Tag: Baseball

Red Sox infielders Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers named Silver Slugger Award finalists

Red Sox infielders Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers have been named finalists for 2022 Silver Slugger Awards, Louisville Slugger and Major League Baseball announced on Thursday.

Bogaerts is a finalist at shortstop along with Toronto’s Bo Bichette, Minnesota’s Carlos Correa, and Texas’ Corey Seager. He has already won the award on four separate occasions (2015, 2016, 2019, 2021).

Devers is a finalist at third base along with Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez, Houston’s Alex Bregman, and Toronto’s Matt Chapman. He won the award for the first time last year. And so Devers and Bogaerts will be looking to go back-to-back at their respective positions.

Already a finalist for a Gold Glove Award, Bogaerts finished third in the American League batting title race this season. The right-handed hitter batted a stout .307/.377/.456 with 38 doubles, 15 home runs, 73 RBIs, 84 runs scored, eight stolen bases, 57 walks, and 118 strikeouts over 150 games and 631 plate appearances.

Between the three other shortstops he will be competing with, Bogaerts ranked first in batting average, first in on-base percentage, third in slugging percentage, second in OPS (.833), first in wOBA (.363), and second in wRC+ (134), per FanGraphs.

Devers, meanwhile, is already a finalist for the Hank Aaron Award. The left-handed hitter slashed .295/.358/.521 with 42 doubles, one triple, 27 home runs, 88 RBIs, 84 runs scored, three stolen bases, 50 walks, and 114 strikeouts across 141 games (614 plate appearances) for the Red Sox this season.

In terms of how he stacked up against the three other third base finalists, Devers ranked first in batting average, second in on-base percentage, first in slugging percentage, first in OPS (.879), first in wOBA (.373), and first in wRC+ (141), according to FanGraphs.

The group of outfield finalists from the National League includes three former Red Sox in the Brewers’ Hunter Renfroe, the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts, and the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber.

Silver Slugger Awards have been handed out since 1980 to recognize the best offensive players at each position in each league. Voting is conducted by major-league managers and coaches, though they cannot vote for players on their own teams.

This year’s Silver Slugger Award winners will be revealed on Thursday, November 10 during an hour-long special on MLB Network that begins at 6 p.m. eastern time.

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox added to their 2021 draft class with August trades; how did the newcomers perform?

In August, the Red Sox swung two trades that landed them three prospects from the 2021 amateur draft.

On Aug. 2, they acquired infielder Max Ferguson and outfielder Corey Rosier from the Padres in the same trade that sent veteran first baseman Eric Hosmer to Boston and pitching prospect Jay Groome to San Diego.

On Aug. 31, they acquired right-hander Taylor Broadway from the White Sox as the player to be named later from the Aug. 1 trade that sent catcher Reese McGuire to Boston and veteran reliever Jake Diekman to Chicago.

Dating back to last December, the Red Sox have now traded for four different 2o21 draftees when you include former Brewers third-round pick Alex Binelas from the Jackie Bradley Jr.-Hunter Renfroe swap. According to one team official, though, there is no specific reasoning behind this pattern. In other words, it is just a mere coincidence.

As things stand now, Binelas is the highest-rated prospect of the four. For the purposes of this exercise, however, let us focus on the three minor-leaguers who saw their first full professional seasons interrupted by noteworthy — albeit not blockbuster — trades.

Max Ferguson

Ferguson, 23, was originally selected by the Padres in the fifth round of last year’s draft out of The University of Tennessee. He appeared in 37 games between the Arizona Complex League and California League to close out his debut season before returning to Low-A Lake Elsinore this spring.

At the time of the trade, Ferguson had already been promoted to High-A Fort Wayne and was batting .162/.271/.343 in 27 games (125 plate appearances) with the Tin Caps. The left-handed hitter remained at the High-A level upon switching organizations and proceeded to slash .181/.368/.250 in 23 games (95 plate appearances) with the Greenville Drive.

Between the three Class-A affiliates, Ferguson finished with a .214/.366/.339 line (98 wRC+) to go along with 15 doubles, eight triples, seven home runs, 60 RBIs, 95 runs scored, 61 stolen bases, 96 walks, and 127 strikeouts over 114 total games (527 plate appearances). His 61 swiped bags were the ninth-most in all of Minor League Baseball.

Defensively, Ferguson proved to be quite versatile as an amateur and that has continued to be the case in pro ball. With the Drive specifically, the 6-foot-1, 180-pounder logged 83 1/3 innings at shortstop, 53 innings at second base, and 63 innings in center field. He committed just one error at shortstop and recorded one outfield assist in center.

Corey Rosier

Rosier, also 23, was first taken by the Mariners in the 12th round of the 2021 draft out of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He was then dealt to the Padres last November as part of the trade that sent All-Star second baseman Adam Frazier to Seattle.

In similar fashion to Ferguson, Rosier played at both the Arizona Complex League and Low-A level last year. Unlike Ferguson, though, he began his first full season in the Padres organization at Fort Wayne. In his tenure with the Tin Caps, the left-handed hitter batted .263/.381/.396 across 85 games (373 plate appearances) before being traded.

Ferguson and Rosier made their Drive debuts on the same day — Aug. 4. Rosier also struggled at the plate, as he posted a .163/.272/.275 slash line in 23 games (93 plate appearances) with Greenville.

All told, Rosier hit .242/.359/.371 (109 wRC+) with 13 doubles, eight triples, seven homers, 41 runs driven in, 77 runs scored, 40 stolen bases, 65 walks, and 99 strikeouts over 108 total games (466 plate appearances) between the Tin Caps and Drive this season.

On the other side of the ball, Ferguson saw playing time at all three outfield positions in Greenville. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound Maryland native accrued 143 innings in left, 44 1/3 innings in right, and eight innings in center while registering one outfield assist.

Both Ferguson and Rosier are projected by SoxProspects.com to make the jump to Double-A Portland next year.

Taylor Broadway

Broadway, 25, was selected by the White Sox in the sixth round out of The University of Mississippi after emerging as one of the top closers in the Southeastern Conference last spring. The native Texan began his pro career in the Arizona Complex League and had already pitched across four different levels when he was officially traded to the Red Sox over the summer.

After compiling a 5.02 ERA in 40 relief appearances between High-A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham to kick off the 2022 campaign, Broadway remained at the Double-A level when he switched organizations.

Since the move came towards the end of the minor-league season, Broadway appeared in just five games for the Sea Dogs. Still, the righty allowed just one run on two hits over six innings of work while striking out 10 of the 19 batters he faced.

Listed at 5-foot-11 and 205 pounds, Broadway throws from a three-quarters arm slot and operates with a four-pitch mix that consists of a 92-94 mph four-seam fastball that tops out at 95 mph, an 85-87 mph slider, a 79-82 mph curveball, and a changeup that is still considered a work in progress.

Broadway, who turns 26 in April, is also projected by SoxProspects.com to return to Portland next spring. Considering how fast he has been moved, though, it would not be surprising if he were promoted to Triple-A Worcester at some point in 2023.

(Picture of Max Ferguson: Gwinn Davis/Greenville Drive)

How did Red Sox pitching prospect Chih-Jung Liu fare in 2022?

Last Saturday marked the three-year anniversary of the Red Sox signing right-hander Chih-Jung Liu as an international free agent out of Taiwan.

Formerly a two-way player in high school and a switch-hitting shortstop in college, Liu received a signing bonus of $750,000 from the Red Sox to work strictly as a pitcher. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tainan City native did not make his professional debut until last July. He made one start in the Florida Complex League before spending the rest of the 2021 campaign with Low-A Salem.

After compiling a 4.29 ERA in 12 starts with the Salem Red Sox, Liu broke camp with High-A Greenville earlier this spring. In many ways, this season was a sophomore slump of sorts for the 23-year-old righty.

Through July 3, Liu had posted an unsightly 7.07 ERA and 6.30 FIP with 59 strikeouts to 25 walks in his first 15 appearances (13 starts) and 56 innings for the Drive. He was allowing more than two home runs per nine innings while yielding a .286 batting average against.

On July 6, Liu was placed on the development list. He did not appear in a game for the next nine days before returning to the mound on July 15. From that point forward, Liu pitched better, though the results were still not great.

In his next 10 outings (eight starts) for Greenville, Liu produced a 4.87 ERA and 6.84 FIP to go along with 47 strikeouts to 21 walks across 44 1/3 innings of work. His strikeout rate rose and his batting average against fell, but he still surrendered 2.64 homers per nine innings and walked nearly 11 percent of the batters he faced.

All told, Liu pitched to a 6.10 ERA and 6.54 FIP in 25 appearances (21 starts) and 100 1/3 innings with the Drive. Among the 18 South Atlantic League pitchers who tossed at least 100 frames this season, Liu ranked ninth in strikeouts per nine innings (9.51), 10th in strikeout rate (23.7 percent), and fourth in swinging-strike rate (14.9 percent). Yet he also ranked 14th in walks per nine innings (4.13) and walk rate (10.3 percent), 17th in batting average against (2.82), and dead last in homers per nine innings (2.42), WHIP (1.57), ERA, and FIP, per FanGraphs.

As inconsistent as those numbers may be, Liu still earned a late-season promotion to Double-A Portland. He made one start for the Sea Dogs on the road against the Somerset Patriots on September 18 and allowed two runs over 3 2/3 innings. Fittingly, one of those two runs came by way of the long ball.

Listed at 6-feet and 185 pounds, Liu possesses an athletic delivery and operates with a five-pitch mix that consists of a 93-95 mph four-seam fastball that tops out at 98 mph, a mid-90s two-seam fastball, an 80-82 mph changeup, an 83-86 mph slider, and a 78-80 mph curveball. He also used to throw a splitter as an amateur.

Liu, who turns 24 in April, spent his first two seasons in pro ball ranked by Baseball America as one of the top pitching prospects in Boston’s farm system. He has since fallen off the publication’s rankings, but he is still young enough that he could get back with a bounce-back effort in 2023.

On that note, SoxProspects.com projects that Liu will return to Portland for the start of the 2023 season. He can become Rule 5-eligible for the first time in his career next fall, so pitching his way onto the Sox’ 40-man roster could serve as some form of motivation for him.

(Picture of Chih-Jung Liu: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Red Sox make promotions within amateur scouting department by elevating Paul Toboni, Devin Pearson

The Red Sox have promoted Paul Toboni from director of amateur scouting to a vice president role in charge of amateur scouting and player development, according to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.

Toboni, 32, has spent the last three seasons as Boston’s amateur scouting director after being named to the position in September 2019. The native Californian oversaw the 2020, 2021, and 2022 drafts, which saw the Red Sox select (and sign) the likes of top prospects Nick Yorke, Blaze Jordan, Marcelo Mayer, Niko Kavadas, and Mikey Romero, among others.

After playing baseball and graduating from The University of California, Berkeley in 2012, Toboni went on to earn his Masters of Business Administration from The University of Notre Dame two years later. He got his start in professional baseball by interning with the Oakland Athletics during the 2013 season.

Before the start of the 2015 campaign, Toboni joined the Red Sox’ baseball operations department in a similar capacity. He then served as an area scout who was responsible for covering northern Texas and northern Louisiana from October 2015 until November 2016. From 2017-2019, he operated as the club’s assistant director of amateur scouting under Mike Rikard.

Rikard was named Boston’s vice president of scouting towards the end of the 2019 season, allowing Toboni to assume the role of amateur scouting director. Now a vice president himself, Toboni is slated to join Rikard and vice president of scouting development and integration Gus Quattlebaum in that regard.

With Toboni’s elevation, Speier also reports that assistant director of amateur scouting Devin Pearson has been promoted to director of amateur scouting.

Pearson, 28, was originally taken by the Blue Jays in the 30th round of the 2012 draft out of Carmel High School. Rather than go pro, though, he elected to go to college and — like Toboni — graduated from UC Berkeley in 2016.

The following February, Pearson began an internship within the Red Sox’ professional scouting department. He moved on to the amateur side of things that October before being elevated to assistant amateur scouting director in Sept. 2019.

The son of former Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Dennis Pearson, Devin is set to turn 29 in January. He and Toboni will presumably play a key role in overseeing Boston’s amateur scouting efforts moving forward.

(Picture of Fenway Park: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox prospects Stephen Scott, Nick Yorke off to hot starts in Arizona Fall League

Red Sox prospects Stephen Scott and Nick Yorke were named to Baseball America’s Arizona Fall League Hot Sheet on Monday.

Playing for the Scottsdale Scorpions out west, both Scott and Yorke enjoyed productive weeks at the plate. The former went 4-for-11 (.364) with two home runs, four RBIs, four runs scored, one walk, and three strikeouts. The latter went 7-for-17 (.412) with three doubles, three RBIs, three runs scored, three walks, and five strikeouts.

Since the Arizona Fall League season began on October 3, Scott has batted .400/.432/.800 with one triple, four homers, 12 runs driven in, 13 runs scored, one stolen base, two walks, and seven strikeouts over nine games spanning 37 trips to the plate.

Among qualified AFL hitters coming into play on Monday, the left-handed hitting 25-year-old ranks fifth in batting average, 19th in on-base percentage, first in slugging percentage, second in OPS (1.303), and second in isolated power (.400). He is currently in a three-way tie for the league lead in home runs.

Defensively, Scott has split time at catcher with the Giants’ Andy Thomas and Adrian Sugastey in his brief tenure with the Scorpions. The 5-foot-11, 207-pound backstop has logged a team-leading 64 innings behind the plate and has thrown out three of 17 base stealers.

Scott, who does not turn 26 until next May, was originally selected by the Red Sox in the 10th round of the 2019 amateur draft out of Vanderbilt University. After splitting the 2022 minor-league season between High-A Greenville and Double-A Portland, the North Carolina native is a candidate to be added to Boston’s 40-man roster in November since he can become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft later this winter.

Yorke, meanwhile, is also enjoying offensive success in Arizona. The right-handed hitting infielder is now slashing .340/.439/.472 to go along with a league-leading seven doubles, 10 RBIs, 14 runs scored, 10 walks, and 11 strikeouts across 14 games (66 plate appearances) for the Scorpions.

Coming into play this week, Yorke ranks first among qualified AFL hitters in doubles and runs scored, 11th in RBIs, fifth in walks, 15th in batting average, 17th in on-base percentage, 21st in walk rate (15.2 percent) and 21st in OPS (.911), per MLB.com.

On the other side of the ball, Yorke has shared second base responsibilities with the Angels’ Kyren Paris and the Braves’ Cade Bunnell in Scottsdale. In similar fashion to Scott, the 6-foot, 200-pounder has logged a team-high 99 innings at the keystone and has committed just one error.

At just 20 years old, Yorke is one of the youngest players in the Arizona Fall League this year. The native Californian was originally taken by the Sox with the 17th overall pick in the 2020 draft out of Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose. He spent the entirety of the 2022 campaign at Greenville and is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 5 prospect in Boston’s farm system.

Both Scott and Yorke figure to have a good chance to represent the Red Sox in the Fall Stars Game, which takes place on Sunday, November 6. The Arizona Fall League regular season runs through Nov. 10 and the championship game will take place two days later.

(Picture of Nick Yorke: Jill Weisleder/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Red Sox pitching prospect Shane Drohan has swing-and-miss stuff

Because Jeremy Wu-Yelland underwent Tommy John surgery in April, Shane Drohan was the only member of the Red Sox’ 2020 draft class to pitch competitively this season.

Drohan, who was taken in the fifth round out of Florida State University two years ago, broke camp with High-A Greenville this spring after spending the entirety of the 2021 campaign at Low-A Salem.

In 22 appearances (20 starts) for the Drive, the left-hander posted a 4.00 ERA and 4.21 FIP to go along with 136 strikeouts to 40 walks over 105 2/3 innings of work. He allowed just two earned runs in his final three outings with Greenville before earning a promotion to Double-A Portland on August 16.

With the Sea Dogs, Drohan pitched to a 3.38 ERA with 21 strikeouts to 11 walks over five starts (24 innings). While he gave up runs less frequently, the 23-year-old southpaw saw his strikeout rate fall and his walk rate rise, which led to a higher FIP of 5.75.

It was certainly an adjustment period for Drohan, but he at least ended the year on a strong note by fanning eight of the 20 batters he faced in a 10-9 win over the Somerset Patriots in mid-September.

Between the two stops (Greenville and Portland), Drohan produced a cumulative 3.89 ERA and 4.49 FIP with 157 strikeouts to 51 walks across 27 appearances (25 starts) and 129 2/3 innings pitched. His 28.5 percent punchout rate ranked 50th among the 311 minor-league pitchers who threw at least 100 innings this season. His 16 percent swinging-strike rate ranked 15th, per FanGraphs.

On the heels of such a productive year on the mound, Drohan was named to SoxProspects.com’s 2022 All-Star team earlier this week. The Fort Lauderdale native is now regarded by the site as the No. 28 prospect in Boston’s farm system, which ranks 10th pitchers in the organization.

What makes Drohan so effective and capable of inducing whiffs in bunches? Well, he stands at 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds and operates with a three-pitch mix that consists of an 88-92 mph four-seam fastball that tops out at 94 mph, a 75-77 mph curveball, and a 78-81 mph changeup.

Drohan, who turns 24 in January, will be entering an important season in 2023 as the former Seminole can become Rule 5-eligible for the first time in his career. He is projected by SoxProspects.com to return to Portland next spring and the Red Sox will have until next November to add him to their 40-man roster.

As things stand now, Drohan has the upside to a be a back-end starter at the big-league level. Pitching his way onto Boston’s 40-man roster next season would certainly go a long way in solidifying — or maybe even surpassing — that projection.

(Picture of Shane Drohan: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Red Sox catching prospect Nathan Hickey turns in impressive first full pro season

Nathan Hickey came into his first full professional season ranked by Baseball America as the top catching prospect in the Red Sox farm system. He showed why he was worthy of that ranking over the last six months.

Selected by Boston in the fifth round of last year’s amateur draft out of the University of Florida, Hickey broke camp this spring with Low-A Salem, which is where he ended things in 2021.

In 41 games with Salem this season, the left-handed hitter batted .271/.429/.507 with 12 doubles, seven home runs, 39 RBIs, 31 runs scored, 39 walks, and 39 strikeouts over 182 plate appearances. That level of production prompted a promotion to High-A Greenville in late June.

With the Drive, Hickey hit for more power, though he also got on base less frequently. The 22-year-old slashed .252/.397/.539 with six doubles, nine homers, 23 runs driven in, 19 runs scored, 24 walks, and 39 strikeouts across 34 games (146 plate appearances). He was sidelined for a week in early August due to a concussion.

Between the two affiliates, Hickey produced a cumulative .263/.415/.522 slash line to go along with 18 doubles, 16 home runs, 62 RBIs, 50 runs scored, a walk rate of 19.2 percent, and a strikeout rate of 23.8 percent. Overall, his 155 wRC+ ranked third among minor-league catchers who made at least 100 trips to the plate this season, per FanGraphs.

On the other side of the ball, Hickey made 57 starts at catcher for Salem and Greenville this year. The 6-foot, 210-pound backstop logged 4585 2/3 innings behind the plate and threw out 10 of 75 base stealers. He also committed eight errors and allowed 10 passed balls.

Defense has been an issue with Hickey since before being drafted. The Jacksonville native came up as an infielder in high school but moved to catcher with the Gators so that he could regularly get his bat into the lineup.

Despite the lack of experience at a demanding position, the Red Sox still drafted Hickey as a catcher and signed him to an over-slot deal of $1 million. The doubts people had about his defensive abilities did not sit well with Hickey, as he explained to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier earlier this summer.

“I just hadn’t had enough time behind the plate to be able to show that was the spot for me,” Hickey said. “But I learned in one day more things about catching being here with Boston than I ever did at Florida.”

As detailed by Speier, Hickey did not call pitches at Florida and instead received the calls from his coaches. Since going pro, however, the Red Sox have let him call pitches on his own, which requires him to study up, implement a game plan, and be adaptable during games.

“It was a big step. Pitch-calling was kind of the thing that was stumping me a little bit at the beginning [of the season],” said Hickey. “But [being a catcher] is not really [about] me being successful, it’s making [the pitcher] look as successful as you can.”

In a separate, more recent piece for Baseball America, Speier relayed that pitchers enjoyed throwing to Hickey this season. And while Hickey has embraced becoming a game-caller, there is still more work to do in order to improve as a defender.

Hickey, who turns 23 in November, is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 26 prospect in Boston’s farm system. That unsurprisingly ranks tops among catchers in the organization. He is projected by SoxProspects.com to return to Greenville for the start of the 2023 minor-league season next spring.

With that being said, it certainly seems feasible for Hickey to make the jump to Double-A Portland before the end of the next campaign. We will have to wait and see on that.

(Picture of Nathan Hickey: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Red Sox’ Triston Casas dealing with knee discomfort in winter ball

Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas is dealing with minor knee discomfort as he plays for the Tigres del Licey of the Dominican Winter League, the team announced on Wednesday night.

Casas has been held out of Licey’s lineup since Monday. The team disclosed in a tweet that the 22-year-old underwent an MRI that revealed no structural damage. They are optimistic that he will be able to return to action for Friday’s contest against the Toros del Este.

While it is not yet known if Casas will be back in the lineup on Friday, the Red Sox do not appear to be too concerned about his injury. That is what a source with knowledge of the information told MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo on Friday. The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier also reported that Casas is expected to be able to play again before the Dominican Winter League season comes to a close.

Casas played three games for Licey before getting hurt. The left-handed hitter went 2-for-9 (.222) with an RBI, five walks, and three strikeouts. Red Sox third base coach Carlos Febles is serving as Licey’s bench coach this winter, so someone from the club will be able to keep tabs on Casas’ knee and exercise caution if necessary moving forward.

Still regarded by Baseball America as the No. 3 prospect in Boston’s farm system, Casas made his major-league debut for the Sox at the beginning of September. The former first-round pick batted .197/.358/.408 with one double, five home runs, 12 RBIs, 11 runs scored, one stolen base, 19 walks, and 23 strikeouts over 27 games (95 plate appearances) to close out the season.

Before getting called up from Triple-A Worcester, though, Casas missed nearly two month of the minor-league season due to a high right ankle sprain. The lack of seeing live pitching over the summer was likely a factor in the Red Sox opting to have Casas play winter ball in the Dominican Republic.

Casas, who turns 23 in January, is expected to have a strong chance at emerging as Boston’s everyday first baseman nest season, though he may have to compete with Eric Hosmer and Bobby Dalbec for the starting job in the spring.

(Picture of Triston Casas: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Xander Bogaerts named Gold Glove Award finalist

Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts has been named a finalist for a Gold Glove Award, Major League Baseball and Rawlings announced earlier Thursday afternoon.

Bogaerts was named an American League finalist for the second time in his career and for the first time since 2015. The 30-year-old infielder will be vying for his first Gold Glove Award while going up against Astros rookie Jeremy Pena and Twins star Carlos Correa.

Between the three of them this season, Bogaerts ranked first in games started (146), innings played (1,249 2/3), putouts (171), assists (401), double plays (74), Ultimate Zone Rating (4.9), and tied for first in fielding percentage (.983). He also ranked second in Defensive Runs Saved (4) and Outs Above Average (5), per FanGraphs.

As those numbers indicate, it was a standout year for Bogaerts defensively. The 6-foot-2, 218-pounder out of Aruba has been regularly critiqued for his fielding abilities since breaking in with the Red Sox as a 20-year-old in 2013. But he proved the doubters wrong this season by putting up career highs in Defensive Runs Saved, Ultimate Zone Rating, and Outs Above Average.

Bogaerts, who is expected to opt out of his contract and become a free agent this winter, will be looking to become the first Red Sox player to win a Gold Glove Award since Mookie Betts did so in 2019. Pena is also going for his first while Correa will be aiming to win it for the second year in a row.

Betts, meanwhile, was once again named a finalist in the National League for the defensive work he did in right field for the Dodgers this season. Circling back to the American League, two more former Red Sox outfielders were named finalists as well.

Jackie Bradley Jr., who closed out the year with the Blue Jays after being released by Boston in August, has the chance to win his second Gold Glove Award. Andrew Benintendi, who was traded from the Royals to the Yankees in July, has the chance to go back-to-back after taking home his first Gold Glove Award in Kansas City last season.

Gold Glove Awards have been handed out since 1957 to honor the best defenders at each position in each league. Voting is conducted by major-league managers and coaches (who are only allowed to vote within their league and cannot vote for players on their own teams) as well the sabermetrics community. The former accounts for 75 percent of the vote while the latter makes up the other 25 percent.

This year’s winners will be unveiled during an hour-long special edition of ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight” leading up to Game 4 of the 2022 World Series on Tuesday, November 1.

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Who is Eybersson Polanco? Get to know the Red Sox’ Latin Program Pitcher of the Year

In similar fashion to Andy Lugo, Eybersson Polanco was named the Red Sox’ Latin Program Pitcher of the Year last month.

Polanco, 19, made 12 starts for the Dominican Summer League Red Sox Red this season. The right-hander posted a 1.78 ERA and 2.96 FIP to go along with 50 strikeouts to 17 walks over 50 2/3 innings of work. He led his team in strikeouts and WHIP (0.95) and represented them in the Dominican Summer League All-Star Game in July.

Among 31 qualified DSL pitchers this year, Polanco ranked 15th in walks per nine innings (3.02), 13th in strikeout rate (25.8%), fourth in batting average against (.177), fifth in WHIP, 13th in groundball rate (46.2%), fourth in ERA, third in FIP, and 11th in xFIP (3.42), per FanGraphs.

Like Lugo, there is not much information available on Polanco since he only just completed his first professional season. The Red Sox originally signed the 6-foot, 170-pound righty out of Venezuela last July. He received a $50,000 bonus while fellow countryman Jedixson Paez netted $450,000, making him the highest-paid pitcher from the club’s 2021 international signing class.

Paez, who earned Latin Program Pitcher of the Year last season, was signed by Angel Escobar in January 2021. Polanco, on the other hand, was signed by Lenin Rodriguez six months later.

Given that he just turned 19 in September, it feels safe to assume that Polanco still has plenty of room to grow. That applies to his physical maturation, mechanics, and pitch arsenal, among other things.

Polanco is projected by SoxProspects.com to make the jump to the Florida Complex League in 2023. Paez made strides in Fort Myers this year and is now regarded by the site as the No. 12 pitching prospects in Boston’s farm system. Perhaps Polanco can do the same beginning next summer.

(Picture of Eybersson Polanco via his Facebook)