Tag: drew ehrhard

Drew Ehrhard joins Red Sox as bullpen catcher

Red Sox minor leaguer Drew Ehrhard has retired from playing and joined the big league club as a bullpen catcher, as was first reported by Alex Speier of The Boston Globe.

Ehrhard, 27, has been in the Red Sox organization since signing as an undrafted free agent out of Division II Tampa (where he played six years) in July 2023. The Florida native is effectively replacing catching coordinator Parker Guinn, who has moved from his role as a bullpen catcher to the dugout, where he will assist with PitchCom and other tasks under interim manager Chad Tracy.

Before joining the Red Sox’ new-look coaching staff in the wake of Alex Cora’s stunning ouster over the weekend, Ehrhard had spent the first month of the 2026 season at Double-A Portland. In 11 games for the Sea Dogs, the right-handed hitter batted .132/.227/.316 with one double, two home runs, eight RBIs, five runs scored, one stolen base, four walks, and 10 strikeouts across 45 plate appearances. He made eight starts at first base and two at DH, adding two relief appearances on the mound as well.

In parts of four minor league seasons between the Florida Complex League, High-A Greenville, and Portland, Ehrhard slashed .233/.306/.376 with 15 doubles, two triples, nine home runs, 39 RBIs, 39 runs scored, five stolen bases, 28 walks, and 76 strikeouts over 104 career games (363 plate appearances). Defensively, the 5-foot-9, 185-pounder made 42 starts at first base and DH, along with two at second base. He also appeared in three games behind the plate, where he did not have an opportunity to throw out a base stealer, and nine on the mound, compiling a 3.60 ERA with one strikeout and no walks in 10 innings of relief.

With Portland last season, Ehrhard had the chance to play alongside his younger brother, Zach, before the latter was traded to the Dodgers in late July. The elder Ehrhard was also recognized as the Sea Dogs’ 2025 Charlie Eshbach Citizen of the Year for “displaying an even stronger testament to the impact that players can have on an organization both on and off the field.”

Ehrhard joins Charlie Madden as one of two bullpen catchers on the Red Sox’ coaching staff. Similar to Ehrhard, Madden — a former 24th-round draft pick out of Mercer in 2017 — played three seasons in the minor leagues before spending most of 2021 on Boston’s taxi squad. He was then brought on as a bullpen catcher following his release in March 2022.

(Picture of Drew Ehrhard: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Red Sox to promote OF prospect Zach Ehrhard to Double-A Portland

With Jhostynxon Garcia set to be promoted to Triple-A Worcester, the Red Sox are elevating fellow outfield prospect Zach Ehrhard from High-A Greenville to Double-A Portland, according to Andrew Parker of Beyond the Monster.

Ehrhard, 22, is currently regarded by SoxProspects.com as the No. 47 prospect in Boston’s farm system. The right-handed hitter batted .342/.471/.459 with 10 doubles, one home run, 22 RBIs, 24 runs scored, seven stolen bases, 26 walks, and 27 strikeouts in 31 games (140 plate appearances) for Greenville to begin the 2025 season. That includes a ridiculous .418/.484/.582 slash line this month.

Among qualified hitters in the South Atlantic League, Ehrhard ranks second in batting average, third in on-base percentage, sixth in walk rate (18.6 percent), seventh in OPS (.930), 11th in strikeout rate (19.3 percent), and 15th in slugging percentage, per MiLB.com’s leaderboards.

Defensively, Ehrhard saw playing time at all three outfield positions while with Greenville. The athletic 5-foot-10, 190-pounder logged 98 innings in left field, 86 1/3 innings in right field, and 52 innings in center field, committing zero errors and recording two assists (both from right) in 43 total chances. He also made four starts at DH.

A Florida native, Ehrhard was originally selected by the Red Sox in the 13th round of the 2021 draft out of Wharton High School in Tampa. Rather than go pro out of high school, he played collegiately at Oklahoma State for three seasons before re-entering the draft as a junior in 2024. He was then, once again, taken by the Red Sox, only this time in the fourth round (115th overall). As such, he signed for an under-slot $500,000 last July and made the jump straight to Greenville for his professional debut after putting pen to paper.

Though he struggled some in his first stint with the Drive (.459 OPS in 22 games) last year, Ehrhard has shown out of the gate this season why Baseball America tabbed him as the “best pure hitter” in Boston’s 2024 draft class. That superlative will surely be put to the test once he arrives in Portland to go up against more advanced competition at the Double-A level in the Eastern League. Still, this new challenge comes at an exciting and opportune time.

In being promoted, Ehrhard will join his older brother, Drew, on the Sea Dogs’ roster. Drew, 26, is in his third season with the Red Sox organization after signing as an undrafted free agent out of Division II Tampa in July 2023. The two brothers will now have the chance to be teammates and possibly share the same field again as soon as Tuesday, when Portland opens a six-game series against Reading at Hadlock Field.

“I would love that,” Zach said of the possibility of playing with Drew when speaking with MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith last week. “ We’ve already talked about it a bunch because we got to be on the same team in spring training a couple of times, and that was a lot of fun. So hopefully we get to do it again.”

(Picture of Zach Ehrhard: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)