Jedixson Paez is another young arm making his first appearance on the TalkSox top 20, and for good reason. Paez was a part of the 2021 international signing class out of Venezuela, and has since established himself as one of the more consistent arms in Boston's system. Since entering the professional ranks in 2021 through the Dominican Summer League, Paez has thrown at least 50 innings to a sub-4.00 ERA at four different levels. Last year was the season in which Paez started to garner some attention, as he posted a 3.17 ERA across 96 2/3 innings between Low-A Salem and High-A Greenville while sporting the fifth-lowest walk rate in all of Minor League Baseball among pitchers with at least 50 innings at 3.2%. With nearly 300 innings under his belt at the professional level, Paez owns a 3.25 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP.

Despite his track record of success, it's taken a while for Paez to catch some steam in the prospect world simply because he doesn't fit the mold of the modern-day super pitching prospect. He's not reaching elite velocities and getting tons of swings and misses, but is rather a master of command while also inducing plenty of soft contact. In other words, he's a "finesse" arm.

The closest comparison I can think of is a young Marcus Stroman. His fastball has increased in velocity year to year but has only topped out recently at 94 mph. Given his ability to locate it well at the top of the zone or use it like a bowling ball sinker at times, it's a better offering than the 45-grade it has been given. His slider has actually been his go-to pitch to this point in his career, and it has found a lot of success due to its plus vertical and horizontal movement and his ability to drop it in the zone for called strikes or outside the zone to get chases. His changeup is another excellent pitch that pairs well with the slider to keep hitters off balance and produces plenty of soft contact. Paez has definitely shown he can be successful as a starter, and as long as his stuff translates well as he advances into the higher levels of the minors, this is a name I would expect to see higher up on our prospect rankings in the future.