Tag: prospects

Red Sox Select North Andover High School’s Sebastian Keane in 11th Round of 2019 MLB Draft

After making eight selections from rounds three to 10 on Tuesday, the Red Sox kicked off the final day of the 2019 MLB Draft by taking a local right-handed pitcher with their first pick Wednesday.

Sebastian Keane, 19 and a native of North Andover, Mass.was selected by Boston with the 347th overall pick in the 11th round of this year’s amateur draft.

Soon to be graduating from North Andover High School this Friday, Keane was named the Gatorade Massachusetts Baseball Player of the Year last month for his efforts.

Listed at 6’3″ and 165 pounds, Keane was ranked 140th out of the top 200 prospects for this year’s draft, per MLB.com, which is pretty impressive when you consider how high school and preparatory baseball in Massachusetts compares to the sport in other states.

Here are his scouting grades, again using MLB.com:

Fastball: 55 | Curveball: 50 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 45 | Overall: 45

Already committed to play baseball at Northeastern University in Boston, it will be interesting to see if the Red Sox can offer the young hurler enough to forego that commitment and instead go pro.

Coming into Wednesday 9-1 with an 0.35 ERA and 98 strikeouts over 51 2/3 innings pitched for North Andover this spring, Keane will be making the start against Franklin High in the MIAA Super 8 Tournament later on tonight.

 

Red Sox’ Ninth-Ranked Prospect Jarren Duran Promoted to Double-A Portland

Less than a full calendar year after being selected with the 220th overall pick in the seventh round of the 2018 amateur draft, the Red Sox have promoted speedy prospect Jarren Duran from High-A Salem to Double-A Portland, according to SoxProspects’ Chris Hatfield.

Duran, 22, is currently ranked as Boston’s ninth-best prospect, according to MLB.com.

Drafed out of Long Beach State in 2018, the California native has done nothing but hit since reporting to Low-A Lowell last June.

In 67 total games split between the New York-Penn and South Atlantic Leagues, Duran made a great first impression by slashing .357/.394/.516 with three home runs, 35 RBI, and 24 stolen bases.

This season, after breaking minor league camp with the High-A Salem Red Sox, the 2018 organizational All-Star came out of the gate running, leading the Carolina League, and all of minor league baseball for that matter, in hitting with a .387 batting average.

He also posted a .456 on-base and .543 slugging percentage to go along with four homers, 19 runs driven in, and 18 swiped bags over 50 games played.

Without a doubt, Duran is the most intriguing outfield prospect in the Red Sox’ system. How he adjusts to Eastern League pitching will be something to keep an eye on moving forward.

Red Sox’ Second-Ranked Prospect Bobby Dalbec Mashes Two Home Runs in Second Straight Game for Double-A Portland

While the big league club was dropping their fourth straight to the New York Yankees Saturday night, Red Sox prospect Bobby Dalbec was making some noise for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs at the same time with his consecutive two-homer game against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies.

Now ranked as the second-best prospect in Boston’s farm system per MLB.com, the 23-year-old followed up a 3-for-7, two home run performance Friday by launching another pair of big flies in a 2-for-4 day at the plate on Saturday.

The Sea Dogs took both contests, outscoring the Rumble Ponies 28-9 before the two sides partake in a doubleheader later Sunday.

This feat marks the second time in 2019 Dalbec has amassed four home runs in a two-game span, with the first coming back in May when he hit three against the Trenton Thunder on the 11th of the month, and then another one against the Hartford Yard Goats two days later.

Selected by the Red Sox with the 118th overall pick in the 2016 amateur draft out of the University of Arizona, the Washington state native is slashing .253/.363/.523 with 12 home runs and 31 RBI through 49 Eastern League games this season. He is currently in the midst of a five-game hitting streak where he is 9-for-his-last-25 with those four dingers and six runs driven in.

#RedSox Place Tyler Thornburg on 10-Day Injured List, Recall Travis Lakins from Triple-A Pawtucket

Prior to Thursday’s series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays, the Red Sox announced that right-handed reliever Tyler Thornburg has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right hip impingement. In a corresponding move, the club also recalled right-handed reliever Travis Lakins from Triple-A Pawtucket and added him to the 25-man roster.

Thornburg, 30, has posted a 7.71 ERA over 16 appearances in 2019 and owns an overall ERA of 6.54 since being acquired by the Red Sox from the Milwaukee Brewers prior to the start of the 2017 season.

There were no real signs or indications that the Houston native was dealing with an injury after his latest outing on Tuesday, so this very well could be a move to keep Thornburg on the roster for the time being without designating him for assignment.

Lakins, meanwhile, is ranked as Boston’s 17th-best prospect, per MLB.com, and this will be his second stint with the big league club after spending approximately three days in the majors back in April.

There, the 24-year-old hurler appeared in just one game for the Red Sox, one in which he yielded one earned run on four hits and no walks to go along with four strikeouts over 2.2 innings of relief back on April 23rd against the Detroit Tigers in his big league debut.

Through 14 outings with the PawSox this season, Lakins is 1-0 with a 4.02 ERA and 1.79 WHIP over 15.2 total innings of work.

Given that Thursday will be a bullpen day for the Red Sox, expect Lakins to get another extended look against the Blue Jays, as he has not pitched in a game since May 19th.

First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 12:37 PM EDT on NESN.

 

Top #RedSox Pitching Prospect Darwinzon Hernandez Racks up Career-High 11 Strikeouts for Double-A Portland

While the the Red Sox were enjoying an off day on Thursday, the club’s top pitching prospect, Darwinzon Hernandez, put together a career night in his start for Double-A Portland.

Making his sixth start of the season for the Sea Dogs, the left-hander surrendered four runs, three of which were earned, on five hits and two walks to go along with a career-best 11 strikeouts over a career-best seven innings of work against the Reading Fightin Phils Thursday.

Outside of a rough third inning in which all four of those initial Reading runs came around to score, Hernandez did not yield a single hit from the first until the start of the middle of the third, and then again from the middle of the fourth until the conclusion of his seventh and final frame.

In that seventh inning, the 23-year-old hurler capped off his outing on a high note by fanning four Fightin Phils thanks to a wild pitch that allowed one hitter to reach first on his own part.

The Sea Dogs eventually dropped this contest by a final score of 8-2, and Hernandez was thus hit with his third losing decision of the year.

Ranked as Boston’s third-best prospect overall, we have already gotten a sneak peek of what Hernandez could bring to the table at the big league level earlier last month, where in the second of a day-night doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers, the southpaw scattered four hits and one walk while punching out four over 2.1 innings of relief.

He served as the club’s 26th man for the second game of that doubleheader, and was sent back to Double-A Portland right after.

Through the six starts made with the Sea Dogs in 2019, Hernandez has posted an ERA of 4.10 and a batting average against of .198 in addition to 36 strikeouts and 21 free passes over 26.1 total innings of work.

Out of spring training, the plan was to let the Venezuela native develop as a starting pitcher rather than rush him up in a relief role, both of which he has experience in.

As of now, I would say the Red Sox are sticking to this plan, so don’t expect to see Hernandez up in Boston anytime soon barring any unforeseen circumstances.

#RedSox Prospect Bobby Dalbec Has Hit Four Home Runs in Last Two Games for Double-A Portland

While the Red Sox have been in the midst of a five-game winning streak, perhaps you haven’t seen or heard what the club’s third-ranked prospect Bobby Dalbec has been up to lately with Double-A Portland.

Over his last two games, the 23-year-old has mashed four home runs, three of which came in an 8-7 loss to the Trenton Thunder on Saturday, and the fourth coming in a 5-2 win over the Hartford Yard Goats Monday night.

Taken by Boston in the fourth round of the 2016 amateur draft, Dalbec got off to a bit of a slow start with the Sea Dogs after being invited to Red Sox big league camp for the first time earlier this spring.

As recently as May 3rd, the University of Arizona product was slashing just .189/.362/.311 with two home runs and nine RBI on the season, but has since heated up in a monumental way.

Since the beginning of last week, May 6th, Dalbec has gone 9-for-his-last-19 to go along with five homers and nine RBI, raising his slugging percentage to a respectable .519 in a five-game span.

Dalbec was named Eastern League Player of the Week for May 6th-12th on Monday.

Given the amount of infield depth the Red Sox have at the moment, it seems unlikely that we’d see the Dalbec make his big league debut in 2019, but a promotion to Triple-A Pawtucket sometime this summer does seem in reach for Dalbec if this offensive run persists.