6%), fifth in batting average, 20th in on-base percentage, seventh in slugging percentage, eighth in OPS (.961), 14th in isolated power (.242), 20th in speed score (7.6), and seventh in wRC+ (155), per FanGraphs.

Defensively, the 6-foot-1, 185 pounder has seen all his playing time on the field this year come at shortstop. He has logged 203 1/3 innings at the position thus far and has committed six errors while turning five double plays.

The nephew of former big-leaguer Carlos Beltran, Lugo was originally selected by the Red Sox in the second round of the 2019 amateur draft out of the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy in Puerto Rico. The Barceloneta native signed with the club for $1.1 million and made his professional debut in the Gulf Coast League.

As things stand now, Lugo is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 14 prospect in Boston’s farm system. And, as noted in the above tweet, it certainly seems as though the 21-year-old will earn a promotion to Double-A Portland sooner rather than later.

(Picture of Matthew Lugo: Gwinn Davis/Greenville Drive)

Rafael Devers’ early grand slam lifts Red Sox to 9-4 win over Braves to put an end to 5-game losing streak

The Red Sox rode a six-run second inning to a much-needed win over the Braves on Tuesday night. Boston defeated Atlanta by a final score of 9-4 to snap a five-game losing streak and improve to 11-19 on the season.

Matched up against Braves starter Kyle Wright to begin things on Tuesday, the Sox’ second-inning rally was ignited by a one-out double from Alex Verdugo. Trevor Story followed with a single of his own and Franchy Cordero drew a four-pitch walk to fill the bases for Christian Vazquez.

Vazquez kept the line moving with an RBI single to drive in Verdugo for Boston’s first run of the game. Story then came into score himself when Jackie Bradley Jr. drew a bases-loaded walk as the lineup flipped back over and Enrique Hernandez grounded into a force out at home plate.

Because Hernandez made it to first base safely, the bases remained loaded for Rafael Devers, who took the first pitch he saw from Wright — a 96 mph heater down the heart of the plate — and deposited it 432 feet to right-center field.

Devers’ fifth home run and first grand slam of the season had an exit velocity of over 111 mph. It also gave the Red Sox a commanding 6-0 lead in the early going.

On the other side of things, Garrett Whitlock made his fourth start of the year for Boston in his home state of Georgia. It was truly a grind for the right-hander, who allowed three earned runs on four hits and four walks to go along with five strikeouts over just three innings of work.

After getting through the first two innings unscathed, Whitlock gave up all three of his runs in the bottom half of the third. Fellow Georgia native Matt Olson led off with a double and advanced to third base on a wild pitch. A six-pitch walk of Austin Riley put runners on the corners for Marcell Ozuna, who drove in Olson on a sacrifice fly to right field.

The Braves were not done there, though, as Travis d’Arnaud cranked a 401-foot two-run homer to cut the Sox’ lead in half at 6-3 before Whitlock was able to retire the side in his third and final inning. The 25-year-old finished with a final pitch count of 82 (48 strikes) and induced a total of 12 swings-and-misses.

In relief of Whitlock, a clean-shaven Alex Cora first turned to Tyler Danish out of the Boston bullpen beginning in the fourth inning. Danish responded by hurling two scoreless frames to pave the way for Ryan Brasier, who kept Atlanta off the board in the sixth.

Hansel Robles, on the other hand, issued a leadoff walk to Ronald Acuna Jr. in the eighth and allowed Acuna Jr. to score when Ozuna grounded into a force out at second base. Robles faced five batters in the seventh, but only surrendered the one run to make it a 6-4 game going into the seventh-inning stretch.

John Schreiber made quick work of the Braves in the eighth before the Sox tacked on some important insurance runs in their half of the ninth. With old friend Tyler Thornburg on the mound for Atlanta, Devers drew a leadoff walk, J.D. Martinez singled to extend his hitting streak, and Xander Bogaerts singled to once again fill the bases for Verdugo.

Verdugo, in turn, walked on seven pitches to plate Devers. Story followed suit by drilling a 108.6 mph two-run single to left field that brought in both Martinez and Bogaerts to increase Boston’s lead to five runs.

Looking to close things out in the ninth, Schreiber slammed the door on the Braves to secure a 9-4 victory and notch the first save of his big-league career.

Some notes from this win:

The Red Sox drew a season-high seven walks on Tuesday. They also went 4-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

Franchy Cordero went 0-for-0 with three walks on Tuesday, marking his first career three-walk game.

Tyler Danish earned the winning decision to improve to 1-0 in his Red Sox career.

Next up: Eovaldi vs. Anderson

The Red Sox will go for the quick two-game sweep of the Braves when they send right-hander Nathan Eovaldi to the mound on Wednesday night. Atlanta will counter with fellow righty Ian Anderson.

First pitch from Truist Park is scheduled for 7:20 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Rafael Devers: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Red Sox manager Alex Cora shaves beard

Red Sox manager Alex Cora is a bearded man no more.

After sporting a salt-and-pepper beard to begin the season, Cora elected to shave his facial hair ahead of the Sox’ series opener against the Braves on Tuesday.

“Yesterday, I got up, took the family to the airport and then decided to shave,” a cleanshaven Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith) from Truist Park in Atlanta.

Coming into play on Tuesday, the Red Sox find themselves sitting in last place in the American League East with a record of 10-19. The Boston offense has averaged less than 3.3 runs per game to begin the season.

Taking both of those factors into consideration, Cora decided it was about time to shave in hopes of turning a new page.

“I’ll tell you what,” Cora said. “If we win 10 in a row, it’s on me because I should have recognized that before.”

Of course, Cora also understands that the Sox improving on the offensive side of things involves more than him just losing his facial hair.

“Like I was telling someone today,” recalled Cora, “if our hitting depends on my beard, we’re in big, big trouble.”

From the time the Red Sox arrived at Truist Park earlier Tuesday afternoon, some players who walked past Cora’s office in the visitor’s clubhouse noticed the change while others did not.

““I was telling the guys, you know how we get in the habit of saying hi just to say hi to people?” Cora said. “And there was a lot of people that will walk by my office — I’ve got two doors, — they’ll walk by, ‘What’s up AC?’ And some of them just kept going so they didn’t pay attention. And others will be like, ‘What’s up AC?’ and then in a second it was like, ‘Oh, gosh.’ So whatever. It is what it is.”

(Picture of Alex Cora: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Red Sox relief prospect Jacob Webb has struck out 24 of the first 56 batters he has faced with Low-A Salem this season

Red Sox relief prospect Jacob Webb picked up his second save of the season in Low-A Salem’s 1-0 win over the Delmarva Shorebirds on Tuesday afternoon.

Getting the call for the ninth inning, Webb needed just nine pitches — seven of which were strikes — to retire the side in order while also recording two punchouts.

Through 10 relief appearances for Salem this year, the right-hander has posted a 2.84 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, and .191/.321/.234 slash line against to go along with 24 strikeouts to eight walks over 12 2/3 innings of work. In other words, he has struck out nearly 43% of the batters he has faced thus far, but is doing so while issuing walks at a 14.3% clip.

Webb, 23, was taken by the Red Sox in the 14th round of last year’s amateur draft out of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. The Dayton-area native signed with Boston for $122,500 and made his professional debut in the Florida Complex League that August.

After just two outings in the FCL, Webb earned a promotion to Salem and has since produced a 1.99 ERA in 16 cumulative appearances (22 2/3 innings pitched) for the Sox’ Low-A affiliate.

Listed at 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, Webb is currently regarded by SoxProspects.com as the No. 56 prospect in Boston’s farm system, which ranks 24th among pitchers in the organization. Per his SoxProspects.com scouting report, the righty throws from a low three-quarters arm slot and operates with a three-pitch mix that consists of a 92-94 mph fastball, an 81-85 mph slider, and a rarely-used changeup.

If Webb, who does not turn 24 until next March, can continue to string together impressive outings out of the bullpen for Salem, then another promotion to High-A Greenville at some point this summer would certainly seem to be within his grasp.

(Picture of Jacob Webb: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Red Sox top prospect Marcelo Mayer returns to Low-A Salem’s lineup

Top Red Sox prospect Marcelo Mayer returned to Low-A Salem’s lineup for the first time since April 23 on Tuesday morning.

Batting third and serving as designated hitter, Mayer went 1-for-4 with a single, two strikeouts, and a stolen base in Salem’s 1-0 win over the Delmarva Shorebirds at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.

Mayer’s 3 1/2 week absence initially came as a result of what the Red Sox described as workload management. During that time, however, the 19-year-old shortstop began experiencing minor soreness in his right wrist that further delayed his return to action.

According to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, the Sox preferred to wait things out with Mayer and have him back at full strength as opposed to having him “running uphill for the rest of 2022.”

Including Tuesday’s performance, Mayer is now batting .328/.388/.475 with six doubles, one home run, 10 RBIs, nine runs scored, four stolen bases, six walks, and 19 strikeouts through 14 games (67 plate appearances) this season. Tuesday marked just the second time this year the left-handed hitter has been used as Salem’s DH.

The Red Sox originally selected Mayer with the fourth overall pick in last year’s amateur draft, so this is the Southern California native’s first full professional season. He is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 1 prospect in Boston’s farm system and the 14th-ranked prospect in all of baseball.

(Picture of Marcelo Mayer: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox pitching prospect Shane Drohan tosses 5 scoreless innings in latest start for High-A Greenville

Red Sox pitching prospect Shane Drohan put together one of his best starts of the season for High-A Greenville in their series finale against the Rome Braves on Sunday.

Over five innings of work at Fluor Field, Drohan did not allow a run while scattering just three hits and one walk to go along with four strikeouts on the afternoon. The left-hander retired 14 of the 18 batters he faced, induced three groundouts to three flyouts, and finished with a final pitch count of 73 (47 strikes). He also improved to 2-2 as the Drive ultimately defeated the Braves by a final score of 10-3.

Through six starts for Greenville this season, Drohan has posted a 4.45 ERA and 4.08 FIP with 34 strikeouts to 11 walks across 30 1/3 innings pitched. Among qualified pitchers in the South Atlantic League, the 23-year-old ranks first in innings pitched, second in strikeouts, 15th in strikeouts per nine innings (10.09), 18th in walks per nine innings (3.26), 17th in strikeout rate (26.6%), 17th in walk rate (8.6%), sixth in swinging strike rate (16.4%), 18th in batting average against (.241), 18th in WHIP (1.29), 18th in ERA, 12th in FIP, and 14th in xFIP (4.19), per FanGraphs.

The Red Sox originally selected Drohan in the fifth round of the pandemic-shortened 2020 amateur draft out of Florida State University and signed the former Seminole for $600,000 later that summer.

A native of Florida himself, Drohan was first drafted by the Phillies in 2017 out of Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach. He did not sign with Philadelphia, though, and instead spent three years on campus in Tallahassee before going pro in 2020.

After debuting with and spending the entirety of the 2021 season with Low-A Salem, Drohan is currently regarded by SoxProspects.com as the No. 49 prospect in Boston’s farm system — which ranks 21st among pitchers in the organization — one month into the 2022 campaign.

Per his SoxProspects.com scouting report, Drohan possesses a repeatable delivery and throws from a three-quarters arm slot. The 6-foot-3, 195 pound southpaw operates with a three-pitch mix that consists of an 88-92 mph fastball, a 75-78 mph curveball, and a 78-81 mph changeup.

Drohan, who turned 23 in Janurary, could find his way to Double-A Portland before season’s end. As things stand now, the Sea Dogs have several starters (like Brayan Bello, Jay Groome, and Brandon Walter) who will likely be promoted to Triple-A Worcester at some point this summer.

With that, Portland could have opening in its starting rotation before long and Drohan would certainly be a candidate to take one of those spots when the time comes.

(GIF of Shane Drohan via the Greenville Drive)

Red Sox’ Kyle Hart, Brayan Bello earn International League, Eastern League Pitcher of the Week honors

A pair of Red Sox minor-league pitchers have received weekly honors from the respective leagues they pitch in. On Monday, Triple-A Worcester left-hander Kyle Hart was named the International League’s Pitcher of the Week while Double-A Portland right-hander Brayan Bello was named the Eastern League’s Pitcher of the Week.

Hart made his second start and seventh overall appearance of the season for Worcester on the road against the Toledo Mud Hens on Saturday. The lefty did not give up a hit and scattered three walks to go along with a season-high eight strikeouts over six scoreless innings of work. 53 of the 81 pitches he threw went for strikes.

With the WooSox this year, Hart — who pitched in the majors in 2020 — has posted a 5.88 ERA and 5.83 FIP with 26 strikeouts to 15 walks across his seven outings that span a total of 26 innings pitched. The 29-year-old southpaw has put up these numbers while holding opposing left-handed hitters to a .237/.268/.500 slash line and opposing right-handed hitters to a .258/.390/.436 slash line against.

Bello, on the other hand, is four days removed from tossing a seven-inning no hitter against the Reading Fightin Phils in the night cap of a doubleheader at Hadlock Field on May 5.

Making his fifth start of the season for the Sea Dogs this past Thursday, Bello allowed one unearned run to score on three walks and five strikeouts in the process of recording the fifth no-hitter in team history. He finished the night having thrown 96 pitches — 55 of which went for strikes.

Through his first five starts of 2022, Bello has produced a 1.95 ERA and 3.37 FIP with 37 strikeouts to 11 walks over 27 2/3 innings pitched. Among qualified Eastern League pitchers, the Dominican-born righty ranks sixth in strikeout rate (34.3%), second in swinging strike rate (20.3%), 24th in walk rate (10.2%), third in batting average against (.134), fifth in WHIP (0.87), fifth in ERA, 10th in FIP, and fourth in xFIP (2.62), per FanGraphs.

Bello, who turns 23 next week, is the reigning Red Sox Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year. Equipped with a high-octane fastball, the 6-foot-1, 170 pound hurler is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 5 prospect in Boston’s farm system, which ranks first among pitchers in the organization.

(Picture of Kyle Hart: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)