Red Sox outfield prospect Allan Castro takes another step forward in 2023

Another year, another step forward for Red Sox outfield prospect Allan Castro.

Castro, who assistant general manager Eddie Romero identified as a sleeper prospect at the conclusion of the 2022 season, broke camp this spring with Low-A Salem and served as the Red Sox’ Opening Day right fielder.

In 69 games with Boston’s Carolina League affiliate, Castro batted .247/.376/.378 with 20 doubles, two triples, three home runs, 29 RBIs, 39 runs scored, 15 stolen bases, 51 walks, and 54 strikeouts over 306 plate appearances. The 20-year-old then received a promotion to High-A Greenville in mid-July and debuted for the Drive immediately following the All-Star break.

With the eventual South Atlantic League champions, the switch-hitting Castro slashed a stout .283/.355/.446 to go along with 11 doubles, two more triples, four homers, 17 runs driven in, 23 runs scored, four stolen bases, 17 walks, and 26 strikeouts in 43 games (186 plate appearances). He also went 4-for-13 (.308) with a home run in four postseason games as Greenville went on to clinch its first Sally League title since 2017 last month.

Among 137 hitters who made at least 180 trips to the plate during the regular season, Castro ranked 21st in strikeout rate (19.4 percent), 17th in batting average, 39th in slugging percentage, 31st in slugging percentage, 27th in OPS (.801), 16th in line-drive rate (24.6 percent), and 29th in wRC+ (119), per FanGraphs.

Between Salem and Greenville, Castro saw playing time at all three outfield positions. With the Drive specifically, the 6-foot, 170-pounder logged 49 innings in left, 138 innings in center, and 127 innings in right. He committed a total of three errors while recording one outfield assist.

A native of the Dominican Republic, Castro originally signed with the Red Sox for $100,000 as an international free agent in July 2019. At that time, Castro was viewed as a middle infielder, but he had already transitioned to the outfield by the time he made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League two years after signing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Castro made strides right away in the DSL and was recognized as Boston’s 2021 Latin Program Position Player of the Year. He then made the jump to the rookie-level Florida Complex League in 2022 and impressed there before closing out the season in Salem.

Coming into the 2023 campaign, Castro was unranked by publications such as Baseball America and MLB Pipeline. He is now regarded by the former as the No. 27 and by the latter as the No. 30 prospect in Boston’s farm system. SoxProspects.com, on the other hand, now has Castro ranked 17th on its list after having him at No. 33 to begin the year.

Castro, who does not turn 21 until next May, can become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this winter if he is not added to the Red Sox’ 40-man roster by the protection deadline in November. Given his lack of experience in the upper-minors, though, the likely outcome is that Castro is left unprotected, is not picked up by another team, and remains in the organization as an intriguing prospect with room to grow.

Barring a trade or any sort of other move, Castro is projected by SoxProspects.com to return to Greenville for the start of the 2024 minor-league season in April.

(Picture of Allan Castro: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Red Sox prospect Kristian Campbell powers High-A Greenville to South Atlantic League title

Versatile Red Sox prospect Kristian Campbell put the finishing touches on a strong debut season by helping High-A Greenville take home the 2023 South Atlantic League championship.

After drawing a walk and driving in a run in a Game 1 road win over the Hudson Valley Renegades on Sunday, Campbell recorded three hits in Greenville’s series-clinching victory at Fluor Field on Tuesday night.

Batting seventh and starting in left field for the Drive, Campbell went 3-for-4 with a massive three-run home run. The right-handed hitter struck out in his first plate appearances, then proceeded to reach base in the fourth, sixth, and seventh innings.

After registering a pair of singles for his first two hits of the night, Campbell came through in a big way in the bottom half of the seventh. Tyler Miller had just driven in Allan Castro to give Greenville a 4-2 lead and put runners at second and third with only one out.

Matched up against Hudson Valley reliever Matt Keating, Campbell worked a 2-1 count before clobbering a line-drive, three-run blast to deep left-center field. He then let out a celebratory yell as he rounded first base and pointed to the sky before crossing home plate to put Greenville up, 7-2, going into the eighth inning.

The Drive went on to defeat the Renegades by a final score of 7-3, claiming their first South Atlantic League title since 2017 and their second since becoming affiliated with the Red Sox in 2005.

Campbell played a major role for Greenville as it swept Hickory in the division series and Hudson Valley in the championship series en route to a perfect postseason. In four games against the Crawdads and Renegades, Campbell went 7-for-12 (.583) with one double, one home run, six RBIs, three runs scored, one walk, and three strikeouts. He also flashed the leather over the weekend by making an impressive diving catch in the left-center field gap.

“The lights were not too bright for him,” Drive manager Iggy Suarez said of Campbell when speaking with MiLB.com’s Allison Mast on Tuesday night. “First year in pro ball, first season, and he’s in the thick of things. The bigger the moment, he embraced it and he wanted it. It’s almost a veteran approach.”

Campbell, 21, was selected by the Red Sox with the 132nd overall pick in this summer’s draft, which Boston received as compensation for losing Xander Bogaerts to the Padres in free agency over the winter. The drat-eligible sophomore out of Georgia Tech signed for $492,700 and debuted in the rookie-level Florida Complex League last month.

A native of the Peach State himself, Campbell posted a 1.082 OPS (189 wRC+) in eight games for Boston’s Fort Myers-based affiliate before making the jump to Greenville (and skipping Low-A Salem) on August 24. He then batted .267/.400/.422 (132 wRC+) with two doubles, one triple, one homer, three runs driven in, five runs scored, one stolen base, seven walks, and 13 strikeouts in 14 regular season games (55 plate appearances) with the Drive.

Defensively, Campbell saw playing time at second base and both corner outfield spots at his two stops this year. With Greenville specifically, the 6-foot-3, 191-pounder logged 81 innings at second base, 17 innings in left field, and nine innings in right field. He did not commit a single error and recorded one outfield assist by throwing top Rangers prospect Wyatt Langford out at second base back on August 27.

Campbell, who does not turn 22 until next June, is currently regarded by SoxProspects.com as the No. 48 prospect in Boston’s farm system. He possesses an intriguing profile based on his athleticism and power potential and is projected by the website to return to Greenville for the start of the 2024 campaign in April.

(Picture of Kristian Campbell: Gwinn Davis/Greenville Drive)

Red Sox minor-league affiliate wins South Atlantic League championship

The Greenville Drive, the High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, were crowned 2023 South Atlantic League champions on Tuesday night.

Playing in front of a crowd of 4,393 on a warm evening at Fluor Field, the Drive defeated the Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees’ High-A affiliate) by a final score of 7-3 to sweep the best-of-three series and take home their first SAL title since 2017.

Greenville carried with it a 1-0 series lead heading into Tuesday’s contest after getting six scoreless innings from top pitching prospect Luis Perales and blanking Hudson Valley, 2-0, in Game 1 at Heritage Financial Park in Wappingers Falls, N.Y. on Sunday.

Dalton Rogers got the start for the Drive in Game 2. The 22-year-old left-hander went the first three innings, allowing one run on two hits, two walks, and five strikeouts. He took a shutout bid into the top of the third before giving up a two-out RBI single to Jesus Rodriguez to put the Renegades up, 1-0.

Moments after Rogers’ night came to a close, though, the Greenville bats quickly retaliated while going up against Hudson Valley starter (and Northeastern product) Cam Schlittler. Gilberto Jimenez doubled to lead off the bottom of the third and then moved up to third base on a Nick Decker single.

With no outs and runners on the corners, Eddinson Paulino delivered with a go-ahead, two-run double down the right field line to drive in both Jimenez and Decker and give the Drive a 2-1 advantage. That lead did not last long, however, as Renegades first baseman Rafael Flores led off the top of the fourth by cranking a game-tying solo home run off newly-inserted reliever Zach Penrod.

Despite the rude greeting, Penrod — who posted a 2.18 ERA in four regular season starts for Greenville — settled in nicely. The 26-year-old southpaw retired 15 of the next 16 batters he faced after giving up the homer and watched his side re-take the lead in the process of doing so.

Ronald Rosario, Penrod’s battery mate, crushed a 424-foot, go-ahead solo blast to kick off the latter half of the sixth. An inning later, Tyler Miller provided some additional insurance with a sharply-hit RBI single through the middle of the infield. Kristian Campbell then broke it open by demolishing a three-run home run to deep center field off Matt Keating, giving the Drive a commanding 7-2 edge.

Penrod put up another zero in the eighth before allowing the first two batters he faced in the ninth to reach base on a double and a walk. That prompted Greenville manager Iggy Suarez to pull Penrod and bring in closer Felix Cepeda, who emerged as a steady presence in the back end of the bullpen for the Drive after earning a promotion to Low-A Salem in mid-July.

Cepeda recorded the first two outs of the inning before giving up an infield single on a pop-up he could not catch cleanly. A wild pitch allowed one of the runners Cepeda inherited to score from third, but the hard-throwing righty did not falter and instead punched out Cole Gabrielson on five pitches to end it.

With the victory, the Drive are now two-time South Atlantic League champions (2017, 2023). Campbell, who went 3-for-6 (.500) with one home run and four RBIs in two games, should probably be considered the MVP of this series. Penrod, meanwhile, earned the winning decision on Tuesday after striking out seven over five solid innings of relief and inducing a game-high 19 whiffs.

The Drive, who have been affiliated with the Red Sox since 2005, punched their ticket to this year’s SAL playoffs by going 36-30 and clinching a first-half division title. Despite struggling to a 27-39 record in the second half, Greenville swept the Hickory Crawdads (Rangers’ High-A affiliate) in last week’s division series and wound up marching to a perfect 4-0 in the postseason.

From start to finish, Greenville received contributions from several of Boston’s top prospects this season. Nathan Hickey, Blaze Jordan, Chase Meidroth, Marcelo Mayer, Wikelman Gonzalez, Angel Bastardo, Isaac Coffey, Grant Gambrell, Christopher Troye, and Alex Hoppe were among the talented minor-leaguers who broke camp with the Drive in the spring but earned promotions to Double-A Portland at different points throughout the year.

Mikey Romero, Cutter Coffey, and Roman Anthony (the Red Sox’ first three selections in the 2022 draft) all started in Salem this season before making the jump to Greenville. Anthony, of course, performed so well with the Drive that he was promoted to Portland earlier this month. The same can be said for catcher Kyle Teel, who — like Campbell — was drafted by Boston this summer.

Other notable prospects who played for Greenville this year include Cepeda, Perales, Rogers, Yordanny Monegro, Noah Song, Brock Bell, Reidis Sena, Brainer Bonaci, and Allan Castro.

(Picture courtesy of the Greenville Drive)

Red Sox’ Rafael Devers earns American League Player of the Week honors

Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers has been named the American League Player of the Week for the week of September 11-17, Major League Baseball announced on Monday.

In seven games against the Yankees and Blue Jays, Devers went 8-for-20 (.400) with four home runs, five RBIs, five runs scored, seven walks, and two strikeouts. He was also hit by a pitch on two separate occasions in the process of reaching base in 17 of his 29 plate appearances.

Though the Red Sox went just 1-6 in that stretch, Devers is hardly to blame. After going deep twice in Boston’s final series of the year against New York at Fenway Park, the left-handed hitting slugger homered in the final two games of its series with Toronto at Rogers Centre.

On Saturday, Devers launched a two-run blast off Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt to give his side a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the sixth inning. The Red Sox then went on to fall to the Jays in the bottom of the 13th as a result of a softly-hit, walk-off infield single off the bat of Whit Merrifield that Devers himself could not field cleanly.

On Sunday, Devers came through in the clutch once more, this time crushing a game-tying solo shot to the opposite field off Erik Swanson with two outs in the top of the ninth. Yet again, however, the Red Sox were walked off on by the Blue Jays as Matt Chapman played hero with a game-winning triple off Garrett Whitlock in the bottom half of the frame.

Following Sunday’s performance, Devers now finds himself batting .276/.355/.521 with 34 doubles, a team-leading 33 home runs, 98 RBIs, and 87 runs scored, three stolen bases, 57 walks and 115 strikeouts in 142 games (614 plate appearances) for Boston this season. The 26-year-old is slashing a stout .350/.458/.650 in 16 games since the calendar flipped from August to September.

Among qualified big-league third basemen coming into play on Monday, Devers ranks third in homers, second in RBIs, fifth in runs scored, fourth in batting average, third in on-base percentage, second in slugging percentage, first in OPS (.876), third in isolated power (.245), second in hard-hit rate (54.5 percent), first in wOBA (.369), and second in wRC+ (130), per FanGraphs.

With 172 homers for his major-league career, Devers is currently tied with Hall of Famer Jim Rice for the most home runs by a Red Sox player before turning 27 years old. He also became the 22nd player in franchise history to record 400 career extra-base hits over the weekend and is the first to do so before his 27th birthday.

Devers, who turns 27 late next month, is the third Red Sox player to earn American League Player of the Week honors this season, joining Masataka Yoshida (May 6) and two-time winner Adam Duvall (April 1, August 26). In the National League, Devers’ fellow countryman — Padres outfielder Juan Soto — took home the award.

With hits in seven of his last nine games, Devers will look to keep things rolling as the Red Sox open a three-game series against the Rangers at Globe Life Field on Monday night. Devers is batting second and starting at third base for Boston. First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Rafael Devers: Mark Blinch/Getty Images)

Former Red Sox prospect Marques Johnson named California League Pitcher of the Week

Former Red Sox relief prospect Marques Johnson ended the first full season of his professional career on a strong note by earning California League Pitcher of the Week honors on Monday.

Johnson, who the Red Sox traded to the Giants for fellow reliever Mauricio Llovera in late July, made two appearances for San Francisco’s Low-A affiliate in San Jose in its most-recent series against the Stockton Ports. The right-hander struck out 10 and walked only one of the 17 batters he faced over five scoreless, one-hit innings of relief.

After joining the Giants organization ahead of the trade deadline, Johnson closed out the 2023 campaign by pitching to a 0.00 ERA and 3.40 FIP with 20 strikeouts to nine walks across 11 outings (18 1/3 innings) for San Jose in which he held opposing hitters to a .145 batting average against. He also converted his lone save opportunity, which came in a 14-1 win over Stockton on Friday.

A native of California himself, Johnson was selected by the Red Sox in the 11th round of last year’s draft out of Long Beach State. He signed with Boston for $122,500, but did not make his pro debut with Low-A Salem until this April. As a member of the Salem Red Sox, the 23-year-old righty posted a 6.55 ERA with 43 strikeouts to 24 walks over 28 appearances (34 1/3 innings) out of the bullpen.

While that ERA is far from eye-popping, Johnson produced a far more favorable 3.75 FIP with Salem. He had also been pitching much better in the weeks leading up to the trade, yielding just one earned run in his final seven appearances (9 2/3 innings) for Boston’s Carolina League affiliate. It appears as though those results carried over into the California League and Johnson now has some hardware to prove it.

Standing at 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, Johnson throws from a three-quarters arm slot and operates with a three-pitch mix that consists of a 93-96 mph fastball that tops out at 98 mph and features high spin rates, an 83-85 mph slider, and an 86-88 mph changeup, per his SoxProspects.com scouting report.

Johnson, who does not turn 24 until next July, possesses intriguing potential if he can further refine his control and command of the strike zone. And while San Jose’s regular season is over, the Giants are slated to open a three-game playoff series on the road against the Modesto Nuts on Tuesday.

(Picture of Marques Johnson: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Top Red Sox prospect Marcelo Mayer shut down for rest of season

Top Red Sox prospect Marcelo Mayer has been shut down for the remainder of the minor-league season, director of player development Brian Abraham told MLB.com’s Ian Browne on Wednesday.

Mayer, who has been on Double-A Portland’s injured list with left shoulder inflammation, will not suit up for the Sea Dogs again this year. The 20-year-old shortstop will instead head to Fort Myers, Fla. to continue his rehab and focus on having “a full, normal offseason,” per Abraham.

According to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, Mayer was expected to return to action at some point last month. But upon resuming baseball activities, the left-handed hitter reaggravated the injury — which affects his ability to swing a bat — and has been idle ever since.

Abraham told Speier that Mayer is expected to ramp things back up in the coming days, adding that Boston’s No. 1 prospect will likely take part in the club’s fall instructional program at the Fenway South complex beginning next week.

“We just didn’t want him to play when he’s less than 100 percent,” Abraham said of Mayer. “Ultimately, we felt like having him be 100 percent during all activities was really important for him and for us.”

Mayer, the fourth overall pick in the 2021 draft out of Eastlake High School (Chula Vista, Calif.), earned a promotion to Portland in late May after batting .290/.366/.524 with 11 doubles, one triple, seven home runs, 34 RBIs, 23 runs scored, five stolen bases, 17 walks, and 37 strikeouts in 35 games (164 plate appearances) for High-A Greenville to kick off his second full professional season.

Upon being inserted into the Sea Dogs’ lineup, though, Mayer struggled to a .189/.254/.355 slash line with eight doubles, one triple, six homers, 20 runs driven in, four stolen bases, 15 walks, and 49 strikeouts in 43 games (190 plate appearances). He was in the midst of a 1-for-21 slump at the plate prior to hitting the injured list.

Despite the poor offensive numbers in Portland, Mayer showed signs of promise in other areas and represented the Red Sox at the All-Star Futures Game in July. On the other side of the ball, for instance, he committed just three errors across 323 innings at shortstop with the Sea Dogs. To that end, the 6-foot-2, 188-pound infielder was recently identified by Baseball America as the best defensive shortstop in both the South Atlantic (High-A) and Eastern League (Double-A) this year.

“It was a really positive [year], getting all the way up to Double-A at his age,” said Abraham. “He was probably a little unlucky. He put the ball in play, hit the ball hard, and played a really good defensive shortstop.

“Overall,” Abraham continued, “the chance to get to Double-A where he had a chance to be an impactful player on a team that was having a lot of success, it was a really good opportunity for him to play with some upper-level talent, see upper-levels pitching, and really play as if he belongs.”

It remains to be seen if Mayer, who turns 21 in December, will play in the Arizona Fall League, which gets underway next month. That being said, Speier notes that an AFL assignment “would be a consideration” if the California native gets back to 100 percent health-wise.

As things stand now, Mayer is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 15 prospect in the sport. MLB Pipeline, on the other hand, has him ranked 11th. Barring a surprise, Mayer is expected to return to Portland for the start of the 2024 season next spring.

(Picture of Marcelo Mayer: Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

Red Sox to promote relief prospect Luis Guerrero to Triple-A Worcester

The Red Sox are promoting relief prospect Luis Guerrero from Double-A Portland to Triple-A Worcester, according to MiLB Central on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Guerrero, 23, is currently regarded by SoxProspects.com as the No. 31 prospect in Boston’s farm system, which ranks ninth among pitchers in the organization. The hard-throwing right-hander was originally selected by the Red Sox in the 17th round of the 2021 amateur draft out of Chipola College (Marianna, Fla.) and signed with the club for $122,500.

In 43 appearances out of the bullpen for Portland this season, Guerrero has posted a 1.81 ERA and 3.37 FIP with 59 strikeouts to 30 walks over 49 2/3 innings of relief. He held opposing hitters to a .150 batting average against in the process of going 18-for-22 in save opportunities.

Among 131 Eastern League pitchers who came into play Tuesday with at least 40 innings under their belts to this point in the year, Guerrero ranks 33rd in strikeouts per nine innings (10.69), 32nd in strikeout rate (27.8 percent), third in batting average against, 16th in WHIP, first in swinging-strike rate (17.1 percent), second in ERA, and 19th in FIP, per FanGraphs.

While the strikeout numbers are undoubtedly impressive, Guerrero has had his issues when it comes to walks. Using the same parameters from above, he ranks 113rd in the Eastern League in walks per nine innings (5.44) and 117th in walk rate (14.2 percent). Dating back to the start of July, he has walked 12 of the last 87 batters he has faced.

A native of the Dominican Republic, Guerrero underwent surgery on his right knee as an infant and now walks with a limp as a result. He told The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier earlier this spring that he now has limited mobility in his knee since the muscles in that area did not grow like the others.

“[But] for pitching, you just need to bend [the back knee] a little bit,” Guerrero explained. “My knee bends just as much as I need it to.”

As a child, Guerrero moved from the Dominican to Boston and grew up near Franklin Park. He then moved to Miami for his senior year of high school and spent two years at Chipola before being drafted by the Red Sox in 2021. Guerrero did not make his professional debut until last June and made his way to High-A Greenville before the 2022 season came to a close. He was expected to return to Greenville for the start of the 2023 campaign as well, but showed increased fastball velocity and wound up breaking camp with Portland.

Since then, Guerrero has only seen his stock rise. Alongside Sea Dogs teammates Nick Yorke and Marcelo Mayer, the righty represented the Red Sox at July’s All-Star Futures Game in Seattle. Replacing left-hander Shane Drohan in suiting up for the American League at T-Mobile Park, Guerrero struck out the lone batter he faced — Rockies prospect Yanquiel Fernandez — on five pitches.

Listed at 6-feet and 215 pounds, Guerrero operates with a 96-98 mph fastball that tops out at 100 mph, an 81-85 mph splitter, and an 87-90 mph slider that features 10-to-4 break, per his SoxProspects.com scouting report. In order to reach his potential, he will need to work on refining his control and command of the strike zone moving forward.

With the minor-league season winding down and the WooSox fighting for a playoff spot, Guerrero is slated to join a Worcester bullpen that already features Nick Robertson, Justin Hagenman, Andrew Politi, and Ryan Fernandez, among others.

(Picture of Luis Guerrero: Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Red Sox to promote top prospects Roman Anthony, Kyle Teel to Double-A Portland

The Red Sox are promoting top prospects Roman Anthony and Kyle Teel from High-A Greenville to Double-A Portland, as was first reported by MiLB Central on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Anthony and Teel are currently regarded by Baseball America as the Nos. 2 and 4 prospects in Boston’s farm system, respectively. As far as top-100 rankings are concerned, the former comes in at No. 19 on the publication’s latest list while the latter comes in at No. 91.

Anthony, 19, began the 2023 season with Low-A Salem after being taken by the Red Sox with the 79th overall pick in last year’s amateur draft out of Stoneman Douglas High School (Parkland, Fla.). The left-handed hitting outfielder appeared in 42 games for Boston’s Carolina League affiliate before earning a promotion to Greenville in mid-June.

With the Drive, Anthony batted a stout .294/.412/.569 (164 wRC+) with 14 doubles, three triples, 12 home runs, 38 RBIs, 41 runs scored, two stolen bases, 40 walks, and 75 strikeouts over 54 games (245 plate appearances). The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder put up those numbers while seeing the majority of his playing time come in center field, where he recorded five assists in 337 defensive innings.

Teel, 21, was selected by Boston with the 14th overall pick in this summer’s draft out of Virginia. The New Jersey native signed with the club for an over-slot bonus of $4,663,100 in late July. He then made his professional debut in the rookie-level Florida Complex League on August 3, but he only stuck around there for three games before skipping Low-A altogether and making the jump to Greenville five days later.

A left-handed hitter like Anthony, Teel got off to a hot start with Greenville and wound up slashing .377/.485/.453 (166 wRC+) with four doubles, nine runs driven in, 10 runs scored, one stolen base, 11 walks, and 11 strikeouts in 14 games (66 plate appearances) for Greenville. From behind the plate, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound backstop threw out six of 20 would-be base stealers while allowing three passed balls.

With the promotions of Anthony and Teel, Portland now has even more of Boston’s top prospects on its roster. Even with shortstop Marcelo Mayer — who has been sidelined by left shoulder inflammation for the last month — on the injured list, the Sea Dogs have already featured catcher Nathan Hickey, second baseman Nick Yorke, infielders Brainer Bonaci, Chase Meidroth, and Blaze Jordan, and right-handers Wikelman Gonzalez, Angel Bastardo, and Hunter Dobbins, among others.

The Sea Dogs have just 12 regular season games remaining on their schedule. They will take on the Reading Fightin Phils on the road this week and then return home to host the Hartford Yard Goats in a six-game series that will run from September 12-17 at Hadlock Field.

(Picture of Kyle Teel: Brian Fluharty/Getty Images)

How top Red Sox outfield prospect Roman Anthony has fared since promotion to High-A Greenville

Top Red Sox outfield prospect Roman Anthony homered for the third time this season in High-A Greenville’s doubleheader against the Brooklyn Cyclones at Fluor Field on Thursday night.

In Game 1, Anthony led off the bottom of the first inning by taking Brooklyn starter Felipe De La Cruz 375 feet to left-center field for his 12th homer with Greenville and his first of the year off a left-hander. Anthony’s solo shot proved to be the difference maker, as the Drive went on to defeat the Cyclones, 1-0, behind seven shutout innings from starter Zach Penrod and reliever Brock Bell.

In Game 2, Anthony served as Greenville’s leadoff hitter yet again and went 1-for-2 with a double, a run scored, and two walks. This time around, however, the Drive fell to the Cyclones by a final score of 7-4 and had to settle for a doubleheader split as a result.

Between both games of Thursday’s twin bill, though, Anthony went 2-for-5 with two extra-base hits, one RBI, two runs scored, two walks, and one strikeout. In doing so, the left-handed hitter extended his hitting streak to four games and capped off a solid month of August in which be batted .297/.391/.506 with six doubles, two triples, three home runs, 14 runs driven in, 17 runs scored, 13 walks, and 34 strikeouts in 23 games (105 plate appearances) for Greenville.

Still just 19 years old, Anthony made the jump to Greenville from Low-A Salem in mid-June after slashing .228/.376/.317 with one homer and 18 RBIs in 42 games (202 plate appearances) with the Red Sox to kick off his first full professional season. While a .693 OPS is far from eye-popping, Anthony produced strong underlying numbers — such as an 18.8 percent walk rate and 26.2 percent line-drive rate — with Boston’s Carolina League affiliate.

As such, the Red Sox elected to move Anthony up the minor-league ladder on June 13 and he has only seen his stock rise since. In 52 games with the Drive altogether, Anthony is batting a stout .292/.415/.574 with 13 doubles, three triples, 12 home runs, 35 RBIs, 41 runs scored, two stolen bases, 40 walks, and 71 strikeouts across 236 trips to the plate.

Among South Atlantic League hitters who have accrued at least 230 plate appearances to this point in the season, Anthony ranks sixth in walk rate (16.9 percent), 10th in batting average, fourth in on-base percentage, third in slugging percentage, first in OPS (.990), second in isolated power (.282), first in line-drive rate (30.1 percent), and first in wRC+ (166), per FanGraphs.

Though he has not posed much of a threat on the basepaths, Anthony had been able to make his impact felt in the outfield. With Greenville specifically, the 6-foot-2, 200-pounder has logged 328 innings in center and 34 2/3 innings in right, committing four errors in 110 defensive chances while recording a team-leading five outfield assists.

Anthony, the 79th overall selection in last year’s amateur draft out of Stoneman Douglas High School (Parkland, Fla.), is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 2 prospect in Boston’s farm system (trailing only shortstop Marcelo Mayer) and the No. 19 prospect in the sport. The Red Sox swayed the West Palm Beach native away from his commitment to Ole Miss by signing him for an over-slot bonus of $2.5 million.

With the minor-league season entering its final month, it seems likely that Anthony — who does not turn 20 until next May — will close out the 2023 campaign in Greenville. On that note, Anthony is leading off and starting in center field for the Drive in their contest against the Cyclones on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. eastern time.

(Picture of Roman Anthony: Gwinn Davis/Greenville Drive)

Red Sox promote pitching prospect Yordanny Monegro to High-A Greenville

The Red Sox have promoted pitching prospect Yordanny Monegro from Low-A Salem to High-A Greenville, according to the club’s minor-league transactions log.

Monegro is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 29 prospect in Boston’s farm system, which ranks eighth among pitchers in the organization. The 20-year-old hurler originally signed with the Red Sox for a modest $35,000 coming out of the Dominican Republic in February 2020 and has since emerged as one of the more intriguing arms in the system.

In what has been a breakout 2023 season, Monegro first made his impact felt in the rookie-level Florida Complex League, where he struggled to a 7.36 ERA in 25 2/3 innings last year. This June, however, the Santo Domingo native dazzled in three starts for Boston’s Fort Myers-based affiliate. He allowed just two earned runs over 15 innings of work in which he struck out 20 and walked only four en route to earning FCL Pitcher of the Month honors.

Before June came to a close, though, Monegro made the jump to Salem. He made his full-season debut on the 25th and proceeded to put up a 2.43 ERA (2.32 FIP) with 60 strikeouts to 17 walks in nine starts (40 2/3 innings) for the Red Sox while holding opposing hitters to a .217 batting average against. In what might go down as his final start at the Low-A level, Monegro yielded one unearned run on two hits, two walks, and eight strikeouts across five solid frames in a 2-1 win over the Fredericksburg Nationals last Thursday.

Among Carolina League pitchers with at least 40 innings under their belt coming into play on Tuesday, Monegro ranks fourth in strikeouts per nine innings (13.28), eighth in strikeout rate (34.5 percent), first in swinging-strike rate (18 percent), seventh in ERA, first in FIP, and sixth in xFIP (2.92), per FanGraphs.

While the success that Monegro has enjoyed this summer may be a surprise to some, the Red Sox had high hopes for the righty well before the minor-league season even started. Assistant general manager Eddie Romero even acknowledged as much in an email exchange with BloggingtheRedSox.com last month.

“We were really excited about Monegro heading into the spring,” Romero wrote. “He impressed a lot with the physical shape he came into spring training, and has continued to work since then — this has been key to his early-season success. He’s super athletic with a lightning quick arm which contributes to his ability to have a plus breaking ball. He’s tightened up his delivery to let his athleticism show and be consistent with his mechanics. Hope he continues this success into the second half.”

With a projectable 6-foot-4, 180-pound-frame, Monegro throws from a three-quarters arm slot and operates with a three-pitch mix that consists of a mid-90s four-seam fastball that tops out at 95-96 mph, a high-80s slider, and an upper-70s curveball. As noted by publications such as Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, Monegro is more control-over-command at the moment and is still considered a work in progress as a result.

That being said, Monegro will have the chance to put an exclamation point on what has already been an encouraging season with Greenville. The Drive open a six-game series against the Brooklyn Cyclones at Fluor Field on Tuesday night, and so Monegro will more than likely make his High-A debut this week.

(Picture of Yordanny Monegro: Bryan Green/Flickr)