Tag: farm system

Red Sox’ Second-Ranked Prospect Bobby Dalbec Crushes First Home Run for Triple-A Pawtucket

One day after outfield prospect Jarren Duran mashed his first home run for Double-A Portland on Thursday, Red Sox infield prospect did the same for Triple-A Pawtucket on Friday as part of a 3-for-4 night in a 7-6 loss to the Toledo Mud Hens.

Hitting out of the six-hole and starting at first base, the 24-year-old’s first International League homer came in the top half of the eighth inning, when with two outs and a runner at second following a Rusney Castillo RBI double, Dalbec took right-hander Austin Adams deep to center off a 1-2 fastball right down the heart of the plate.

That two-run blast cut the PawSox’s deficit down to 7-6, but that would go on to be Friday’s final score.

Ranked as the number-two prospect in Boston’s farm system behind only Triston Casas on MLB.com, Dalbec is slashing .391/.417/.565 with that one homer and two RBI over his first six Triple-A contests since being promoted from Double-A Portland on August 3rd.

He has started at both first and third base and has only hit out of the six-hole with the PawSox to this point.

Perhaps now that Dalbec has crushed his first Triple-A big fly, the home runs will start coming in bunches for the power-hitting prospect.

The International League is using the same balls Major League Baseball is using this season, so many expected that Dalbec’s offensive production would increase once he got the call up to Pawtucket.

 

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Milwaukee Brewers Call up Former Red Sox Prospect Mauricio Dubon

The Milwaukee Brewers recalled infielder Mauricio Dubon from Triple-A San Antonio earlier Sunday, meaning another former Red Sox prospect will be making his major league debut this season.

Dubon, 24, was selected by Boston in the 26th round of the 2013 amateur draft out of Capital Christian School in Sacramento, Ca.

In four minor league seasons across Boston’s farm system, the Honduras native rose to become the club’s 17th-ranked prospect before being part of the trade, along with Travis Shaw,  Josh Pennington, and Yeison Coca, that sent right-handed reliever Tyler Thornburg to the Red Sox in December of 2016.

Since then, Dubon has shined. That much is evident by his .307/.343/.491 slash line to go along with 14 home runs and 42 RBI over 82 games with Triple-A San Antonio in 2019.

Thornburg, meanwhile, has done quite the opposite, posting a 7.71 ERA and 5.34 xFIP through 16 appearances and 18 2/3 innings pitched with Boston this season.

Placed on the injured list with a right hip impingement on May 23 and sent out on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket on June 9th, the 30-year-old has surrendered 15 earned runs on 16 hits and eight walks over 9 2/3 innings and 10 total appearances. That’s good for an ERA of 13.97 and a batting average against of .340. Not great.

Per MassLive.com, Thornburg’s rehab assignment expires on July 8th, so the Red Sox will have to decide what actions to take with the reliever over the All-Star break. Whether its to add him back to the active roster or designate him for assignment has yet to be determined.

Red Sox Promote Seventh-Ranked Prospect Bryan Mata to Double-A Portland

For the second time in less than two weeks, the Red Sox have promoted a top right-handed pitching prospect within their organization, this time with right-hander Bryan Mata getting the call up from High-A Salem to Double-A Portland on Monday, per The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.

Mata, 20, is currently ranked as Boston’s seventh-best overall prospect and second among right-handed pitchers on MLB.com.

Signed as an international free agent as a 16-year-old out of Venezuela, Mata began the 2019 campaign with the High-A Salem Red Sox, where he posted a dazzling 1.75 ERA and .201 batting average against over 10 starts and 51 1/3 innings of work.

Selected as the Red Sox’ lone representative in the 2018 Futures Game in Washington D.C., Mata has done a great deal to cut down on walks since then.

In 72 full frames with Salem last year, the young hurler handed out 58 free passes, or averaged 7.25 per nine innings.

This year, in those aforementioned 51 1/3 innings pitched, Mata has allowed just 18 walks total, or 3.16 per nine.

According to his SoxProspects.com profile, Mata features a four-seam fastball that hovers between 94-96 MPH and tops out at 98 MPH, a slider/cutter hybrid he added this season that hovers around 86-90 MPH, a curveball that hovers between 78-80 MPH and has an 11-5 break, and a changeup that hovers between 84-86 MPH.

Mata will join fellow right-handed prospect Kutter Crawford (No. 19), who was promoted on June 21st, in Portland’s starting rotation and will also make his Eastern League debut in the second game of a doubleheader against the Trenton Thunder on Tuesday.

 

Red Sox Promote No. 19 Prospect Kutter Crawford to Double-A Portland

The Red Sox have promoted right-handed pitcher Kutter Crawford to Double-A Portland, per SoxProspects.com’s Chris Hatfield.

Crawford’s MiLB.com page appears to indicate the promotion as well.

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Ranked as Boston’s 19th best overall prospect and seventh among right-handed pitchers, Crawford put together a first half of the 2019 season worthy enough of a Carolina League All-Star bid with High-A Salem, where he posted a 3.39 ERA and .262 batting average to go along with 77 strikeouts and 30 walks over 14 starts and a total of 69 innings pitched.

A 16th-round selection out of Chris Sale’s Florida Gulf Coast University back in 2017, the 23-year-old’s pitch arsenal includes a 91-94 MPH fastball, an 85-87 MPH cutter, a 77-78 MPH curveball, and a changeup.

Per MLB.com’s and SoxProspects.com’s scouting reports, Crawford seems to best profile as an option out of the bullpen rather than the starting rotation once he hits his ceiling. There’s still plenty of time for the young righty to prove otherwise, though.

In other minor league promotion news, right-hander Thad Ward was promoted from Class-A Greenville to Salem to take Crawford’s spot on the Red Sox’ roster, while right-hander Eduard Bazardo was promoted from Salem to Portland after also being named a 2019 Carolina League All-Star.