Tag: cycle

Red Sox OF prospect Skylar King hits for cycle in hometown

Red Sox outfield prospect Skylar King hit for the cycle in Low-A Salem’s 14-5 win over Columbia on Tuesday night.

King, a Columbia native, batted leadoff for the RidgeYaks in Tuesday’s series opener against the Fireflies at Segra Park, located less than five miles from where he went to high school (Brookland-Cayce). The 22-year-old made an immediate impact, crushing a home run on the second pitch of the game for his 10th homer of the season.

After tripling in the second inning, grounding out in the fourth, and doubling in the fifth, King led off the top of the eighth, needing only a base hit to complete the cycle. He did just that, shooting a line drive into left field for a single on the first pitch he saw from Fireflies reliever Henson Leal.

King struck out in his final plate appearance, but it did little to overshadow an otherwise memorable night in his hometown. The left-handed hitter finished 4-for-6 with three RBIs, two runs scored, and the first cycle by a Salem player in 21 years, according to the team.

Following Tuesday’s performance, King is batting .378/.417/.733 with three home runs and nine RBIs in his last 11 games (48 plate appearances) dating back to June 23. Overall, he is slashing .231/.321/.409 (92 wRC+) with 11 doubles, one triple, 10 home runs, 34 RBIs, 40 runs scored, 25 stolen bases, 28 walks, and 52 strikeouts through 66 games (278 plate appearances) for Salem this season. That includes a .185/.274/.370 line against lefties and a more solid .245/.335/.420 line against righties.

Among 65 qualified hitters in the Carolina League entering play Wednesday, King notably ranks sixth in pull rate (51.6%), 13th in isolated power (.178), 14th in strikeout rate (18.7%), 21st in slugging percentage, 23rd in wSB (0.7), 25th in swinging-strike rate (11.3%), and 26th in speed score (6.8), per FanGraphs.

Defensively, King has seen playing time at all three outfield positions for Salem this season. The athletic 6-foot-1, 180-pounder has made 29 starts in right field, 26 starts in center field, and eight starts in left field, committing six errors and recording four assists in 138 total chances between the three spots. He has also made two starts at DH.

King was Boston’s 15th-round selection in the 2025 draft out of West Virginia. As the 448th overall pick, the former Mountaineer received an at-slot $150,000 signing bonus before making his professional debut for Salem last August. He is not currently ranked among the organization’s top 60 prospects by SoxProspects.com, which describes him as having “a solid floor with his speed and defensive ability, but upside will be determined by how his bat develops.”

Given how he has fared at Low-A in recent weeks, it would not be surprising to see King — who does not turn 23 until November — earn a promotion to High-A Greenville at some point during the second half of the season. In the meantime, he will look to keep it rolling with Salem.

(Picture of Skylar King: John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

BREAKING: Mookie Betts Hits for Cycle in Toronto.

Although they may have lost their first game in over a week on Thursday night, the Red Sox certainly made headlines in Toronto thanks to Mookie Betts.

Entering the night with the highest batting average in baseball at .340, it looked as though Boston’s leadoff man was on a mission against Ryan Borucki and the rest of the Blue Jays pitching staff.

Leading off the contest with a simple single, Betts would go on to get the hardest hit out of the way with a hard hit triple just out of Kevin Pillar’s reach in center field an inning later.

After doubling in the fourth and drawing a walk in the sixth, it would all come down to the final frame for the Tennessee native to get the job done.

Facing off against Toronto closer Ken Giles with one out in the ninth, Betts got ahead in the count at 3-1, fouled off a 96.5 MPH fastball right down the middle, which clearly ticked him off and pulled the count to 3-2.

Fortunately, Mookie made an adjustment and made Giles pay for the next pitch he threw, an 86 MPH slider at the top of the zone that the three-time All-Star sent 379 feet to left field to secure the cycle.

The 21st and first cycle from a Red Sox player since Brock Holt accomplished the feat on June 16th, 2015 against the Atlanta Braves, more than three years ago.

On the season now, Betts owns a .347 batting average to go along with 27 home runs and a 1.102 OPS and is pulling closer and closer to becoming the clear cut favorite to win American League MVP.

Full recap of Thursday night’s 8-5 loss is coming tomorrow.