Red Sox Breakout Prospects to Watch: Enddy Azocar

[Nick John]

The Boston Red Sox are no strangers to finding players who manage to overcome expectations and turn into top prospects. Roman Anthony comes to mind as an example of that based on his time with the then Salem Red Sox.

For Anthony, his first 42 games in 2023 with Low-A Salem made some people question why he was promoted — the then-19-year-old hit just hit .228/.376/.316 in 42 games. Yet, the Red Sox pushed him to High-A Greenville as his underlying metrics and data were far more bullish on his potential. Anthony had a keen understanding of the strike zone and wasn’t overmatched as he put the ball in play quite often. He was just exhibiting bad luck when it came to balls in play. The organization also felt that once he got out of Salem and played at Fluor Field with the Greenville Drive, his numbers would improve thanks in part to it being more of a hitter-friendly park than Carilion Clinic Field.

By taking a deeper dive into a player’s abilities and how they’re looking on the diamond, there’s a chance the Red Sox could have another young, breakout prospect in their system right now. And ironically, his first experience of baseball in the United States is playing out very similar to how Anthony’s first taste of professional baseball did.

Keep an eye on 18-year-old Enddy Azocar, who is beginning to make a name for himself as a prospect. He has the potential to break out in a huge way. Signed as an international free agent out of Venezuela, Azocar played in 31 games for the Red Sox Dominican Summer League team in 2024, where, as a 17-year-old, he put up a slash line of .266/.397/.309. However, he lacked power, producing two doubles and a triple to go along with 11 RBIs.

Still, that was more than enough for the Red Sox to justify bringing him stateside for the 2025 season, where he began in the Florida Complex League for just 14 games. Limited though the sample was, he proved that he was more than ready for tougher competition as he slashed .385/.448/.558 with seven doubles and a triple along with five RBIs despite being roughly a year and a half younger than the competition.

The Red Sox decided to give him a shot for most of the 2025 season with Salem, where, as an 18-year-old, he was one of the youngest players in Low-A. It showed, at least if you looked at just his stats.

Azocar’s hot start in the Complex League tailed off with Salem, appearing in 71 games for the team where he hit just .202/.273/.314 with nine doubles, a triple, six home runs and 26 RBIs. He also struck out 67 times to just 21 walks. However, when you take a deeper look at Azocar’s season, you'll begin to grow impressed.

Azocar saw his 90th percentile exit velocity raise by seven mph, going from 98 mph in 2024 to 105.4 mph. Now, unlike regular exit velocity, the 90th percentile is the exit velocity that is pulled from the sample of the player's hardest hit balls. This is done to help measure a batter’s peak power potential along with their raw strength/ By using the 90th percentile over regular exit velocity, teams are able to project a player’s potential and ability to consistently hit for more extra-base hits as they grow older and mature into their frames.

For someone playing in the majors, the average 90th percentile exit velocity tends to hover around 104 mph, while those above 105 mph help separate a player with elite power. Azocar had the largest gain in the system in 90th percentile despite being only 18 years old, makes his 105.4 mph mark rather impressive. To compare to Anthony, the young outfielder had a 90th percentile of 108.5 mph for the 2024 season while splitting time in more hitter-friendly parks.

Azocar's max exit velocity was also impressive, his hardest hit baseball of the 2025 season being 110.6 mph. A number that ranked near the top for his age bracket.

And while the strikeouts increased for Azocar during his time with Salem, the young outfielder showcased an ability to make solid contact, as his whiff rate for pitches in the strike zone sat at a low 18%. Despite making consistent contact and not chasing at an alarming rate, his lack of recognizing secondary pitches hurts, though at his age, the ability to differentiate between a fastball and an off-speed pitch or breaking ball will come with time and reps.

Defensively, Azocar played all three outfield positions but saw the majority of his time come in center field upon his promotion to Salem. He has solid range, and thanks to his above-average speed, he can get to balls easily. However, he doesn’t seem likely to stick in center field in the long run as he continues to fill out and add strength to his game, with a move to one of the corner outfield positions seeming likely.

Azocar’s power seems to be the real deal, but whether he can successfully utilize it will determine the kind of player he becomes. Right now, he needs to work on his launch angle and his attack angle at the plate. In 2025, he had a 44% groundball rate, a number too high for someone producing an elite 90th percentile exit velocity. Azocar will need to elevate the ball more to reach his full potential and truly break out in 2026.

Growing pains are a natural part of the game, and development is rarely linear in baseball. Should Azocar show signs of improvement from his 2025 performance in Salem, though, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him in Greenville at the age of 19.

While predicting a player’s future can be tough, one thing is for certain: the Red Sox have a very intriguing prospect in their organization. He might be a few years away from realizing this potential, but Enddy Azocar has all the tools to become a top prospect in the team's farm system.

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[moonslav59]

Thanks for this.

Very encouraging.

[mvp 78]

The problem with Azocar was that he was going oppo too much and Salem was just eating him alive (terrible park). If he can just pull the ball more, he'll do fine. Not very worried about the slight increase in k% for now. 

[Hugh2]

16 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

The problem with Azocar was that he was going oppo too much and Salem was just eating him alive (terrible park). If he can just pull the ball more, he'll do fine. Not very worried about the slight increase in k% for now. 

He's 18, and I'm sure they got him in their bat speed program.  It will be interesting to see how he progresses. 

I feel like he could be one of those guys that pops once he reaches Greenville. 

[Nick John]

1 hour ago, Hugh2 said:

He's 18, and I'm sure they got him in their bat speed program.  It will be interesting to see how he progresses. 

I feel like he could be one of those guys that pops once he reaches Greenville. 

My exact thoughts. Get him to Greenville by Memorial Day and it could be really fun watching him the rest of the season 

[moonslav59]

Going oppo is not a bad thing, especially for a young kid. Usually, the problem is trying to get a kid to go oppo on certain pitches.

If the park is hurting his numbers, it's not a bother, to me. His approach is more important than his low A numbers.

[mvp 78]

14 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Going oppo is not a bad thing, especially for a young kid. Usually, the problem is trying to get a kid to go oppo on certain pitches.

If the park is hurting his numbers, it's not a bother, to me. His approach is more important than his low A numbers.

Going oppo will limit his power and the Sox are trying to maximize exit velo. It just doesn't work with the driveline stuff they are trying to implement. 

[moonslav59]

16 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Going oppo will limit his power and the Sox are trying to maximize exit velo. It just doesn't work with the driveline stuff they are trying to implement. 

I see the benefit of pulling the ball to maximize power, but I hope it's not at the expense of knowing when it's the right time to go oppo.

[mvp 78]

36 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I see the benefit of pulling the ball to maximize power, but I hope it's not at the expense of knowing when it's the right time to go oppo.

He's an 18 year old who OPS'd under 600 in Salem. I'm not sure he's advanced enough to work on going oppo intentionally yet.