Tag: reidis sena

Red Sox re-sign RHP prospect Reidis Sena to minor league contract

In addition to left-hander Eduardo Rivera, the Red Sox have re-signed right-hander Reidis Sena to a minor-league contract, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.

Like Rivera, Sena was slated to become a free agent next month but is now in line to return to the only organization he has ever known in 2026. The 24-year-old Dominican native originally signed with the Red Sox for just $10,000 as an international free agent in December 2018. He is not currently ranked among the system’s top pitching prospects.

A member of Boston’s 2025 Spring Breakout roster to begin the year, Sena broke camp with Double-A Portland in April. The righty posted a 4.13 ERA (3.29 FIP) with 30 strikeouts to 19 walks through his first 15 outings (one start) and 24 innings for the Sea Dogs before landing on the injured list with a shoulder impingement in late June.

Upon returning to the mound in early August, Sena closed out the season by compiling a 2.55 ERA (3.74 FIP) with 19 strikeouts to 11 walks in 10 more appearances (one start) and 17 2/3 innings. Altogether, he forged a 3.46 ERA (3.48 FIP) with 49 strikeouts to 30 walks across 25 outings (two starts) spanning 41 2/3 innings for Portland in 2025. He converted six of his eight save opportunities while opposing hitters in the Eastern League batted just .186 against him.

Among the 144 pitchers who threw at least 40 innings in the Eastern League this year, Sena ranked sixth in groundball rate (54.7 percent), 14th in batting average against, 31st in strikeouts per nine innings (10.58), 34th in strikeout rate (27.4 percent), 38th in swinging-strike rate (13.6 percent), 58th in FIP, 59th in ERA, and 71st in xFIP (3.81). On the flip side, however, he also ranked 140th in walks per nine innings (6.48) and 141st in walk rate (16.8 percent), per FanGraphs.

Presumably larger than his listed height and weight of 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds, Sena throws from a vertical arm slot and incorporates a medium leg kick into his delivery. As noted in his SoxProspects.com scouting report, the undersized hurler features a 94-96 mph fastball that can reach 98 mph and complements it with a 90-92 mph cutter, 85-87 mph curveball, and 89-92 mph changeup.

Sena, who turns 25 in April, is Rule 5 Draft-eligible this offseason but is unlikely to be added to Boston’s 40-man roster ahead of the November 18 protection deadline. Assuming that happens and he does not get picked in the Rule 5 Draft itself in December, Sena is projected by SoxProspects.com to return to Portland’s bullpen for the start of the 2026 campaign.

In the meantime, Sena was assigned to the Tigres del Licey of the Dominican Winter League on October 15 but has yet to appear in a game for the club.

(Picture of Reidis Sena: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox promote pitching prospects Bryce Bonnin, Reidis Sena to Double-A Portland

The Red Sox promoted pitching prospects Bryce Bonnin and Reidis Sena from High-A Greenville to Double-A Portland on Tuesday. Neither pitcher appeared in the Sea Dogs’ series-opening 1-0 loss to the Somerset Patriots at Hadlock Field.

Bonnin, 25, posted a 4.04 ERA and 3.93 FIP with 40 strikeouts to 16 walks in 19 relief appearances (35 2/3 innings) for Greenville this season. That translates to a 28 percent strikeout rate and an 11.2 percent walk rate for the right-hander, who held opposing hitters to a .164 batting average.

Sena, 23, forged a 3.56 ERA and 4.29 FIP with 67 strikeouts to 24 walks in 28 relief appearances (48 innings) for the Drive this season. That translates to a 32.4 percent strikeout rate and an 11.6 percent walk rate for the righty, who limited opposing hitters to a .201 batting average.

Bonnin, who turns 26 in October, joined the Red Sox organization as a minor-league free agent back in March after being released by the Reds. The Texas Tech product was originally selected by Cincinnati in the third round of the 2020 draft but has dealt with injuries throughout his professional career. He most notably missed the final three months of the 2022 campaign and all of 2023 with a rotator cuff issue that cost him some time to begin 2024 as well.

When healthy, though, Bonnin has proven to be quite effective. In 2022, the 6-foot-2, 190-pound hurler was ranked by Baseball America as the No. 10 prospect in Cincinnati’s farm system. He was also recognized by the outlet as having the best fastball in the Reds organization.

This season, Bonnin has reached 98 mph with his mid-90s heater while also mixing in an 84-85 mph slider and a changeup. He is not currently ranked among Boston’s top 60 prospects by SoxProspects.com, which describes him as a “low-risk, high-reward signing” who “had two plus pitches prior to rotator cuff injury, but command and control were always a concern.”

Sena, meanwhile, originally signed with the Red Sox for $10,000 as an international free agent coming out of the Dominican Republic in December 2018. The Neiba native began his professional career as a starter but has been used strictly out of the bullpen since last year. Like Bonnin, Sena is not ranked among Boston’s top 60 prospects by SoxProspects.com, though he did get some attention from FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen last month.

Longenhagen tabbed Sena as his 41st-ranked Red Sox prospect. He wrote that the 6-foot-1, 175-pound righty “generates huge over-the-top arm speed, resulting in mid-90s heat that plays down a bit due to downhill plane. Sena’s cutter, which tends to live around 90 mph but has peaked at 95, helps mitigate some of his fastball’s vulnerability in this way. He doesn’t locate it well enough to be a bat-misser, instead relying on his power mid-80s curveball to get whiffs.”

Bonnin and Sena can both become Rule 5-eligible this winter if they are not added to Boston’s 40-man roster by the protection deadline in November. In the meantime, they join a bullpen mix in Portland that includes the likes of Alex Hoppe, Christopher Troye, Jonathan Brand, Jacob Webb, Brendan Cellucci, and Zach Bryant.

(Picture of Bryce Bonnin: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Who is Reidis Sena? Red Sox pitching prospect struck out 32.3% of the batters he faced in Florida Complex League last year

Earlier this month, FanGraphs released their list of the top 51 prospects in the Red Sox farm system heading into the 2022 system.

Headlined by the likes of Triston Casas, Marcelo Mayer, and Nick Yorke, the prospect who rounded out the list at No. 51 was right-hander Reidis Sena.

Sena, who turns 21 next month, originally signed with Boston as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic for just $10,000 in December 2018.

After making his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League in 2019, Sena was unable to pitch at the organizational level in 2020 since the minor-league season was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The young righty instead picked up where he left off last year by spending the entirety of the 2021 campaign in the rookie-level Florida Complex League. He made his season debut on July 24 and made a total of nine appearances (three starts) for the FCL Red Sox.

In those nine outings that spanned anywhere from one to four innings in length, Sena posted a 3.22 ERA and 3.83 FIP to go along with 31 strikeouts to 13 walks over 22 1/3 innings of work.

Among all FCL pitchers who threw at least 20 innings last year, the 20-year-old ranked 21st in strikeouts per nine innings (12.49), 23rd in strikeout rate (32.3%), 21st in swinging strike rate (33.7%), 29th in FIP, and 26th in xFIP (3.99), per FanGraphs.

With a listed height and weight of 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds, there is not much else available on Sena besides what FanGraphs’ Kevin Goldstein and Tess Taruskin have on him.

“Sena is pretty raw for a pitching prospect who will be 21 in 2022,” they wrote. “He has huge arm strength, sitting 95 mph on the complex last year, and he makes very heavy use of that fastball. His slider has plus raw spin but Sena throws his heater 85% of the time right now, suggesting he and the Sox are just trying to get him to throw a viable rate of strikes more than anything else. He walked over five hitters per nine innings in 2021. If things click for him, he’ll move very quickly.”

As Goldstein and Taruskin indicated, Sena does need to work on his command considering the fact he averaged more than five walks per nine innings and walked more than 13% of the batters he faced last year.

That being said, there does seem to be some intrigue with Sena based off his current arsenal that consists of a high-octane fastball and slider. It will be interesting to see if the Red Sox view the Neiba native as a potential starter or reliever in the long-term.

On that note, though, Sena is projected by SoxProspects.com to begin the 2022 season in Low-A Salem’s starting rotation. He will have the opportunity to rise through Boston’s prospect ranks beginning in April.

(Picture of Reidis Sena: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)