Red Sox Minor League Update: Recently Promoted Prospects Off to Strong Starts With New Teams

[Billy Mock]

Worcester Red Sox (Triple-A): 6-0 (34-28 overall)

The WooSox were the headliners for the week in the Red Sox farm system, as they swept a six-game series for the first time in 2025 and are riding a seven-game win streak. They took on the Rochester Red Wings (Nationals), who they took five of six from in a series in April, now making them 11-1 in the season series. Worcester got the party started on Tuesday with a walk-off win in which they overcame a two-run deficit in extra innings to win 6-5. They won the final game of the series by one run again while making easy work of the Red Wings in the middle of the week. They were clicking on both sides of the ball, with the offense posting a .955 OPS while the pitching staff threw to a 3.11 ERA, which trailed only Nashville (Brewers) for the International League lead.

As long as Boston continues to delay the promotion of Roman Anthony, the WooSox can count on him being a big contributor in the middle of the lineup. He added two more home runs to the stat sheet this week, bringing his total on the season up to a team-leading ten. He also had the highlight of the week, crushing a 497-foot home run on Saturday that left the bat at 115 mph. 

Featured Prospect: Blaze Jordan

Blaze Jordan has been one of the more refreshing Red Sox prospects this year after a relatively slow start to his pro career compared to the lofty expectations he brought to the organization. This past week was his debut in Worcester after his hot start at Double-A Portland earned him a call-up. He hit .320/.415/.513 with six home runs for Portland, which was encouraging considering his slash line was just .261/.305/.388 a year ago at the same level. In his first week with his new club, Jordan checked off his first Triple-A home run along with six doubles in just 25 plate appearances. His final line for the week was .375/.400/.750, good for a 1.150 OPS.  

Portland Sea Dogs (Double-A): 1-5 (28-26 overall)

It wasn't a pretty week for the Sea Dogs, as they dropped five of six to the Hartford Yard Goats (Rockies). Portland took the first matchup on Tuesday before falling in the remaining five games. They did mount a ninth inning comeback on Thursday that sent the game into extra innings before eventually falling by a score of 8-6 in eleven innings. That was the best fight they put up aside from their win in the opener.

The offense was nowhere to be found for the most part, as they collectively hit .200 with a .592 OPS. There wasn't a whole lot on the pitching side of things to like either. David Sandlin had the only outing worth noting as the team posted a 5.00 ERA for the week.

Featured Prospect: David Sandlin

Following two scoreless outings, which included seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts in his most recent outing, David Sandlin managed to log another quality start. He pitched on Wednesday against Hartford, allowing just three runs across six innings while striking out six. The Red Sox continue to stretch him out as a starter, with this being the second time he has completed six innings this season, and he did it in consecutive starts. He owns a 1.50 ERA over his last three outings and has walked just three batters compared to 20 strikeouts. The right-hander is down to a 3.86 ERA for the season. 

Greenville Drive (High-A): 5-1 (30-27 overall)

The Drive are playing their best baseball all year after they won five of six in a series in consecutive weeks. A 4-1 victory on Wednesday was all the Rome Emperors (Braves) could take from Greenville, as the Drive managed to outscore them by a score of 31-13 in their five wins.

The addition of Franklin Arias after he was called up from Low-A Salem has been quite the spark plug in the lineup. In his 31 games since joining the Drive, he's hitting .353 with a .911 OPS. Antonio Anderson has also been a contributor following his call-up, and he helped lead the offense this week with a .350/.381/.550 slash line. Miguel Bleis was perhaps the biggest part of the lineup's success this week, as he hit three home runs on his way to a 1.275 OPS. Eduardo Rivera was the headliner for the pitching staff, tossing 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball while striking out eight in Sunday's matchup. 

Featured Prospect: Nazzan Zanetello

Although he's an excellent defender and runner, it has been a very slow start offensively in the pro career of the 2023 second-rounder. However, Zanetello did manage to put up quite the week at the plate for the Drive. In just 20 plate appearances, he mashed three home runs along with three more hits and three walks, bringing his line for the week to .375/.500/.938, good for a 1.438 OPS. He didn't hit a single home run in the month of May, and broke the drought with a multi-home run performance on Tuesday before hitting another in the following game on Thursday. Zanetello becomes a very dynamic player if this power surge turns into anything beyond a flash in the pan. 

Salem Red Sox (Low-A): 2-4 (22-33 overall)

It was another rough week for Salem, as they dropped four of six to the Lynchburg Hillcats (Guardians). They managed to win the opener on Tuesday by a score of 8-3, and then pulled off a walk-off win on Thursday courtesy of an Enddy Azocar double. They dropped the second game of the series and then the final three, which included blowing a 5-3 lead in the ninth inning and losing 6-5.

Andrew Musetti and Natanael Yuten had big weeks at the plate, both posting an OPS north of 1.200. Right-hander Jay Allmer delivered the best outing of the week for the Red Sox, tossing 5 1/3 scoreless innings while allowing just two hits. 

Featured Prospect: Yoeilin Cespedes

Yoeilin Cespedes managed to add to what has been a nice first year in full-season ball for the 19-year-old. In 27 plate appearances, he hit his fourth home run of the season while adding four more extra-base hits, two of which came via triple. He drew four walks as well and finished the week with a .273/.370/.682 slash line.

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