After earning 2023 Florida Complex League All-Star honors, outfield prospect Natanael Yuten hit more triples than any other Red Sox minor-leaguer in 2024.
Yuten, who turned 20 in October, spent the entirety of his age-19 campaign at Low-A Salem, where he got into 18 games towards the end of last season. In 101 games this year, the left-handed hitter batted .243/.304/.380 with 20 doubles, an organizational-leading seven triples, six home runs (including an inside-the-parker), a team-high 50 RBIs, 39 runs scored, 12 stolen bases, 30 walks, and 105 strikeouts over 418 plate appearances for Boston’s Carolina League affiliate.
While a .684 OPS on the season is far from eye-popping, it is worth noting that Yuten slashed a more respectable .287/.338/.402 with 10 doubles and 16 RBIs in his final 33 games (133 plate appearances) from July 20 through September 7. He also produced better results against left-handed pitching (.278/.365/.519 line in 63 plate appearances) than against right-handed pitching (.237/.293/.357 line in 355 plate appearances).
Of the 26 Carolina League hitters who made at least 400 trips to the plate in 2024, Yuten ranked eighth in isolated power (.137), 10th in slugging percentage, 11th in batting average, and 13th in OPS, per FanGraphs.
On the other side of the ball, Yuten saw an almost equal amount of playing time at both corner outfield spots for Salem. Across 404 2/3 innings in left field, the lean 6-foot-3, 143-pounder recorded one assist and committed four errors in 68 defensive chances. Across 419 innings in right field, he recorded four assists and committed one error in 96 defensive chances. He also started seven games at DH without seeing any time in center field for the first time in his young career.
Yuten, who hails from the Dominican Republic, originally signed with the Red Sox for $400,000 as an international free agent in January 2022. The La Romana native spent some time on SoxProspects.com’s Top 60 list earlier this season but is not currently regarded as one of the premier prospects in Boston’s farm system.
To that end, Yuten — should he remain with the organization through the winter — is projected by SoxProspects.com to return to Salem out of the gate in 2025. With that being said, it would not be terribly surprising if he received an early-season promotion to High-A Greenville in that scenario since he already has close to 500 career plate appearances at the Low-A level under his belt.
(Picture of Natanael Yuten: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)
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