Tag: player of the week

Red Sox’ Kristian Campbell named Eastern League Player of the Week for second time this season

Rising Red Sox prospect Kristian Campbell has been named the Eastern League Player of the Week for the week of August 5-11, Minor League Baseball announced on Monday.

Campbell takes home the honor for the second time this season after first doing so for Double-A Portland in mid-June. In the Sea Dogs’ most recent series against the Altoona Curve last week, the right-handed hitting 22-year-old went 8-for-18 (.444) with three home runs, five RBIs, six runs scored, five stolen bases, six walks, and three strikeouts over 25 plate appearances.

After reaching base six times through the first two games of the six-game set at Hadlock Field, Campbell got Thursday off. He then homered in three straight games over the weekend and is now riding a nine-game hitting streak as well as a 26-game hitting streak.

Since being promoted from High-A Greenville on June 4, Campbell has batted a stout .380/.484/.592 with 16 doubles, one triple, seven home runs, 32 RBIs, 43 runs scored, 17 stolen bases, 32 walks, and 33 strikeouts in 49 games (223 plate appearances) for Portland. Among the 98 hitters who have made at least 220 trips to the plate in the Eastern League this season, Campbell leads the pack in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS (1.077), line-drive rate (31.5 percent), and wRC+ (203). He also ranks fifth in swinging-strike rate (7.1 percent) and seventh in walk rate (14.3 percent), strikeout rate (14.8 percent), and isolated power (.212), per FanGraphs.

Defensively, Campbell has seen playing time at four different positions for the Sea Dogs so far this year. The versatile 6-foot-3, 191-pounder has logged 160 2/3 innings at shortstop, 131 innings at second base, 83 innings in center field, and nine innings at third base. He has also made five starts at DH.

Campbell, who turned 22 in June, was selected by the Red Sox with the 132nd overall pick of last year’s draft out of Georgia Tech. That is the same pick the club received as compensation for losing Xander Bogaerts to the Padres in free agency the previous winter.

A native of Georgia himself, Campbell signed with the Red Sox for $492,700, made his professional debut in the Florida Complex League, and then helped Greenville win its second South Atlantic League title before the 2023 campaign drew to a close. Just over a year since entering the pro ranks, Campbell is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 5 prospect in Boston’s farm system and the No. 98 prospect in the sport.

With the recent promotions of Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, and Kyle Teel, Campbell is now the highest-ranked Red Sox prospect on Portland’s roster. With that, it should be worthwhile to see if he can keep this level of production up and possibly reunite with The Big Three in Worcester before the end of the season.

(Picture of Kristian Campbell: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox prospect Frederik Jimenez named Florida Complex League Player of the Week

Red Sox first base prospect Frederik Jimenez has been named the Florida Complex League Player of the Week for the week of July 22-28, Minor League Baseball announced on Monday.

In three games for the rookie-level FCL Red Sox last week, Jimenez went 4-for-9 (.444) with two doubles, one triple, one home run, three RBIs, two runs scored, two walks, and one strikeout. The switch-hitting 19-year-old homered and doubled twice on Monday, drew two walks on Tuesday, and tripled in Thursday’s regular-season finale against the FCL Rays at JetBlue Park.

On the 2024 campaign as a whole, Jimenez batted .308/.404/.500 with five doubles, two triples, two home runs, 17 RBIs, 18 runs scored, six stolen bases, 12 walks, and 22 strikeouts in 29 games (94 plate appearances) for the FCL Red Sox. Among the 154 FCL hitters who made at least 90 trips to the plate in 2024, Jimenez ranked 17th in batting average, 34th in on-base percentage, 13th in slugging percentage and isolated power (.192), 18th in OPS (.904), and 20th in wRC+ (142), per FanGraphs.

Defensively, Jimenez saw the majority of his playing time this season come at first base. The 6-foot-3, 178-pounder logged 133 innings at first, committing one error in 121 chances. He also appeared in one game as a catcher after making eight starts behind the plate as part of his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League last year.

A native of the Dominican Republic himself, Jimenez signed with the Red Sox for $10,000 as an international free agent coming out of Sabana Grande de Boya in December 2022. He is not currently ranked among the top 60 prospects in Boston’s farm system by SoxProspects.com.

It remains to be seen if Jimenez, who turns 20 in November, will be making the jump to Low-A Salem before the end of the minor-league season. Assuming he remains in the organization through the winter, that is likely where he will be for the start of 2025.

(Picture of Frederik Jimenez: Bryan Green/Flickr)

Red Sox’ Franklin Arias named Florida Complex League Player of the Week

Red Sox infield prospect Franklin Arias has been named the Florida Complex League Player of the Week for the week of June 24-30, Minor League Baseball announced on Monday.

Arias went 7-for-15 (.467) with three doubles, one home run, six RBIs, four runs scored, five stolen bases, three walks, and three strikeouts in five games for the FCL Red Sox last week. The 18-year-old then went 4-for-7 (.571) with two doubles, one RBI, three runs scored, one stolen base, one walk, and one strikeout between Games 1 and 2 of Monday’s doubleheader against the FCL Braves at the JetBlue Park complex in Fort Myers.

Following Monday’s performance, Arias is now batting a stout .308/.432/.513 with 13 doubles, one triple, three home runs, 20 RBIs, 26 runs scored, 17 stolen bases, 23 walks, and 31 strikeouts in 35 games (146 plate appearances) for the FCL Red Sox after a relatively slow start to the season. The right-handed hitter leads Boston’s rookie-level affiliate in doubles, runs scored, stolen bases, extra-base hits (17), and total bases (60), per MiLB.com.

Defensively, Arias has seen all of his playing time on the field this season come at either shortstop or second base. The projectable 5-foot-11, 170-pounder has made 23 starts at short, where he has committed five errors in 98 chances, and eight at second, where he has yet to commit an error. He has also served as the FCL Red Sox’ designated hitter three times, including Game 2 of Monday’s twin bill.

Arias is currently regarded by both Baseball America and SoxProspects.com as the No. 21 prospect in Boston’s farm system. The native Venezuelan originally signed with the Red Sox for $525,000 as an international free agent coming out of Caracas in January 2023. He made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League last June and slashed .350/.440/.453 over 37 games while impressing with his defense.

Arias, who does not turn 19 until November, is the second member of this year’s FCL Red Sox to earn Player of the Week honors, joining fellow infielder and 2023 signee Yoeilin Cespedes (June 3-9). Cespedes has since received a promotion to Low-A Salem but has yet to appear in a game there due to left-hand soreness, according to SoxProspects.com Chris Hatfield.

As part of a new scheduling quirk, the 2024 Florida Complex League regular season will end on July 25. Barring a trade or other sort of surprise, it seems more likely than not that Arias will be joining Cespedes in Salem before the end of the summer.

(Picture of Franklin Arias: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Red Sox power-hitting prospect Cutter Coffey earns South Atlantic League Player of the Week honors

Red Sox power-hitting prospect Cutter Coffey has been named the South Atlantic League Player of the Week for the week of June 10-16, Minor League Baseball announced on Monday.

Coffey put on quite the power display in High-A Greenville’s last series against the Asheville Tourists at Fluor Field. The right-handed hitting infielder went 8-for-19 (.421) with one double, six home runs, 15 RBIs, eight runs scored, five walks, and just one strikeout.

After going deep in Hickory last Sunday, Coffey homered in all five games he appeared in this past week. The 20-year-old slugger clubbed solo shots on Tuesday and Wednesday, a three-run blast on Thursday, a grand slam and another three-run homer on Friday, and a two-run bomb on Saturday before getting Sunday’s series finale off.

With his grand slam on Friday, Coffey became the first player in Greenville Drive history to hit a home run in five consecutive games. His three-run home run later that night helped him notch the first multi-homer game of his professional career.

Since returning from Greenville’s 7-day injured list on May 22, Coffey has batted .240/.337/.627 with two doubles, nine home runs, 24 RBIs, 13 runs scored, one stolen base, 10 walks, and 17 strikeouts in his last 19 games (86 plate appearances). On the 2024season as a whole, he has slashed .232/.313/.507 with six doubles, 11 homers, 33 runs driven in, 26 runs scored, four stolen bases, 15 walks, and 37 strikeouts over 35 games (160 plate appearances) for the Drive.

Among 83 hitters in the South Atlantic League who have made at least 160 trips to the plate to this point in the year, Coffey ranks 10th in slugging percentage, 17th in OPS (.820), second in isolated power (.275), 15th in swinging-strike rate (9.2 percent), and 20th in wRC+ (122), per FanGraphs.

On the other side of the ball, Coffey has seen playing time at every infield position besides first base for Greenville this season. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder has logged 140 1/3 innings at third base, 113 innings at shortstop, and 17 innings at second base, committing 13 errors in 91 total defensive chances. He has also started four games as the Drive’s designated hitter.

Coffey, who just turned 20 last month, is currently ranked by SoxProspects.com as the No. 35 prospect in Boston’s farm system. The California native was originally selected by the Red Sox with the 41st overall pick in the 2022 amateur draft out of Liberty High School in Bakersfield. He signed with the club for $1.85 million and forwent his commitment to the University of Texas by doing so.

After making his professional debut in the Florida Complex League that summer, Coffey spent the first four months of the 2023 campaign with Low-A Salem before first arriving in Greenville last August. He has since hit .202/.293/.399 in 53 games (239 plate appearances) with the Drive, though the results as of late have certainly been more encouraging.

Coffey is the second member of the Drive to earn South Atlantic League Player of the Week honors this season, joining fellow infielder Tyler Miller (April 22-28). On the flip side, right-hander Juan Daniel Encarnacion was named South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Week for the week of May 6-12.

Miller and Encarnacion have since been promoted to Double-A Portland. As such, it will be interesting to see if Coffey joins them on the Sea Dogs before the season draws to a close.

(Picture of Cutter Coffey: Gwinn Davis/Greenville Drive)

Red Sox’ Kristian Campbell named Eastern League Player of the Week

Rising Red Sox prospect Kristian Campbell has been named the Eastern League Player of the Week for the week of June 10-16, Minor League Baseball announced on Monday.

Campbell enjoyed a productive week in Double-A Portland’s series against the Reading Fightin Phils. Appearing in all six games at FirstEnergyStadium, Campbell went 12-for-28 (.429) with four doubles, two home runs, seven RBIs, nine runs scored, one stolen base, one walk, and eight strikeouts.

After collecting six hits in the first two games of the series, Campbell went 0-for-5 on Thursday to snap a nine-game hitting streak. He then went deep twice on Friday to mark the first multi-homer game of his professional career and closed out the weekend by stroking three more hits on Sunday.

Since being promoted on June 4, Campbell has batted .392/.456/.667 with six doubles, one triple, two home runs, 10 runs driven in, 13 runs scored, two stolen bases, five walks, and 10 strikeouts in his first 12 games (57 plate appearances) with Portland. This comes after he slashed .306/.418/.558 with 13 doubles, eight homers, 25 RBIs, 29 runs scored, three stolen bases, 26 walks, and 47 strikeouts in 40 games (177 plate appearances) with Greenville to begin his first full season as a pro.

Defensively, Campbell has seen playing time at two different positions since joining the Sea Dogs earlier this month. The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder has started four games at second base and six in center field after being used in a similar capacity with the Drive. He has also started two games as Portland’s designated hitter after serving as Greenville’s DH on eight separate occasions.

Campbell, who turns 22 later this month, is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 30 prospect in Boston’s farm system. The Georgia Tech product was taken by the Red Sox with the 132nd overall selection in last year’s draft, which is the pick the club received as compensation for losing Xander Bogaerts to the Padres in free agency the previous winter.

After signing with the Red Sox for $492,700 last summer, Campbell made his professional debut in the Florida Complex League but quickly worked his way up to Greenville, skipping Low-A Salem altogether, in late August. He then played a major role in helping the Drive take home their first South Atlantic League title since 2017.

As highlighted by The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, Campbell spent most of the offseason in Fort Myers to work on his strength and conditioning as well as his swing. He added some bulk to his wiry frame and proceeded to turn heads in his first spring training by displaying eye-opening exit velocity at the plate on the back fields of the Fenway South complex.

“He hits the crap out of the ball,” Red Sox director of player development Brian Abraham recently told Speier. “His swing is incredibly fast. He drives the ball to all fields. He has really good plate discipline. He’s a hitter that does a lot of things really well. It’s exciting to see what he could potentially do and already what he’s done.”

Cambell is the fourth member of the Sea Dogs to earn Eastern League Player of the Week honors this season, joining Matthew Lugo (April 15-21), Blaze Jordan (April 22-28), and Kyle Teel (May 27-June 2). On the flip side, left-hander Zach Penrod was named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week for the week of May 13-19.

(Picture of Kristian Campbell: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Yoeilin Cespedes named Florida Complex League Player of the Week

Red Sox infield prospect Yoeilin Cespedes has been named the Florida Complex League Player of the Week for the week of June 3-9, Minor League Baseball announced on Monday.

Cespedes, 18, appeared in four games for the FCL Red Sox last week. The right-handed hitter went 7-for-16 (.438) with two doubles, two home runs, six RBIs, six runs scored, three stolen bases, one walk, and one strikeout. He homered in back-to-back games (June 4 and 7) and is now riding a seven-game hitting streak as well as a 10-game on-base streak.

On the 2024 season — his first in the United States — as a whole, Cespedes is batting a stout .315/.393/.616 with eight doubles, one triple, four homers, 22 RBIs, 16 runs scored, three stolen bases, nine walks, and 13 strikeouts over 20 games (84 plate appearances) for Boston’s rookie-level affiliate.

Among 81 qualified hitters in the Florida Complex League coming into play on Monday, Cespedes ranked 12th in strikeout rate (15.5 percent), 14th in batting average, 29th in on-base percentage, second in slugging percentage, fifth in OPS (1.009), third in isolated power (.301), and 10th in wRC+ (157), per FanGraphs.

On the other side of the ball, Cespedes has effectively seen his playing time split between second base and shortstop so far this year. The 5-foot-10, 181-pounder has made five starts at the former and seven at the latter, committing three errors (all at short) and turning three double plays. He has also started eight games at DH, though five of those starts came in the early stages of the FCL season since he was still working his way back from a quadriceps strain.

Cespedes, who does not turn 19 until September, is currently regarded by both Baseball America and SoxProspects.com as the No. 6 prospect in Boston’s farm system. The Dominican Republic native originally signed with the Red Sox for $1.4 million as a highly-touted international free agent coming out of Azua in January 2023.

As part of his professional debut last season, Cespedes was named a Dominican Summer League All-Star and the Red Sox’ Minor League Latin Program Position Player of the Year. He is not yet viewed as a top-100 prospect in the sport but may not be too far off from garnering that kind of consideration.

Unlike past years, the 2024 Florida Complex League season will end in late July as part of a new scheduling quirk. Even if it looks like he is ready for a new challenge, the Red Sox will be sure to exhibit patience when it comes to Cespedes’ development. Still, it will be interesting to see if he makes the jump to Low-A Salem — and therefore gets his first taste of full-season ball — before or after the FCL Red Sox play their final game of the summer.

(Picture of Yoeilin Cespedes: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox top catching prospect Kyle Teel named Eastern League Player of the Week

Top Red Sox catching prospect Kyle Teel has been named the Eastern League Player of the Week for the week of May 27-June 2, Minor League Baseball announced on Monday.

Teel enjoyed a productive week in Double-A Portland’s latest series on the road against the Altoona Curve. Appearing in all six games, the left-handed hitting 22-year-old went 10-for-24 (.417) with one double, three home runs, 11 RBIs, six runs scored, two stolen bases, three walks, and five strikeouts.

After going deep in Tuesday’s opener and going hitless on Wednesday, Teel went 3-for-4 on Thursday before coming through in the clutch on back-to-back nights. With his side trailing and down to their final strike on Friday, Teel crushed a game-tying three-run homer. He followed that up by clubbing a go-ahead grand slam in the ninth on Saturday. The Sea Dogs won both contests and are riding a three-game winning streak after taking Sunday’s series finale.

On the heels of another strong road trip, Teel is now batting a stout .307/.411/.497 with 11 doubles, six home runs, 34 RBIs, 34 runs scored, three stolen bases, 24 walks, and 40 strikeouts over 40 games (180 plate appearances) for Portland this season. That is especially encouraging when considering he was slashing just .213/.333/.344 through the end of April.

Among 88 qualified Eastern League hitters, Teel ranks 16th in walk rate (13.3 percent) and isolated power (.190), fourth in batting average and on-base percentage, sixth in slugging percentage, third in OPS (.908), ninth in line-drive rate (28.3 percent), and second in wRC+ (159), per FanGraphs.

Defensively, Teel has unsurprisingly seen all of his playing time on the field this season come at catcher. The 6-foot, 190-pound backstop has logged 232 1/3 innings behind the plate for Portland thus far, allowing just two passed balls while throwing out five of 36 possible base stealers. He has also started 13 games as the Sea Dogs’ designated hitter.

Teel, who turned 22 in February, is in the midst of his first full professional season after being selected by the Red Sox with the 14th overall pick in last summer’s draft out of Virginia. The New Jersey native signed with the club for $4 million and made it up to Portland before the 2023 campaign drew to a close. He is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 3 prospect (and best defensive catcher) in Boston’s farm system and the No. 47 prospect in the sport.

Teel joins Matthew Lugo (April 15-21) and Blaze Jordan (April 22-28) as the third member of the Sea Dogs to earn Eastern League Player of the Week honors this season. On the flip side, left-hander Zach Penrod was named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week for the week of May 13-19.

Lugo and Penrod have since earned promotions to Triple-A Worcester after getting off to impressive starts in Portland. Teel, one-third of Boston’s ‘Big Three’ alongside fellow top prospects Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony, may not be too far behind.

(Picture of Kyle Teel: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Tyler Miller named South Atlantic League Player of the Week

Red Sox corner infield prospect Tyler Miller has been named the South Atlantic League Player of the Week for the week of April 22-28, Minor League Baseball announced on Monday.

Miller appeared in five of High-A Greenville’s six games against the Greensboro Grasshoppers at Fluor Field this past week. The left-handed hitting 24-year-old went 9-for-18 (.500) with two doubles, one home run, four RBIs, four runs scored, one walk, and zero strikeouts.

After recording just two hits in his first two starts of the series, Miller went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs on Friday. He stroked three more hits, including a solo homer, on Saturday before singling and scoring a run on Sunday to extend his hitting streak to five games.

Miller, who is repeating at High-A to begin the season after spending all of 2023 with Greenville, has gotten his 2024 campaign off to an encouraging start. The left-handed hitting 24-year-old is currently batting .305/.349/.492 with five doubles, two home runs, seven runs driven in, 11 runs scored, four walks, and nine strikeouts over 16 games (63 plate appearances) for the Drive.

Among 88 qualified South Atlantic League hitters, Miller currently ranks seventh in batting average, 33rd in on-base percentage, ninth in slugging percentage, 17th in OPS (.841), 21st in isolated power (.186), eighth in strikeout rate (14.3 percent), third in line-drive rate (32.7 percent), 34th in swinging-strike rate (11.4 percent), and 18th in wRC+ (145), per FanGraphs.

Much like Blaze Jordan, who took home Eastern League Player of the Week honors for Double-A Portland on Monday, Miller has made eight starts at both first and third base for Greenville this year. The 6-foot-1, 193-pounder has committed just one error (at third base) in 83 total defensive chances between the two corner spots thus far.

Unlike Jordan, Miller is not regarded by publications such as Baseball America as one of the top prospects in Boston’s farm system. The Alabama native was originally selected by the Red Sox in the ninth round of the 2021 amateur draft out of Auburn University. He signed with the club for $157,800 and put up strong numbers in his debut season (.934 OPS in 27 games between the Florida Complex League and Low-A Salem) but has yet to graduate past the High-A level.

With that being said, it will be interesting to see if Miller — who does not turn 25 until December — can keep producing the way he has for Greenville and possibly make the jump to Portland later this year. He would probably benefit from someone with a similar profile, like Jordan, earning a promotion of his own.

(Picture of Tyler Miller: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Red Sox’ Blaze Jordan earns Eastern League Player of the Week honors

Red Sox corner infield prospect Blaze Jordan has been named the Eastern League Player of the Week for the week of April 22-28, Minor League Baseball announced on Monday.

This marks the second consecutive week where a Sea Dogs player earned Eastern League Player of the Week honors. Left fielder Matthew Lugo was recognized for a stellar series against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats at Hadlock Field last week.

Jordan appeared in all six of Double-A Portland’s games against the Hartford Yard Goats at Dunkin’ Park this past week. The right-handed hitting 21-year-old went 12-for-27 (.444) with four doubles, two home runs, eight RBIs, five runs scored, zero walks, and two strikeouts.

Jordan crushed his first home run of the season and drove in a game-high four runs in Tuesday’s series opener. He then pushed across two more runs on Wednesday, had three hits on Thursday, homered again on Friday, and recorded four hits over the weekend to extend his hitting streak to nine games.

Over the life of that hitting streak, which began on April 19, Jordan has batted a stout .385/.390/.461. After getting his 2024 campaign off to a slow start, he is now slashing .265/.307/.441 with six doubles, two home runs, 13 runs driven in, 10 runs scored, one walk, and seven strikeouts in 17 games (75 plate appearances) for the Sea Dogs.

Defensively, Jordan has split his playing time on the field between both corner infield spots. To this point in the year, the 6-foot-1, 220-pounder has logged 60 innings at first base and 68 1/3 innings at third base. He has committed one error at each position and has also made two starts as Portland’s designated hitter.

Jordan is in the midst of his fourth full professional season after originally being selected by the Red Sox in the third round of the COVID-shortened 2020 draft out of DeSoto Central High School in Mississippi. The Southaven native forwent his commitment to Mississippi State by signing with Boston for $1.75 million.

Though he dealt with — and was even hospitalized by — struggles relating to anxiety and depression early in his pro career, Jordan has worked to overcome those issues, as he revealed in a heartfelt social media post last October. After going public with that information, he strove to get in better shape over the winter and came into the spring ranked by Baseball America as the No. 21 prospect in the Red Sox’ farm system.

Jordan, who does not turn 22 until December, can become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft for the first time later this year if he is not added to Boston’s 40-man roster by the protection deadline in November. Taking that — as well as the fact that he played in 49 games for Portland to close out last season — into consideration, it will be interesting to see if Jordan can make his way to Triple-A Worcester at some point in 2024.

(Picture of Blaze Jordan: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Red Sox’ Matthew Lugo named Eastern League Player of the Week

Red Sox prospect Matthew Lugo has been named the Eastern League Player of the Week for the week of April 15-21, Minor League Baseball announced on Monday.

Lugo appeared in five of Double-A Portland’s six games against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats at Hadlock Field this past week. The right-handed hitting 22-year-old went 7-for-16 (.438) with three doubles, one triple, one home run, 10 RBIs, three runs scored, five walks, and four strikeouts.

Lugo played hero for the Sea Dogs on more than just one occasion during their latest series. He came through with a game-winning, three-run triple in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s 5-2 win over the Fisher Cats, then drove in the first two runs of a 3-0 victory on Wednesday. He also homered and collected a game-high four RBIs on Saturday and doubled in a run on Sunday to extend his hitting streak to six games.

On the 2024 season as a whole, Lugo is now batting a stout .357/.471/.857 with three doubles, one triple, three homers, 12 runs driven in, five runs scored, six walks, and eight strikeouts through nine games (34 plate appearances) for Portland. He currently leads a talented Sea Dogs team in batting average, slugging percentage, OPS (1.328), and total bases with 24.

Lugo, who turns 23 next month, is repeating Double-A this year after struggling to a .242/.297/.381 slash line in 83 games (318 plate appearances) with the Sea Dogs in 2023. The former 2019 second-round draft selection out of the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy in Puerto Rico was regarded by SoxProspects.com as a top-15 prospect organization around this time last season but has since dropped from the site’s rankings completely.

The nephew of Beltran himself, Lugo initially came up as an infielder after signing with Boston for $1.1 million in June 2019. More recently, however, the 6-foot-1, 190-pounder has transitioned to the outfield. So far this season, he has made a team-leading eight starts in left field for the Sea Dogs and has yet to commit an error over 64 2/3 innings.

Given that this is the third straight season in which Lugo has appeared in at least one game for the Sea Dogs, it should be interesting to see if he can force his way up to Triple-A Worcester sooner rather than later. He certainly couldn’t ask for a better start this year, though.

(Picture of Matthew Lugo: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)