Exactly four weeks after dealing right-hander Quinn Priester to the Brewers, the Red Sox completed their April 7 trade with Milwaukee by adding some minor-league pitching depth on Monday.
Holobetz, 22, was selected by the Brewers in the fifth round (156th overall) of last summer’s draft out of Old Dominion (where he primarily pitched out of the bullpen) by way of Radford. The Pennsylvania native signed with Milwaukee for an under-slot $322,500 but did not make his professional debut until this April. He posted a 3.00 ERA (2.48 FIP) with 31 strikeouts to five walks in five outings (three starts) spanning 24 innings for Low-A Carolina to begin the 2025 season. Opposing hitters batted just .180 against him.
Among 15 qualified Carolina League pitchers, Holobetz currently leads the pack in strikeout rate (31.3 percent), batting average against, WHIP (0.88), FIP, and xFIP (2.71). He also ranks second in strikeouts per nine innings (11.63), walks per nine innings (1.88), and walk rate (5.1 percent), and seventh in ERA, per FanGraphs.
Listed at 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, Holobetz throws from a three-quarters arm slot and puts a lot of effort into his delivery. At present, he features a 92-94 mph fastball that has reached 96 mph this season, an 83-86 mph slider, and a high-80s changeup. According to Holobetz’s Baseball America pre-draft scouting report, “scouts believe the changeup is his best pitch, a potential weapon, but his breaking ball is more of a work in progress. Despite his reliever history, he throws enough strikes to potentially start in pro ball.”
Holobetz, who turns 23 in late July, was initially assigned to Low-A Salem but will instead report to High-A Greenville to begin his career as a member of the Red Sox organization.
(Picture of John Holobetz: Old Dominion University Athletics)
The Red Sox acquired outfield prospect Yophery Rodriguez from the Brewers for right-hander Quinn Priester on Monday.
In addition to Rodriguez, Boston acquired a Competitive Balance Round A selection (33rd overall pick) in the 2025 draft and a player to be named later or cash considerations.
Shortly after signing, Rodriguez made a positive first impression in his professional debut. The left-handed hitter was recognized as a 2023 Dominican Summer League All-Star after batting .253/.393/.449 with 13 doubles, two triples, six home runs, 36 RBIs, 34 runs scored, 12 stolen bases, 41 walks, and 40 strikeouts in 52 games (224 plate appearances) for DSL Brewers 1.
Rodriguez made the jump stateside in 2024, with the Brewers aggressively having him skip the rookie-level Arizona Complex League and instead assigning him to Low-A Carolina out of spring training. As an 18-year-old all of last season, he slashed .250/.343/.383 with 23 doubles, six triples, seven home runs, 60 RBIs, 59 runs scored, seven stolen bases, 59 walks, and 115 strikeouts in 110 games (484 plate appearances) for the Mudcats.
Rodriguez broke camp with High-A Wisconsin this spring and had gotten his 2025 campaign off to a strong start, going 5-for-12 (.417) with one double, one triple, five runs scored, one walk, and three strikeouts in his first three games. The 6-foot-1, 185-pounder made three starts in center field for the Timber Rattlers and has made 138 starts there for his young career. He also has limited experience in the corners, with five starts in left field and eight starts in right field under his belt.
Per his Baseball America scouting report, Rodriguez “doesn’t have one spectacular tool, but he does a lot of things well. He’s a good fastball hitter with a smooth left-handed swing and his plate discipline is solid for his age, though he ran into trouble with more swing-and-miss against offspeed stuff. Rodriguez makes quality contact and shows flashes of what could be future average or better power.
“Rodriguez has good defensive instincts—especially on balls hit over his head—and an average arm, but he’s a solid-average runner, so he doesn’t have prototypical center field speed,” the report adds. “He projects to be a fringe-average defender in center field but more likely ends up in right field, where he should be an average to above defender.”
Rodriguez, who does not turn 20 until December, has been assigned to High-A Greenville and will presumably report to Boston’s South Atlantic League affiliate in the coming days. With the Drive, he is slated to join an outfield mix that includes the likes of Miguel Bleis, Zach Ehrhard, Kolby Johnson, and Nelly Taylor, among others.
(Picture of Yophery Rodriguez: Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
Alexander, who turns 31 on Friday, has one season of major-league experience under his belt after breaking in with the Brewers in 2022. In 18 appearances (11 starts) for Milwaukee, the righty posted a 5.40 ERA and 5.34 FIP with 46 strikeouts to 28 walks over 71 2/3 innings of work.
Not to be confused with the actor who played George Costanza in Seinfeld, this Jason Alexander is the younger brother of veteran reliever Scott Alexander. He originally went undrafted out of Menlo College (Atherton, Calif.) in 2017 and instead began his professional career by signing with the Angels that summer.
After nearly three years in the Angels organization, Alexander was cut loose by Los Angeles in June 2020. He then latched on with the Marlins the following April and pitched at three different levels in 2021 before joining the Brewers that November. He made his major-league debut in June 2022 as part of being called up by Milwaukee on three separate occasions that season.
Because of a strained right rotator cuff, Alexander opened the 2023 campaign on the 60-day injured list. He began rehabbing in the Arizona Complex League last June and worked his way back up to Triple-A Nashville prior to losing his spot on the Brewers’ 40-man roster in late July. He subsequently cleared outright waivers and spent the rest of the year with Milwaukee’s top affiliate, finishing with a 5.86 ERA in 16 outings (55 1/3 innings) for the Sounds before reaching free agency in November.
Standing at 6-foot-2 and 227 pounds, Alexander is known for his ability to keep the ball on the ground, as evidenced by his 46.1 percent groundball rate with Nashville last year. He could potentially provide the Red Sox with experienced rotational depth in Worcester alongside the likes of lefty Brandon Walter and righties Cooper Criswell, Richard Fitts, Grant Gambrell, and Brian Van Belle, among others.
Alexander also has plenty of experience when it comes to pitching out of the bullpen, so he could be utilized in a relief role as well. Regardless of how the Red Sox plan on using him, Alexander does have minor-league options remaining if he were to be added to the major-league roster at some point down the line.
(Picture of Jason Alexander: John Fisher/Getty Images)
The Red Sox rode a nine-run eighth inning to a series-clinching victory over the Brewers on Sunday afternoon. Boston capped off the first leg of its road trip by defeating Milwaukee by a final score of 12-5 at American Family Field to get back over .500 at 12-11 on the season.
With Corbin Burnes starting for the Brewers, the Sox drew first blood in their half of the first inning. Alex Verdugo led off with a single and went from first to third on a Justin Turner base hit that was aided by a Bryce Perkins fielding error in right field. Masataka Yoshida then got his productive day at the plate started by driving in Verdugo on a sacrifice fly.
An inning later, Triston Casas drew a leadoff walk off Burnes and Jarren Duran followed with a single. A successful bunt single from Connor Wong then filled the bases with one out for Verdugo, who worked a six-pitch walk to bring in casas. With the bases re-loaded, Rafael Devers made it a 3-0 game by plating Duran on a sacrifice fly to right field.
Brayan Bello, meanwhile, was making his second start of the season for Boston. The young right-hander made relatively quick work of Milwaukee through the first three innings of Sunday’s contest before running into some trouble in the fourth.
After punching out Rowdy Tellez, Bello served up an opposite field home run to Brian Anderson to get the Brewers on the board. In the fifth, Joey Wiemer led off with a double and moved up to third on a sacrifice bunt before cutting the deficit to one by scoring on a Christian Yelich RBI single. Yelich then went from first to third before coming into score on a game-tying sacrifice fly from Willy Adames.
Adames was the last batter Bello faced. The 23-year-old hurler finished with 82 pitches (52 strikes) and induced 12 swings-and-misses in the process of lowering his ERA on the season to 9.82. Richard Bleier received the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen in relief of Bello. The lefty fanned Tellez to end things in the fifth and then worked his way around a leadoff walk in a scoreless sixth inning.
Kaleb Ort took over for Bleier in the seventh and had a difficult time finding the strike zone. The hard-throwing righty put runners on the corners with one out on a pair of walks and a sacrifice bunt. He then spiked a wild pitch while Jesse Winker was up to bat. As a result, Wiemer came in to score the go-ahead run, thus giving the Brewers their first lead of the day at 4-3.
Despite only throwing 10 of his 26 pitches for strikes, Ort avoided any further damage in the seventh by retiring Adames and Tellez. The Red Sox, in turn, wasted no time in re-taking the lead in their half of the eighth as reliever Matt Bush entered the game for the Brewers.
Turner greeted Bush by crushing a game-tying, 388-foot solo shot to left field on the second pitch he saw. Moments later, Yoshida went back-to-back with Turner by clubbing a go-ahead home run 374 feet into the right field seats. An Enrique Hernandez double and one-out walk from Duran knocked Bush out of the game and brought Javy Guerra in.
Duran promptly stole second base before both he and Hernandez scored on a 104.4 mph two-run single from Wong. Following a Yu Chang single and intentional walk of Devers, Turner took ball four with the bases loaded to bring Yoshida to the plate yet again.
Yoshida took full advantage of the opportunity by going deep for the second time in the same inning. The left-handed hitter unloaded on an 0-2, 84.5 mph slider on the inner half of the plate from Guerra and deposited it 407 feet into the second deck in right field for his first career grand slam. Yoshida’s second big fly of the eighth (and third of the season) capped off a nine-run frame and put Boston up, 12-4.
From there, John Schreiber served up another home run to Anderson in the bottom of the eighth before Ryan Brasier retired the side in order in the ninth to end it. With the win, the Red Sox have now won three series in a row and are 7-3 in their last 10 games.
Yoshida makes some history
Masataka Yoshida became the first Red Sox player to homer twice in the same inning since David Ortiz did it in August 2008. Prior to Ortiz, only three players in team history (Nomar Garciaparra in 2002, Ellis Burks in 1990, and Bill Regan in 1928) had accomplished the feat, according to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.
All told, Yoshida went 2-for-4 with the two home runs, six RBIs, and two runs scored on Sunday.
Next up: Sale vs. Kremer
The Red Sox will open a three-game series against the 14-7 Orioles in Baltimore on Monday night. Left-hander Chris Sale will get the ball for Boston in the opener opposite right-hander Dean Kremer.
First pitch from Orioles Park at Camden Yards is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.
(Picture of Masataka Yoshida: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
The Red Six threatened late, but they could not come through with another come-from-behind win over the Brewers on Saturday night. Boston instead fell to Milwaukee by a final score of 5-4 at American Family Field to drop back to .500 on the season at 11-11.
Garrett Whitlock, making his third start of the year for the Sox, took a step backwards after tossing seven innings of one-run ball against the Angels last Sunday. This time around against the Brewers, the right-hander allowed five earned runs on eight hits, one walk, and one hit batsman to go along with just one strikeout over four-plus innings of work.
Milwaukee first got to Whitlock in the bottom of the second. William Contreras led off with a double and quickly came into score the first run of the game on a blooper of a ground-rule double off the bat of Brian Anderson. An inning later, with two outs Christian Yelich already on base, Whitlock served up a 412-foot two-run blast to noted Red Sox killer Rowdy Tellez.
Tellez’ second homer of the series and 14th in 37 career games against the Red Sox gave the Brewers an early 3-0 lead. It took until the top of the fifth inning for the Boston bats to respond.
After getting shut out by old friend Wade Miley for four innings, Christian Arroyo reached on a one-out single. Two batters later, Yu Chang continued his power surge by taking the lefty 399 feet deep to left field to cut the deficit to one at 3-2. Chang’s third home run (and fourth hit) of the season left his bat at a blistering 107.3 mph.
It did not take the Brewers long to retaliate, however. In the bottom of the fifth, Blake Perkins led off with a single and promptly scored all the way from first on a line-drive RBI double from Yelich that sailed over the head of center fielder Enrique Hernandez. Whitlock then plunked Jesse Winker and gave up a single to Willy Adames to fill the bases with no outs.
Having already thrown 81 pitches (54 strikes), Whitlock was given the hook by Red Sox manager Alex Cora in favor of Richard Bleier. Bleier, in turn, officially closed the book on the 26-year-old’s night by allowing one of the runners he inherited to score when he got Tellez to ground into a 3-6-1 double play. But the left-hander avoided any further damage and kept the Brewers at five runs by getting Contreras to ground out to end the fifth.
Another old friend, Joel Payamps, took over for Miley in the sixth. Justin Turner led off with a single and remained at first after the pinch-hitting Jarren Duran struck out. Rafael Devers then unloaded on a 3-2, 93.2 mph fastball at the top of the zone and deposited it 416 feet into the right field seats for his eighth big fly of the year already.
Devers’ 110 mph laser brought Boston back to within one run of Milwaukee at 5-4. After John Schreiber and Kutter Crawford put up zeroes in the sixth and seventh innings, the Sox threatened again in the eighth when Turner laced a one-out double. But Turner was stranded at second as newly-inserted Brewers reliever Hoby Milner (a lefty) fanned both Duran and Devers to escape the jam.
Crawford retired the side in the bottom of the eighth, taking the Red Sox down to their final three outs in the ninth. Masataka Yoshida made it somewhat interesting by reaching on a one-out single off Devin Williams, but the Brewers closer rebounded and sat down both Raimel Tapia and Reese McGuire to end it.
All told, the Red Sox went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left four runners on base as a team. Whitlock was charged with the loss and now carries a 6.19 ERA through his first three starts. Turner, Devers, and Yoshida accounted for six of Boston’s eight hits.
More history for Devers
With his sixth-inning homer, Rafael Devers became just the third Red Sox player to have eight-plus home runs and 20-plus RBIs in the team’s first 22 games since the turn of the century. Carl Everett accomplished the feat in 2000 and Hanley Ramirez was previously the last to do it in 2015.
McGuire’s X-rays come back negative
Reese McGuire, who pinch-hit for starting catcher Connor Wong in the seventh inning, took a foul ball off his throwing hand in the bottom of the eighth. He was able to stay in the game, but was clearly in discomfort as he had issues throwing the ball back to Kutter Crawford.
Following the loss, McGuire had X-rays taken on his right hand. Fortunately for him, those X-rays came back negative.
Next up: Bello vs. Burnes in rubber match
The Red Sox still have a chance to take this three-game series from the Brewers on Sunday afternoon. Brayan Bello will get the start for Boston in the rubber match opposite fellow righty Corbin Burnes for Milwaukee.
First pitch from American Family Field is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN+.
(Picture of Rafael Devers: John Fisher/Getty Images)
Playing at American Family Field for the first time since 2017, the Red Sox kicked off their road trip with a series-opening win over the Brewers. Boston defeated Milwaukee by a final score of 5-3 on Friday night to get back over .500 and improve to 11-10 on the season.
Matched up against Freddy Peralta out of the gate, the Sox drew first blood against the Brewers in their half of the third inning. Jarren Duran led off with a hard-hit single and advanced to second on a successful sacrifice bunt from Yu Chang. As the lineup flipped over, Alex Verdugo delivered with a 366-foot two-run home run down the right field line.
Verdugo’s third homer of the season — and second in as many days — had an exit velocity of 98.3 mph. It also gave his side an early 2-0 lead as Nick Pivetta was in the midst of his fourth start of the year for Boston.
After stranding one runner, who Reese McGuire helped pick off, in the first and putting up another zero in the second, Pivetta ran into some trouble in the bottom of the third. There, the right-hander gave up a one-out single to Owen Miller, who stole second base and came into score from second on a two-out RBI single off the bat of Christian Yelich.
Milwaukee then leapfrogged Boston in the fourth. With one out in the inning, Pivetta served up a game-tying solo shot to noted Red Sox nemesis Rowdy Tellez. William Contreras followed by making some more hard contact in the form of a line-drive double. Two batters later, Brice Turang provided the Brewers with their first lead of the night by plating Contreras on a groundball single through the right side of the infield.
Despite falling behind, 3-2, the Sox were able to respond in the top of the sixth. Enrique Hernandez and Triston Casas drew back-to-back two-out walks to knock Peralta out of the game. With left-handed reliever Hoby Milner set to take over for the Brewers, Red Sox manager Alex Cora dipped into his bench by having the right-handed hitting Rob Refsnyder pinch-hit for McGuire, a left-handed hitter
Refsnyder made the most of the opportunity, as he greeted Milner by lofting a game-tying single to right field. Hernandez came into score from second to knot things up at three runs apiece. Moments later, Duran broke the tie by driving in Casas on a 100.4 mph liner that could not be handled cleanly by Miller.
As a result, the Red Sox went up, 4-3, going into the latter half of the sixth. Pivetta then recorded the first two outs of the inning before issuing a four-pitch walk to Brian Anderson, which marked the end of his night. The 30-year-old hurler wound up allowing just the three earned runs on seven hits and one walk to go along with seven strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings of work. He finished with exactly 100 pitches (65 strikes) and induced 12 swings-and-misses before ultimately picking up his first winning decision of the year.
In relief of Pivetta, Josh Winckowcki received the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen from Cora. The righty stranded the lone runner he inherited in the sixth by getting Turang to fly out to left fielder Masataka Yoshida. A half-inning later, Yoshida provided Boston with an important insurance run by pushing across Justin Turner on a 107.3 mph RBI double off Bryse Wilson.
Yoshida’s clutch two-base hit gave the Red Sox a 5-3 lead at stretch time. Winckowski picked up where he left off by tossing a 1-2-3 seventh inning. The Brewers threatened in the eighth when Tellez drew a two-out walk and Contreras followed with a single to put runners on the corners, but Winckowski did not falter. Instead, he fanned Anderson on a 95.1 mph fastball to escape the jam.
That paved the way for Kenley Jansen to enter in the ninth. The veteran closer made quick work of the Brewers, punching out two and getting Joey Wiemer to pop out into foul territory to notch his fifth save of the season and secure the 5-3 victory.
Next up: Whitlock vs. Miley
Winners of six of their last eight games, the Red Sox will look to take this series from the Brewers on Saturday night. Right-hander Garrett Whitlock is slated to take the mound for Boston while former Sox left-hander Wade Miley is expected to do the same for Milwaukee.
First pitch from American Family Field is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.
(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Larry Radloff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The Red Sox have acquired veteran outfielder Abraham Almonte from the Brewers in exchange for cash considerations, per the club’s transactions log.
Almonte, 33, should provide the Sox with experienced outfield depth at Triple-A Worcester. The WooSox were likely in need of some outfield help anyway with Jaylin Davis, Jarren Duran, and Rob Refsnyder all currently up in Boston.
A veteran of nine major-league seasons who appeared in 64 games for the World Series champion Atlanta Braves in 2021, Almonte signed a minor-league contract with Milwaukee last October.
After failing to make the Brewers’ Opening Day roster out of spring training, Almonte began the 2022 season at Triple-A Nashville. In 48 games with the Sounds, the switch-handed hitter batted .294/.380/.533 to go along with 11 doubles, 11 home runs, 42 RBIs, 36 runs scored, one stolen base, 25 walks, and 48 strikeouts across 213 trips to the plate.
Listed at 5-foot-10 and 223 pounds, Almonte originally signed with the Yankees as an international free-agent coming out of the Dominican Republic in 2005. The Santo Domingo native broke in with the Mariners in 2013 and has since played for the the Padres, Guardians, Royals, Diamondbacks, and Braves.
At the big-league level, Almonte owns a career slash line of .234/.302/.374 with 23 home runs, 116 RBIs, and 26 stolen bases over 440 total games. Defensively, Almonte unsurprisingly has experience at all three outfield positions. The majority of his playing time in the majors has come in center, though he had only played the corners while in Nashville this season.
Red Sox infield prospect David Hamilton made quite the first impression in his organizational debut for Double-A Portland on Friday night.
Batting leadoff and starting at second base in Portland’s opener against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats at Hadlock Field, Hamilton went 4-for-5 with a triple, two home runs, seven RBIs, three runs scored, and one stolen base while leading the Sea Dogs to a commanding 11-6 victory.
Matched up against Fisher Cats starter Elvis Luciano to begin things on Friday, Hamilton got his productive night at the plate started by ripping a leadoff triple to right field and scoring on an RBI double off the bat of Izzy Wilson.
— Portland Sea Dogs (@PortlandSeaDogs) April 8, 2022
An inning later, Hamilton followed up a leadoff double from Kole Cottam by taking Luciano deep to right field for a two-run home run and his first big fly of the young season.
And now Hamilton shows off his power with a home run! Through two innings he has a triple and a HR. Sea Dogs lead 6-1. pic.twitter.com/pZBiyipzJM
— Portland Sea Dogs (@PortlandSeaDogs) April 8, 2022
In the third, Hamilton came through with runners on second and third base and greeted new Fisher cats reliever Parker Caracci by lacing a run-scoring single to right field that plated Hudson Potts and gave the Sea Dogs a 7-1 lead.
After Tyreque Reed, Potts, and Cottam loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth, Hamilton took a 1-1 pitch from right-hander Joey Murray and proceeded to deposit a bases-clearing grand slam into Portland’s bullpen in right field.
What a game for David Hamilton! His Grand Slam gives the Sea Dogs an 11-1 lead in the fourth. Hamilton is 4-for-4 with a triple, 2 HR, 7 RBI! pic.twitter.com/in8KWGJyn3
— Portland Sea Dogs (@PortlandSeaDogs) April 8, 2022
Hamilton’s second homer of the contest put the Sea Dogs up 11-1. It was also the last time on the night Hamilton reached base, as he came up short of completing the cycle by flying out to right field in his final at-bat in the bottom of the sixth.
Hamilton, 24, comes into the 2022 season ranked by Baseball America as the No. 25 prospect in the Boston’s farm system. The Red Sox acquired Hamilton, fellow prospect Alex Binelas, and Jackie Bradley Jr. from the Brewers in the trade that sent Hunter Renfroe to Milwaukee last December.
A former eighth-round draft pick of the Brewers coming out of the University of Texas in 2019, Hamilton missed the entirety of the 2019 minor-league season while recovering from a ruptured Achilles and the entirety of the 2020 minor-league season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The speedy left-handed hitter finally made his professional debut last year and impressed, slashing .258/.341/.419 (110 wRC+) with 48 extra-base hits (eight home runs), 43 RBIs, and 52 stolen bases across 101 games (459 plate appearances) between High-A Wisconsin and Double-A Biloxi. He also participated in the Arizona Fall League and posted a .916 OPS in 14 games (53 plate appearances) with the Salt River Rafters.
Defensively, Hamilton is well-regarded for his skills as a middle infielder. In 2021, the 6-foot, 175 pounder logged 746 2/3 innings at shortstop and 112 2/3 innings at second base. He figures to see time at both positions with Portland in 2022.
Hamilton, who turns 25 in September, can become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft for the first time in his career this December. The Red Sox would need to add the native Texan to their 40-man roster between now and late November if they wish to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.
With that being said, the 2022 campaign should prove to be an important one for Hamilton. He certainly did not waste any time in getting things off to a hot start on Friday.
(Picture of David Hamilton: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
Alex Binelas enters his first season with the Red Sox as the organization’s No. 17 prospect, according to Baseball America’s rankings.
After being selected by the Brewers in the third round of last year’s draft out of the University of Louisville, Binelas’ time with his hometown team came to an abrupt end when he (and fellow prospect David Hamilton) was traded to the Red Sox alongside outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. for Hunter Renfroe in early December.
It was a move that evoked plenty of emotion for Binelas, a Wisconsin native who grew up in the suburbs of Milwaukee and less than 20 miles away from American Family Field.
When he was taken by the Brewers last July, Binelas had just recently wrapped up his third and final season with Louisville. In 50 games with the Cardinals, the 21-year-old junior slashed .256/.348/.621 with 19 home runs and 63 RBIs across 230 trips to the plate.
Regarded by Baseball America as the 77th-ranked draft-eligible prospect in the 2021 class, Binelas signed with Milwaukee for $700,000 and was assigned to the rookie-level Arizona Complex League Brewers Gold out of the gate. It took all of seven games for the left-handed hitting infielder to earn a promotion to Low-A Carolina on August 16.
Spending the rest of his debut season with the Mudcats, Binelas batted a stout .314/.379/.636 to go along with 11 doubles, nine homers, 27 RBIs, 29 runs scored, 12 walks, and 33 strikeouts over 29 games spanning 132 plate appearances.
Among all Low-A East hitters who made at least 130 trips to the plate in 2021, Binelas ranked ninth in batting average, 35th in on-base percentage, fourth in slugging percentage, fifth in OPS (1.014), third in isolated power (.322), and fifth in wRC+ (163), per FanGraphs.
Defensively, Binelas saw time at both corner infield positions in his first exposure to pro ball, as was the case throughout his college career. With Carolina in particular, the 6-foot-3, 225 pounder logged a total of 42 2/3 innings at first base and 167 innings at the hot corner.
Since he was unaffected by this off-season’s lockout, Binelas was one of several Red Sox minor-leaguers who participated in the team’s Winter Warm-Up program back in January. Spring training began shortly thereafter, allowing Binelas to see some action in one Grapefruit League game thus far.
Binelas, who turns 22 in May, is projected by SoxProspects.com to make the jump to High-A Greenville for the start of the 2022 campaign. His first full season as a professional should be one worth watching.
Red Sox infield prospect David Hamilton returned to his alma mater and played in the University of Texas’ alumni game over the weekend. He went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored on Saturday while propelling the Texas Exes to an 8-6 victory in Austin.
Hamilton, 24, was one of two prospects the Red Sox acquired from the Brewers in the shocking trade that sent Hunter Renfroe to Milwaukee and Jackie Bradley Jr. back to Boston in December.
Along with fellow infielder Alex Binelas, Hamilton led the Sox to believe that they were adding a pair of intriguing minor-leaguers who had plenty to offer to their new organization.
“David Hamilton has premium speed and he’s a really good middle infielder,” chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said said at the time the trade was made. “Plays a good shortstop. Interesting trajectory. High-touted high school player who went to the University of Texas. Had a tough injury and recovered from it, and kept his speed. He has great speed and athleticism and is a very exciting player to add to our system.”
Originally selected by the Brewers in the eighth round of the 2019 amateur draft out of Texas, Hamilton entered the professional ranks having missed the entirety of his junior season due to a ruptured Achilles suffered in a scooter accident earlier that year.
The former Longhorn missed the remainder of the 2019 season while recovering from that Achilles injury, then fell victim to the fact that the 2020 minor-league season was ultimately cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although Hamilton was unable to play affiliated ball in 2020, he did spend time with a team in the independent Constellation Energy League that was coached by Roger Clemens. He was able to use his experience there to impress at the Brewers’ fall instructional league and gain momentum heading into 2021.
After breaking minor-league camp with the High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in the spring, Hamilton made his long-awaited pro debut on May 4. From there, the left-handed hitter batted .263/.351/.422 (114 wRC+) with 14 doubles, seven triples, five home runs, 31 RBIs, 50 runs scored, 41 stolen bases, 35 walks, and 58 strikeouts over 68 games (309 plate appearances) for the Timber Rattlers.
On August 3, the Brewers promoted Hamilton to Double-A Biloxi. With the Shuckers, the speedy middle infielder slashed .248/.322/.414 (104 wRC+) to go along with five doubles, four triples, three homers, 12 RBIs, 16 runs scored, 11 stolen bases, 15 walks, and 32 strikeouts across 33 games spanning 150 trips to the plate.
Among all qualified minor-league hitters last season, Hamilton ranked fifth in total triples (11), sixth in total stolen bases (52), 25th in speed score (8.9), and seventh in weighted stolen base runs (5.8), per FanGraphs.
Upon completing the conventional minor-league season with Biloxi, Hamilton headed out west to suit up for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, where he hit an impressive .293/.453/.463 in 14 games while swiping four additional bags.
Defensively, Hamilton was drafted and signed out of Texas as a shortstop. Last year, however, the 5-foot-10, 175 pounder saw time at both shortstop and second base. He logged 112 2/3 innings at second and a much more substantial 746 2/3 innings at short between High-A and Double-A before logging 59 innings at second and 38 innings at short in Arizona.
A native of San Marcos, Hamilton was regarded by Baseball America as the No. 15 prospect in Milwaukee’s farm system at the time the Red Sox acquired him from the Brewers. He, like Binelas, was one of 28 minor-leaguers who participated in the Sox’ Winter Warm-Up program in Fort Myers last month.
The weeklong minicamp gave Red Sox brass an opportunity to see Binelas and Hamilton in-person for the first time, and it is safe to say they liked what they saw from both prospects and are excited about what is to come.
“I think somewhat different dynamic between Hamilton — more of a speed guy, more of a middle infield threat — “whereas Binelas is more of a power-orientated corner bat,” said director of player development Brian Abraham. “But I think from the short time we’ve seen them, the physicality we’ve seen even out of both them has been exciting to see. They seem like great kids and very excited about coming here to camp.”
As for Hamilton, who does not turn 25 until September, he is projected by SoxProspects.com to begin the 2022 minor-league season with Double-A Portland.
With the Sea Dogs, it seems likely that Hamilton will be used in a variety of ways around the infield since the Red Sox view him as a versatile player. That being said, the speedster can become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft for the first time in his career later this year, so he would need to be added to Boston’s 40-man roster by the November deadline if the club wants to prevent that from happening.
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