Shortly after wrapping up his first full professional season, Red Sox outfield prospect Andrews Opata was selected as the organization’s 2026 Minor League Baserunner of the Year.
Opata joined the Red Sox organization as an undrafted free agent out of Division II North Georgia last July after earning 2025 Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year honors. Rather than transfer to Division I Kennesaw State for what would have been his senior season, the Lawrenceville native elected to go pro, signing with Boston for $75,000.
“I was just thinking whatever happens, happens,” Opata recalled to MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith last month at Fenway Park. “If I don’t get drafted or signed, I’ll just go to Kennesaw State. But I was talking with my agent, and he was talking with the Red Sox, and he was pretty sure that the Red Sox were going to be the team to pick me up. It was just kind of a matter of when.
“Being around the people who have developed some of those guys that are playing in Boston right now is just something that I want to be a part of,” Opata added.
Though he signed last summer, Opata did not make his professional debut until early April, when he broke camp with Low-A Salem. The 22-year-old speedster spent the entire 2026 campaign with the RidgeYaks, setting a modern franchise record (since 2004) with 54 stolen bases in 62 attempts.
In addition to leading Salem in stolen bases and ranking second in the Carolina League and Red Sox organization in that category, Opata put together a solid season at the plate, particularly after the All-Star break. Over his final 34 games from July 17 through the end of the year, the right-handed hitter batted .289/.411/.491 with six doubles, one triple, five home runs, 26 RBIs, 31 runs scored, 22 walks, and 32 strikeouts over 141 plate appearances.
Overall, Opata slashed .257/.374/.404 with 15 doubles, three triples, 11 home runs, 56 RBIs, 81 runs scored, 65 walks, and 126 strikeouts across 103 games (444 plate appearances) for the RidgeYaks in 2026. He posted a .265/.372/.367 line in 347 plate appearances against righties and a .227/.381/.547 line in 97 plate appearances against lefties.
Opata was one of 32 hitters to log at least 400 plate appearances in the Carolina League this year. Among those 32, he led in both speed score (8.5) and wSB (5.9). He also ranked 10th in on-base percentage, OPS (.778), walk rate (14.6%), and wOBA (.374), 11th in batting average, 13th in slugging percentage and wRC+ (108), and 15th in isolated power (.146), according to FanGraphs.
Defensively, Opata saw most of his action with Salem in the corner outfield spots. The athletic 6-foot-2, 200-pounder made 64 starts in left field and 38 starts in right field for the RidgeYaks, committing four errors and recording six assists across 210 chances over 880 innings between the two positions. He also made one start at DH.
“Speed is a big part of my game, but I can also do stuff in the box and on defense, too,” Opata told Smith. “I try and pride myself on being as best of a five-tool player as I can possibly be. I try to get on, steal bases — but hitting home runs and hitting doubles is also fun, too. So I try to do that and do whatever I can to do it for the team ultimately is what I try to do.”
Opata, who turns 23 in December, is not ranked among Boston’s top prospects by publications such as Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, or SoxProspects.com. Barring a trade or other move this winter, SoxProspects.com projects that he will make the jump to High-A Greenville to begin the 2027 campaign.
Looking ahead to the offseason, Opata told Smith that he was pleased with how he adjusted to professional pitching and held up physically over the course of 103 games.
“Going into the offseason, I’m working mainly on my ball flight and my bat-to-ball skills to cut down on the strikeouts,” Opata said. “Ultimately … get a little bit more launch angle and some of that so I can turn some of those singles and doubles that I’m hitting into homers.”
(Picture of Andrews Opata: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)
