2024 Prospects

[moonslav59]

Only 22 pitchers threw 70+ games last year.

Winckowski - 60
Martin - 55
Bernardino - 55
Jansen - 51

Whitlock pitched in 46 in '21. I'm sure he could throw consistently in the 50's.

Having 13 pitchers on the staff has changed things....

Most IP from the pen in 2023:
84.1 Gird & Holton
83.1 Wink 4th most since 2019
20 pitchers over 70 IP
53 over 65 IP
83 over 60 IP

From 2010-2018
118.2 Yarbrough '18
96 Swarzak '13
95 Chavez '16
11 pitchers over 90
49 over 80265 over 70
762 over 60

2000-2009
6 over 100
38 over 90
173 over 80
508 over 70
929 over 60

90-99
34 over 100
102 over 90
254 over 80
490 over 70
785 over 60

80-89 (Bob Stanley pitched 168.1 IP as a RP'er in '82) 32 pitched over 120 IP!
143 over 100
274 over 90
421 over 80
591 over 70
763 over 60

70-79 (Mike Marshall pitched 208 and 179 IP from the pen) 20 pitchers over 140!
158 over 100
258 over 90
373 over 80
518 over 70
662 over 60

We hear a lot about SP'er IP going way down- so have RP'er IP.

[moonslav59]

soxprospects slotted Sandlin at #13- right behind Fitts and Zanetello and in front of Meidroth and Castro.

Already, Brez has added these pitching prospects to the roster. (Campbell & Weissert have graduated, recently.)

Brez in RED

7. Perales
9. Wikelman
11. Fitts
13. Sandlin
21. Monegro
24. Dobbins
25. Slaten
...
59. Judice

[mvp 78]

soxprospects slotted Sandlin at #13- right behind Fitts and Zanetello and in front of Meidroth and Castro.

Already, Brez has added these pitching prospects to the roster. (Campbell & Weissert have graduated, recently.)

Brez in RED

7. Perales
9. Wikelman
11. Fitts
13. Sandlin
21. Monegro
24. Dobbins
25. Slaten
...
59. Judice

Looks fine to me. Sandlin could have helium depending on how he performs early, probably more so than Fitts.

[moonslav59]

Looks fine to me. Sandlin could have helium depending on how he performs early, probably more so than Fitts.

I'd say it looks pretty good, that without even having a draft yet, he has 2 of the top 4 and 3 of the top 7 sox pitching prospects as his.

Granted, we inherited crap.

[sk7326]

I'd say it looks pretty good, that without even having a draft yet, he has 2 of the top 4 and 3 of the top 7 sox pitching prospects as his.

Granted, we inherited crap.

Yeah. I think Law put Sandlin in at #11 on the Sox prospects list ... the #1 pitcher in the system, and the only one with (as of this second) a reasonably likely path to being a starter.

[sk7326]

soxprospects slotted Sandlin at #13- right behind Fitts and Zanetello and in front of Meidroth and Castro.

Already, Brez has added these pitching prospects to the roster. (Campbell & Weissert have graduated, recently.)

Brez in RED

7. Perales
9. Wikelman
11. Fitts
13. Sandlin
21. Monegro
24. Dobbins
25. Slaten
...
59. Judice

The real task for Breslow is how to get the "best case" outcomes for Perales and Wikelman.

[moonslav59]

The real task for Breslow is how to get the "best case" outcomes for Perales and Wikelman.

I hope he and new set of people can give both a lift.

Perales turns only 21 in April, and has been in the system for 4 seasons, due to missing 2020. He doesn't even have 150 IP, total, yet, but we were forced to add him to the 40.

Wikelman turns 22 in March and has 5 seasons in our system, also missing 2020. He barely has over 300 IP, total.

These two still have a few years to develop, but they are fast losing their chance as starters. They need to show something, soon.

Fitts just turned 24, and apparently lacks a third pitch. I guess it's not too late to find one, but he seems destined for the pen.

Sandlin turned 23, today! He apparently has 3 plus pitches. sxoprospects.com says he has " ...at least average with an above-average command and control profile. Stuff appears to have ticked up during winter workouts heading into the 2024 season but it remains to be seen if he can hold those gains into regular season action. If the improvements with his fastball that he showed in the offseason hold, projection could change. Exciting arm with considerable upside if things click." He might be the guy with the highest upside of the top 3.

Monegro is 21 and might be a pen arm, at best. Stepped up some in '23, and there might be hope he can again in '24.

Slaten is 26 and is a pen arm.
Dobbins is 24 and has 3 secondary pitches, so maybe some hope there.
E R-C is the youngest of the top 25 or so. He has a 4 pitch mix with 3 upside pitches.

I'm not seeing a lot of hope, but it's good to see Brez & Co. trying to add to the mix. Adding 3 in the top 7 pitching prospects before your first draft does show a commitment. (It took a while longer for Bloom to add Whitlock & Winckowski.)

[moonslav59]

I'm not going to pretend the Sox can match teams like ATL, BAL, LAD, HOU & others, in terms of the strength of prospects and recent grads, but we have a pretty nice list of players under 27 or so...

17 Asencio
18 Cespedes, Zanetello, Anderson, Arias
19 Anthony, Joh Garcia, Brannon, Yuten, E Soto
20 Perales, Castro, Romero, E R-C, Paez, Ravelo
21 Mayer, Wikelman, Yorke, Paulino, Jordan, Monegro, K Campbell, C Early
22 Teel, Meidroth, Bastardo, Sena, Reimer
23 Grissom, Rafaela, Guerrero
24 Bello, Casas, Abreu, Hickey, Mata, Dobbins
25 Winckowski, Murphy, E Valdez, Hoppe
26 Campbell, Slaten, DHam
27 Devers, Crawford, Houck, Whitlock, Duran, Wong, Criswell, Walter

The 23 in Red look pretty good.

[Larry Cook]

Does Grissom’s arrival make yorke trade bait!

[moonslav59]

Does Grissom’s arrival make yorke trade bait!

I'd say for sure. I'm not sure what his trade value is, but if we could get a good SP'er with 4+ yrs of control for Duran, Yorke and Mata, I'd do it.

[mvp 78]

The real task for Breslow is how to get the "best case" outcomes for Perales and Wikelman.

Perales right now is a two pitch pitcher.

Wikelman suffers from inconsistency from start to start, but has multiple secondary pitches.

Adding velo won't fix either problem or going to Driveline won't fix either.

[mvp 78]

Does Grissom’s arrival make yorke trade bait!

Was probably trade bait even before.

[mvp 78]

@tylermilliken_
According to @BGlobeSports, Nick Yorke is going to work on outfield drills during spring training to increase his versatility.

Bounced back in 2023 with a .268/.360/.435/.785 slash line in 110 games. 13 HR, 25 doubles. 116 wRC+.

Needed with Mayer/Story.

[moonslav59]

Perales right now is a two pitch pitcher.

Wikelman suffers from inconsistency from start to start, but has multiple secondary pitches.

Adding velo won't fix either problem or going to Driveline won't fix either.

What would you say the odds are that just ONE of these two becomes a decent 3/4 SP in MLB?

I'm guessing less than 50%. Maybe 50% just ONE becomes a decent #5.

Second Q, do we have anyone ranked 31-60 that looks anywhere near promising?

[sk7326]

Perales right now is a two pitch pitcher.

Wikelman suffers from inconsistency from start to start, but has multiple secondary pitches.

Adding velo won't fix either problem or going to Driveline won't fix either.

Right. But can Wikelman just get his motion fixed so he knows where the ball is going (at least more often). Can Perales find enough consistency even with just two pitches to be a twice through the order guy. Again, the probabilties of both are low - but Breslow's job is to organizationally figure out how to help convert those probabilities.