Nick John

He has two left. This was his first season for arbitration eligibility but it was avoided. Ryan would become a free agent after the 2027 season and entering his age-32 season for 2028. I love Ryan but I wouldn't give up a huge talent package like Campbell, Clarke and Sandlin for just Ryan.

If his cutter continues to be like how it was last week, it'll play in the majors. It'll all come down to how his secondaries play out really. Worst case for the rest of the 2025 season is he comes out of the bullpen throwing bullets.

I highly doubt they trade Tolle this offseason. They think very highly of him and even at the deadline he was not on the table at first for Ryan. If they trade for Ryan this offseason, it'll be similar to how the White Sox asked for Anthony and Mayer at the deadline for Crochet but settled for Montgomery, Teel, Meidroth and Gonzalez instead. No way will Tolle be moved for 2 years of Ryan unless they get something else back too.

News broke early Thursday night that their top pitching prospect, Payton Tolle, would be making his major league debut Friday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The move, Boston’s fifth promotion of a Top 100 prospect in their system this season, shows the organization's commitment to this team. Tolle, a former second round pick in 2024, jumped up prospect ranks throughout the season thanks to his brilliant work on the mound. In 20 games across three minor league levels -- High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A -- Tolle dominated with 133 strikeouts in just 91 2/3 innings pitched. The 6’6” left-hander most recently struck out nine while allowing a just one run on one hit across five innings for Worcester. That start highlighted everything that has fans envisioning him as the eventual number two to Garrett Crochet. Playing off that, if Crochet is the War Pig, then Tolle is a Wild Boar. Boars have been linked as symbols of darkness, death and winter in Greek myths, and in Egyptian mythology they were linked to the month of October. Tolle will be the pitcher to put the Red Sox as a favorite coming out of the American League as he brings a feeling of darkness and death to other teams’ chances while helping to lead the Sox into October. Yes, it might be a bit of an exaggeration to say Tolle is that good. He’s yet to throw a pitch in the majors. But, his numbers point to just how good he is. In Triple-A alone, he managed not just a 27.6% strikeout rate, but he also limited walks to just 3.4%, making hitters swing at his pitches if they wanted to get on base. Demonstrated by a 31.1% whiff rate, hitters weren’t so lucky when it came to making contact. And those who did often didn't do so with any authority.. The average exit velocity against Tolle was just 83.1 mph, which went with a hard-hit rate of just 25%. Tolle manages to avoid allowing the big hit, and thanks in part to a fastball that has grown to average 95.5 mph with Worcester, he’s been able to blow hitters away when he needs to, Tolle is genuinely a rare occurrence, as he has changed his pitch selection across the season and has still dominated despite the tweaks to his arsenal. What started as a heavy fastball-slider/sweeper combination in Greenville has now transformed more into a five-pitch selection. Tolle still relies heavily on his four-seam fastball, tossing it 49.5% of the time in Worcester, but his secondary usage has changed. His cutter is now his second-most used pitch, being thrown at 18.9% of the time, followed up by his slider at 15.5%. Finally, his changeup and curveball round out his repertoire, as they’re thrown 8.7% and 7.3% of the time. His fastball is the best of his pitches—there’s no argument there, as he managed to get the velocity up from 91 mph in college to now topping out at just under 99 mph. It’s the pitch that made him into such an exciting prospect in the first place. His secondaries are nothing to look down on, however. While they still have some polishing that needs to be done, Tolle has shown an ability to use his cutter and slider effectively. Both pitches can sometimes look similar to each other, but Tolle’s cutter is what may help his fastball the most. Averaging around 90 mph in Worcester, the cutter has been used in an attempt to generate weak contact or to steal strikes as a backdoor offering against right-handers. In his latest start, all except for one cutter were either on the outer-third of the strike zone for a left-handed hitters or up and in, hoping to front door it up near the hands and jam the batter. The slider, on the other hand, has been in development for Tolle this season, as it has sometimes taken the shape of a sweeper and sometimes of a cutter depending on how its been thrown. However, one thing is certain: If he can settle on one version of it, it possesses tremendous potential as a strikeout pitch, generating an incredible 33.3% whiff rate in Worcester along with an expected batting average of just .063. The changeup and curveball are works in progress, however, as shown by their low usage. Despite that, they were mostly used in his latest start to try and expand the strike zone while attempting to offset the batters' timing. He may not throw many in Boston at this point in time and instead may just rely on his three main pitches, but these offerings will have a profound impact on Tolle's trajectory. Anticipate seeing him work hard on both pitches over the offseason. For now, don’t expect Tolle to go deep into games. He was already on an innings restriction in the minors, and that should be expected to continue in the major leagues. Tolle has already thrown more innings this season than anything prior in college, and the team has no interest in overtaxing his arm. Don’t be surprised if he’s limited to around five innings or 70 pitches much like he has been with Worcester so far. Though, there could be an argument made that the Red Sox could ramp him down into a bullpen role for the postseason by lowering his pitch count in each outing. Regardless, expect him to make the most of the pitches he is allowed to throw. Either way, Tolle will go out there and give it his all as he decimates the competition. The burly southpaw will do everything in his power to continue the amazing season he’s had so far, and he’ll do it while trying to help the Red Sox reach the postseason. With his promotion to the big league club, the Red Sox continue to reap the benefits of their prodigious farm system, and now Tolle will join the likes of Roman Anthony and Jhostynxon Garcia in Boston's push for the playoffs. View full article

On a late August night where the temperature began to cool as summer slowly began its transition to fall, the top prospect in the Red Sox system continued to heat up. Dominating in just his third start with Triple-A Worcester, Payton Tolle demonstrated why he’s earned the distinction of the best prospect in Boston. The left-hander, on an innings limit, absolutely dominated through five innings Friday night against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, as he retired 15 of the 16 batters he faced on just 63 pitches. The lone man to reach base did so from an infield double, a ball that deflected off of third baseman Mikey Romero’s glove to begin the game. While he would come around to score on a passed ball, Tolle would not allow another baserunner as he retired 15 straight to finish his outing. Nine of those outs came by strikeout as the Jumbo Shrimp could not get a read on the left-hander. The performance was a demonstration from Tolle, one that screamed he is ready for the next stage. A stage known as the majors, to be pitching in Boston before the end of the season, especially as the team is fighting to make it back to the postseason for the first time since 2021. Tolle led with his fastball, throwing it 49% of the time as it maxed out at just under 99 mph on the night at 98.6 mph. The Jumbo Shrimp were incapable of making quality contact against it, swinging 18 times and missing it completely on five of those swings. Of the 13 times they made contact, only three swings generated a ball in play. The game plan for it was obvious: never throw it to the inside corner against a left-handed batter. Either Tolle offered it low and away to try and generate weak contact, or it was thrown in the top third of the zone where hitters would have a harder time catching up to it. Even with right-handed hitters, he tried to stay away from down and in; the only batter after the first inning to get a pitch in that location was Johnny Olmstead, who struck out looking at a 98-mph fastball. The fastball was mostly complimented by two pitches, his cutter and slider, the former being thrown 11 times across the game. The cutter had a specific role to play, keep left-handed batters off guard. His first cutter was a mistake, middle-middle to the first batter of the game. After that it was located better. To the fourth batter of the game, he attempted to backdoor it, Deyvison De Los Santos not biting at it before grounding out on a fastball down and in on the next pitch. For left-handed batters, Tolle attempted to locate the pitch in one of two locations: either he looked to front door it up near the hands in hopes of jamming the batter, or it would be on the outer third of the strike zone in an attempt to get batters to chase and make weak contact. Left-handed batters saw five cutters in total, right-handers saw six of them, the majority being down in the strike zone. The slider on the other hand broke horizontally in a tighter cluster than the cutter (which saw more variance) while also having more of a drop vertically. Outside of two of them, Tolle located his slider either in the bottom third of the strike zone or below the strike zone. His very first slider was a taken strike, a backdoor slider up and away from Connor Norby. The plan for Tolle seems to be to keep most of his secondary pitches down in the zone, as outside of his fastball and cutter, there were only six pitches combined between his slider, changeup and curveball that were in the upper-half of the strike zone. His changeup was only tossed six times, none of them within the strike zone but more used to try and extend the strike zone and try to get batters to chase, something they did three times on Friday night. His curveball was only thrown four times, two landing in the zone where it was mostly used to offset timing as it’s his slowest pitch, averaging 83.1 mph during the game. This game highlighted what makes Tolle so elite on the mound. His ability to locate his pitches and limit baserunners is a skill the Red Sox would love to have up in the majors right now, especially from someone who can throw 98 mph when needed. So far, through three starts in Triple-A, Tolle has been something else on the mound. His walk rate sits at a wildly impressive 3.4% while he’s striking batters out at a 28.8% clip. With the manner he mixes his pitches, he’s generating whiffs at a 31.1% rate while limiting hard contact to just 25% of all balls put in play against him. In just 63 pitches, Tolle showcased everything that has made him a top prospect against the top team in the International League Eastern division. After seeing him pitch Friday night, it feels like Tolle doesn’t need any more time spent in the minor leagues and could produce right away for the Boston Red Sox. Whether he gets the call this year is a different question. The Red Sox have shown a willingness to let their top prospects continue to work on things despite looking ready, as shown with how they handled the promotion of Roman Anthony earlier in the season. Tolle could be another case like that where he seems ready, but the team keeps him down to work on some minor parts of his game. Regardless, one thing is certain: Tolle looks like the real deal, and the Red Sox could very well have their No. 2 starter to pair with ace Garrett Crochet already in-house. How they continue to develop Tolle will be the difference in whether he reaches that level of pitching or not. View full article

Since the hiring of Chaim Bloom prior to the 2020, season the message of building a consistently deep and productive farm system has been clear. Even following Bloom's dismissal, his successor Craig Breslow has followed the same philosophy of developing a strong farm system. Whether in need of depth or a source to complete trades, the Red Sox farm system has been overhauled and viewed as one of the best in baseball the past few seasons. Going off of just MLB Pipeline's rankings, the Red Sox currently rank as the 11th-best farm system in all of baseball (personally I like Baseball America's ranking for them being the fifth-best system more), a serious improvement since the start of the 2020 season which saw the Sox’ top three prospects as Jeter Downs, Triston Casas and Bobby Dalbec. Today, the top three on MLB Pipeline are Franklin Arias, Payton Tolle and Jhostynxon Garcia. Quite the difference. The Red Sox being ranked 11th is a testament to the improved structure and depth of their minor league system considering the talent they lost this year. Opening the season as MLB Pipeline's third-best system, the Red Sox saw their previous top three prospects of Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell all graduate from prospect status this season. Along with deadline trades of three top-30 prospects in Blaze Jordan, James Tibbs III and Zach Ehrhard, the system lost quite a bit of talent over the past six months. It's remarkable the industry still thinks as highly of the system as it does. The Red Sox's ability to replenish their farm system through trades, international scouting and drafting well has allowed them to develop a pipeline from the lowest levels of minor league baseball all the way to the major leagues. Remember, Anthony moved through three levels of minor league baseball in 2023 at the age of 19. Campbell did the same last season as well at the age of 22. Both players made their major league debuts this season and signed long-term extensions with the club. And now, Payton Tolle has gone from High-A Greenville all the way to Triple-A Worcester in his first professional season. Of course, team’s recent focus has been developing pitching. Of their top ten prospects on MLB Pipeline, six of them are pitchers, with the likes of 2024 draft picks Tolle and Brandon Clarke being joined in the top five by 2025 first-round pick Kyson Witherspoon. Other pitchers the team is high on after developing them include Connolly Early, David Sandlin and Luis Perales. And that’s not even touching the number of pitchers putting up great seasons across Double-A and the lower levels of the minors. With 14 of their 20 draft picks this season used on arms, the Red Sox are all in on developing their pitching after spending years working on the positional side of things. Former draft picks Mikey Romero and Nelly Taylor are joined by a collection of international signings such as Dorian Soto, Justin Gonzales, Yoeilin Cespedes and Miguel Bleis as players the Red Sox have on the offensive side of the ball that intrigue many. None have quite the upside of the Big Three, but this is still a deep group of position player talent that Boston can pull from in the coming seasons. The only downside of such a deep farm system is the fact that so many players are Rule 5 Draft eligible this upcoming winter. In each of the last two Rule 5 Drafts, the Red Sox have lost at least one player in the major league portion and multiple players in the minor league portion. Because of this, the team has tough decisions on who to protect each offseason. This year, the Sox have 36 Rule 5 eligible players, including the likes of Sandlin and Bleis. Overall, the Red Sox's farm system is in a much better state now than at the start of the decade, and the organization has shown no reasons to believe they won't keep the cupboards stocked and replenished. How the Red Sox use their treasure trove of assets is up to them, though since taking over, Breslow has shown a willingness to move prospects in a deal if it strengthens the major league club for the long haul. View full article

Following the news of Marcelo Mayer needing wrist surgery, the former top prospect's injury history may force the Red Sox to reconsider their options for next year. While Mayer is an incredibly talented player defensively and has shown flashes of offensive potential during his time in the Boston organization, there should be concern over his ability to stay on the field. Since being drafted in 2021, Mayer has yet to play in 100 games in a single season. His career high is 91 games back in 2022, ad between Worcester and Boston this year he appeared in 87. In 44 games with the Red sox this season, Mayer hit .228/.272/.402 with eight doubles, a triple, four home runs and 10 RBIs. Though most of his value came from his tremendous defense at third base and second base, this is a guy with a career .826 OPS in the minors. He's been viewed as a "sure thing" for quite some time, but the recurring injuries are going to make it hard for the front office to bet their future on him. Consequently, this offseason will be important for the Red Sox, as they could have to completely turn over the infield should Alex Bregman and Trevor Story both opt out of their contracts. While Story is unlikely to opt out, there is a good possibility that Bregman opts out and returns to the free agent market, meaning first base, second base, and third base will have openings on the depth chart. Realistically, the hope would be that Mayer could slot into either the starting third baseman or second baseman role, but it may not be the best idea to rely on him as a starter until he proves he can stay healthy across an entire season. Instead, Mayer's health may force Boston to make some difficult choices especially pertaining to how much they’re willing to spend to retain Bregman. There’s no debate surrounding the third baseman's value to the Red Sox this season, and it should be a foregone conclusion they’ll do everything they can to bring him back for next season. But, now that their possible fallback option in Mayer will be recovering from wrist surgery, the team may be forced outside of its comfort zone in negotiations with Bregman. The team could also pursue Eugenio Suarez this offseason if they feel he’s a possible solution at third base, but he’s certain to have several teams pursuing his services. Mikey Romero could also be called upon, but he's displayed his own inconsistencies and injury woes while steadily climbing the minor league ranks. Romy González—who has bounced between first base, second base, and third base with the Sox—can capably fill in at any spot, but he's best suited for his current short-side platoon role. Maybe the Sox will go the trade route for an infielder, and put resources into acquiring a player like Ketel Marte from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Marte will be 32 years old next season and will be under contract through the 2031 season for at a tolerable price. With Bob Nightengale of USA Today announcing that Arizona will listen to offers for their All-Star second baseman. it makes sense for Boston to at least make a call over the offseason. All of those options are serviceable at worst, but it's unlikely the team will execute every one of those moves. Retaining Bregman and giving Kristian Campbell another chance against major league pitching would quickly fill some holes, but that would still leave a gap at second base. As such, for the Red Sox in the long run, the best roster features a healthy Mayer in the lineup. There’s a reason the team loves the young infielder and aren’t ready to move on from him. They’ve seen his talent first hand and know the kind of ballplayer he is when healthy. Unfortunately, that "when healthy" stipulation is starting to creep into "if healthy" territory. Mayer has a bright future ahead of him, but he'll need to do everything in his power this offseason to build toward a more durable, dependable frame—otherwise, the Red Sox may be forced to look for alternatives immediately. View full article

Zack Kelly is not a name that Red Sox fans are terribly fond of. A 30-year-old reliever, Kelly has pitched in parts of four seasons with the Red Sox, dealing with injuries while pitching in both Triple-A and the major elagues. His most prominent season with Boston was in 2024, when he appeared in 49 games in what was a season of two halves. In 25 first half appearances, Kelly went 3-1 with a 1.78 ERA in 35 1/3 innings where he struck out 39 batters. In the second half, though, it all seemed to fall apart for the right-hander, as he appeared in 24 games and went 3-2 with a 7.59 ERA in 21 1/3 innings while striking out just 22 batters. The 2025 season has been more of the same for Kelly, as he’s appeared in 17 games for the Red Sox and has gone 1-3 with a 5.56 ERA in 22 2/3 innings. In that span, he’s allowed 14 earned runs on 24 hits, two home runs, and walked nine batters while striking out 25. Kelly broke camp with the Red Sox to begin the campaign, but its been a constant shuffle between Worcester and Boston as he’s been optioned to Triple-A three times on the season, along with missing significant time due to an oblique injury. Despite all of that, he might be better than you think. Kelly’s FIP is actually a much more respectable 3.64, and in conjunction with his expected ERA of 3.65, there's reason enough to believe that he’s getting extremely unlucky at times on the mound. Case in point: opposing batters have a batting average on balls in play of .344 this season against Kelly. As such, they are hitting .264 against him, despite an expected batting average of just .236. But what makes Kelly most intriguing for a playoff run is his ability to limit hard contact to go along with high strikeout numbers. While he doesn’t have enough innings to qualify for it, Kelly would be near the top-third of the league right now for average exit velocity, barrel percentage and hard-hit rate, sitting at 87.8 mph, 6.1% and 36.4%, respectively. Add to it a strikeout rate of 24.3% while striking out nearly 10 batters per nine innings (9.93), and Kelly clearly has the stuff to dominate out of the bullpen. The cherry on top is his continued success in limiting home runs; the right-hander has allowed 0.79 home runs per nine innings this season, which comes out to just two allowed in his 22 2/3 frames. Of course, his ERA of 5.56 and walk rate of 8.7% can't be ignored, nor can his penchant for allowing nearly half the batters who reach base against him to score (42.8% of them). However, if there’s anything that plays well in October, it’s velocity, and Kelly’s fastball averages 96.1 mph. The Red Sox are no stranger to this either, having dealt with similar circumstances in the lead up to their 2018 World Series championship. Joe Kelly was a 30-year-old reliever who had his ups and downs in 2018 that some believed should have been left off the postseason roster entirely. In 73 games that season, he only pitched 65 2/3 innings and had a 4.39 ERA while allowing 32 walks and striking out 68 batters. Kelly had a walk rate of 11.2% but thanks in part to his velocity (98.1 mph fastball and a 97.6 mph sinker), he made the postseason roster. That proved to be a smart call, as he held batters to a .186 batting average while he appeared in nine games and tossed 11 1/3 innings while allowing just one run to score. Heath Hembree is another example of velocity playing in the postseason as he struggled at times in 2018. Appearing in 67 games that season, Hembree tossed 60 innings and had a 4.20 ERA. Despite that, he still pitched in four games during the postseason where he didn’t allow a single hit or run. While he wasn’t as big of a part of the championship effort as Joe Kelly, Hembree provided 4 2/3 quality innings for the bullpen when called upon. Zack Kelly is much better than his stats show, and if he can be even half the pitcher he was in the first half of 2024, then the Red Sox could have another dominant piece for their bullpen in October. It would be a risky play, but Kelly could be the final piece they need to lock down games once the postseason rolls around. View full article

On April 7, the Red Sox made a trade that surprised some at the time, as they took advantage of their seeming surplus of starting pitching to acquire some interesting prospects. In exchange for Quinn Priester, the Red Sox received Yophery Rodriguez, a player to be named later, and the 33rd overall pick in the 2025 MLB draft from the Milwaukee Brewers. It seemed like a haul for a pitcher who was in Triple-A and behind the likes of Richard Fitts and Hunter Dobbins on the depth chart. The Red Sox saw an opportunity to cash in big on a player they had acquired for very little, having shipped Nick Yorke to Pittsburgh the previous summer for Priester. In Worcester this season, he had only made one start, pitching just four innings where he allowed two runs on six hits, though he did manage to strike out six batters. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, Priester has been rather dominant since joining the Brewers on April 7. Having pitched in 22 games, 17 of them starts, Priester has gone 11-2 with a 3.49 ERA across 118 2/3 innings and has been a major factor in the Brewers' stampede to the best record in baseball. The Red Sox, on the other hand, have dealt with season-ending injuries to three of their starters in Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck and Hunter Dobbins, on top of serious struggles from Walker Buehler and Richard Fitts. To some, it may seem like the Red Sox should have held on to Priester due to their issues with the rotation following the trade. However, the Red Sox may yet come out on top. When you take a closer look at Priester's performance, it's clear the rookie is over-performing for the Brewers currently. Despite his 3.49 ERA, Priester is rocking a 4.21 FIP while managing to strand 78.3% of runners. Add to it that he’s not striking out many batters—just 95 in 118 2/3 innings—and walking nearly three batters per nine innings, it might just be a matter of time until things begin to come undone for the right-hander. Hitters are making good contact against him, as shown by his hard-hit rate (42.1%) and the average exit velocity off of him sitting just under 90 mph (89.7 mph). Priester doesn’t generate enough whiffs or gets batters to chase enough either to help offset his 7.9% walk rate. And while batters are currently hitting just .239 against him, the underlying stats show he’s getting lucky there too, as he's working with an expected batting average of .251 along with an expected slugging percentage of .392. Eventually, hits will begin to fall in for opposing batters, and perhaps in August, things are starting to catch up to him. Through his first two starts in August, Priester has looked more pedestrian as he’s allowed seven earned runs off of 12 hits in 11 1/3 innings pitched, resulting in a 5.56 ERA. The worst part of it may be that in his latest start against the Mets, Priester only generated three whiffs on 33 swings, good for a rate of 9%. On the other hand, the Red Sox's end of the trade is only looking more promising. On May 5, right-hander John Holobetz was sent to the Red Sox as the player to be named later. Holobetz, a fifth-round pick in the 2024 draft, has spent his time in the Red Sox organization split between Greenville and Portland. where he’s looked rather good. In 14 games between the two levels, he’s tossed 75 2/3 innings while allowing 30 earned runs and striking out 80 hitters. Backed by a fastball that tops out at 96 mph, Holobetz has been able to use the pitch well thanks to its bat-missing ability along with his solid command for the pitch. His other pitches—a slider, curveball and changeup—are all works in progress, but they do flash plus potential at times. Even if he ends up in the bullpen as currently projected, Holobetz is an interesting pitcher to watch develop in the Red Sox pitching lab. Of course, the main piece from the deal is Rodriguez. Milwaukee’s seventh-ranked prospect at the time of the trade, Rodriguez was immediately sent to High-A Greenville where the 19-year-old broke out. In April, he would go on to hit .257/.409/.414 between his time with Milwaukee’s High-A organization and the Drive. Defensively, he only committed one error during that span as well, showcasing a profile that best fits in left field. While the young outfielder did struggle in both May and June—hitting .155/.276/.262 and .205/.295/.282, respectively—he did rebound in July. In 19 games that month, Rodriguez looked more like the hitter he was in April, having responded to the change in how opposing teams pitched to him. In that span, he would go on to hit .356/.390/.562 with seven doubles, a triple, two home runs and 15 RBIs. Rodriguez is still young, as he won’t turn 20 until early December and will have time to develop against High-A pitching (he’s roughly three years younger than the average player there). He was a highly-ranked prospect with Milwaukee and being ranked 21st with the Red Sox is less a slight towards his talent and more a sign of how deep the Red Sox's farm system is. Beyond that, many will argue that the true winner of this trade will be determined by how Marcus Phillips turns out. Drafted with that 33rd overall pick, Phillips is an interesting young arm thanks in part to a fastball that touches 100 mph. Paired with a deceptive release point and a slider that can reach 90 mph, Phillips could turn into either a starter or reliever depending on how his command and control play out. Should Phillips pan out for the Red Sox, there is no debate that they won this trade, even if Holobetz and Rodriguez fail to reach their potential. Regardless of how Priester has looked at times this season, the Red Sox were smart to trade a player who was near the bottom of their depth chart. It made sense from a roster management perspective, and the Red Sox would be wise to make that trade every time it was offered, especially considering that they acquired such a valuable draft pick. Smart teams keep their farm system stocked, and that's what the Red Sox did with this trade. View full article

When the Red Sox traded Rafael Devers back in mid-June to the San Francisco Giants, the original consensus on the return package was that the Sox got a less-than-ideal haul for their superstar. Returning to Boston was 2024 first-round pick James Tibbs III and three pitchers: Jordan Hicks, Jose Bello and Kyle Harrison. Since then, the trade has still looked underwhelming, as the Red Sox shipped Tibbs to the Dodgers as part of the return for Dustin May at the trade deadline. Bello has been pitching for Single-A Salem, while Hicks has been frustrating to watch with the Red Sox. Luckily, Harrison appears to have become the most intriguing of them all. especially as he gets more comfortable with the tweaks that the Red Sox have made since he came over from the Giants. While fans thought he might have been in consideration for joining the rotation upon his arrival, the team instead kept him in Triple-A to work on a few things. Harrison, a former Top 100 prospect on lists such as Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, struggled with the Giants this season as he bounced between the bullpen and rotation while appearing in eight games (four starts) and pitching just 23 2/3 innings to a 4.56 ERA before being optioned to Triple-A. Justin Willard, the Red Sox's Director of Pitching, feels that the focal point for Harrison will be his fastball, as it averaged 95.1 mph during his short time in the majors in 2025. The team wants to build the arsenal around the fastball and find what could help elevate it. Two pitches that were a main focus for Harrison to work on were the sinker and cutter, while also changing the grip on his changeup. Prior to coming to the Red Sox, Harrison mainly relied upon three pitches: his fastball, a slurve that at times was confused for a slow, lofty curveball, and a changeup. Despite working on it behind the scenes, Harrison and the Red Sox decided to ditch the sinker after using it just once in his first start with Worcester, instead focusing more on the altered changeup, the new cutter (which at times has been confused for a slider due to its break) and his slurve. Overall, Harrison is leading with his fastball as was always planned, using it just under 51% of the time (50.9%) while his cutter and slurve are used 18.2% and 19.3% of the time, respectively. His changeup remains his least used offering at 11.7%, though the usage is up from his 9.8% during his time with San Francisco. When looking at his pitches with the Red Sox compared to his last appearance with the Giants, you can see some noticeable differences. His changeup grip has been altered significantly to alter its spin rate. In his final appearance with the Giants, the changeup had an average spin rate of 2065 rpms; compared to his latest start with the Red Sox, that number fell to an average of 1253 rpms. In effect, his changeup is dropping more as it went from an average induced vertical break of plus two inches in his last appearance with the Giants to now seeing it drop an average of -2 inches with Worcester, while also increasing its horizontal break from 13 inches to 15 inches on average. The change in his pitches doesn’t end there, with his slurve gaining an average of four inches of horizontal break between his time with the Giants and the Red Sox, again due in part to a change in spin rate (from 2131 rpms on average to 2085 rpms). The cutter appears to be the most changed pitch, having such a sharp horizontal break (three inches on average in his last start). It seems to be a weapon to challenge right-handed batters in with, being tossed to a left-hander just five times since joining the Red Sox organization. Mainly thrown in the upper-two-thirds of the zone, the small movement helps to make batters late on his fastball. The slight tweaks to his pitches have allowed his fastball to play even better now, having generated seven whiffs along with seven called strikes in his last start on August 7. The batters’ timing is off as well, fouling off the pitch 10 times and only managing to put the fastball in play seven times across the start. What might be most promising is the fact that his average exit velocity for his fastball was just 79.2 mph, showing that he is limiting hard contact by mixing his new pitch arsenal around the fastball. This follows a trend of his overall average exit velocity seeing a drop from 92.8 mph with the Giants down to 87.9 mph, along with his hard-hit rate dropping down from 48.5% to 28.3% with Worcester. With 99 pitches in his last start, Harrison may be closer to being called up than people realize. And with the rotation having two large question marks in May and Walker Buehler, Harrison may be needed to provide some quality innings down the stretch as the team continues to fight for a playoff spot. While the return for Devers may have seemed underwhelming at first, Harrison could change perceptions around the deal in a hurry. View full article

Something the Red Sox have prioritized building over the last few seasons is the ability to have quality depth to call upon over the course of a 162-game campaign. This season, that need for depth has been put on full display, as several players have been shuttled back and forth between Boston and Worcester with injuries mounting in both the lineup and pitching staff. Now, with the season entering the home stretch, depth will play an important role. Below is a list of players likely to play a role down the stretch for Boston as they continue their pursuit of their first playoff appearance since 2021. Cooper Criswell – Pitcher Criswell has been an interesting case since signing with Boston prior to the 2024 season. Last year, he was a surprise staple in the rotation, as he made 18 starts with the Red Sox while appearing in 26 games in total. Seen as emergency depth, Criswell won five games for the Red Sox while tossing 85 innings with a 3.49 ERA. 2025 saw him begin the season out of the bullpen with Boston, struggling at times before being optioned to Worcester. Upon returning to Worcester, Criswell pitched as part of the rotation between being called up to Boston multiple times as pitching depth when the bullpen was thin. His latest stint in Boston, however, reminded people of how well he was as a starting pitcher in 2024. In what was a huge game to win, Criswell dominated the Houston Astros by allowing just one run across seven innings pitched. In a time where clutch pitching is needed, Criswell could see himself back up in Boston should members of the rotation (such as Walker Buehler or Dustin May) struggle down the stretch. Criswell's stuff plays better in a starting role (career 3.54 ERA vs 6.05 ERA out of the bullpen), but his ability to be a swingman and pitch either in the rotation or bullpen could make him valuable depth down the stretch. David Sandlin – Pitcher Sandlin spent the entire season being developed as a starter, making all his appearances either as a starter or serving in the piggyback role where he would go four or five innings out of the bullpen. Now, with roughly a month and a half left in the season, plans seemed to have changed. Thanks in part to his impressive fastball, the Red Sox are transitioning Sandlin to the bullpen for the remainder of the year in case they decide to bring him up to Boston. If he were to be called up, Sandlin would pitch exclusively out of the bullpen where his dominant fastball would have him form a powerful bullpen alongside the likes of Aroldis Chapman, Garrett Whitlock, Justin Wilson and (hopefully) Justin Slaten. Sandlin has already made two appearances out of the bullpen as he begins the adjustment, tossing 3 1/3 innings while allowing three runs and striking out four batters. Should he get called up to Boston, he could truly transform the Red Sox's bullpen into one of the strongest in the league during the playoff chase. Nick Sogard – Utility Sogard has spent some time in Boston over the past two seasons, though the majority of that run came in 2024. Sogard would be an interesting piece to help out Boston thanks in part to his ability to play all over the field. Since 2023, Sogard has spent time at every position in the field except for catcher and center field. His ability to handle nearly any position could be a valuable asset for the Red Sox in late-game defensive situations. Across 75 games this season, Sogard has made eight errors, but with the Red Sox lacking middle-infield depth, he could get a chance if something should happen. While his speed isn’t as promising as David Hamilton's, he could prove to be of higher value when it comes to offense and defense. While Sogard's bat isn’t as good as others, he can still make quality contact and put the ball in play. His power wouldn’t be nearly as important (his career OPS across 151 plate appearances is just .655), but an ability to put the ball in play and move runners over is another late game quality needed for a playoff run. Add to it that he has a great eye at the plate (209 walks in 348 Triple-A games), and there's a case for him to be a primary bench piece down the stretch. Zack Kelly – Pitcher Kelly, another pitcher who has been up and down with Boston this season, was just optioned to Triple-A Worcester on August 2 after completing his rehab assignment after returning from an oblique injury he suffered at the start of July. In 17 games this season with Boston, Kelly has had mixed results leading to 5.56 ERA across just 22 2/3 innings. However, despite the high ERA, Kelly has allowed just two home runs while striking out 25 batters thanks in part to a fastball that averages 96 mph. He mixes in a cutter, sinker, slider and changeup to keep hitters off balance. Kelly has been a recipient of bad luck this season, as his FIP is down to 3.64 on the season and he's fighting through a .344 BABIP. Given that he’s striking out nearly 10 batters per nine innings, a proper turn of luck could turn him into a strikeout-throwing, home-run-limiting option out of the bullpen, two attributes that would be valuable in the playoffs. Kristian Campbell – Infielder Campbell erupted onto the scene in April where he hit .301/.407/.495 with eight doubles, four home runs and 12 RBIs as he looked like an early favorite for AL Rookie of the Year. Campbell struggled after that, however, and was optioned to Triple-A Worcester on June 20. Since going to Worcester, Campbell has worked on two parts of his game: pulling the ball with more power, and learning how to play first base. There's good news to report on both fronts, as Campbell has started to look like his old self again, hitting .268/.402/.428 with five home runs and 20 RBIs while looking more and more comfortable at first base with each passing game. Currently, the Red Sox don’t have a need for Campbell and would prefer to let him continue to work on some parts of his game in Worcester, but should Abraham Toro continue to struggle at the plate, there’s a chance the team could look to Campbell to help out at first base alongside Romy González. Jhostynxon Garcia – Outfielder While the Red Sox themselves don’t need an outfielder with six of them on the roster currently (even if Rafaela has been playing second base more often than the outfield since Marcelo Mayer’s injury), Garcia might be too good to leave in Worcester. Offensively, he has shown that despite being just 22 years old, he’s more than capable against Triple-A pitching. In 59 games with Worcester this season, the outfielder is hitting .303/370/.581 with 11 doubles, three triples, 16 home runs and 49 RBIs, all while playing solid defense across all three outfield positions. What might help expedite his arrival in Boston is the fact he’s now learning how to play first base as well. While he has yet to get any game action at first base, Garcia has been learning the position and could begin playing there within the next week or so. Should he handle the position well enough, there is a good chance he could be brought up to Boston largely for his impressive bat and immense power. And unlike most prospects, Garcia is already on the 40-man roster, so the only corresponding move needed would be someone optioned to Worcester to clear up a spot. The possibility of this young slugger being in Boston by September appears to be climbing. 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The Boston Red Sox have taken a new approach to their farm system under Craig Breslow. Whereas Chaim Bloom overhauled the hitting infrastructure and developed position players first and foremost, Breslow has instead focused on drafting and developing pitchers, as shown through his first two drafts in charge. Because of this change in philosophy, the team has managed to fill their system with talented pitchers, like Payton Tolle and Brandon Clarke. Now, it seems that there may be another pitcher ready to join their ranks. Drafted in the sixth round of the 2024 MLB Draft out of Kennesaw State University, Blake Aita has been an impressive find by Breslow. Aita, a 22-year-old right-handed pitcher, stands 6’4”, continuing the trend set by Breslow on drafting tall pitchers who have yet to fill out their frames. Case in point: His fastball can now reach 95 mph after sitting 89-92 mph in college. Aita opened his professional career with Low-A Salem where he made 10 appearances, nine starts, and went 2-3 with a 4.24 ERA in 51 innings pitched. In that time, he showcased his great control, walking only nine batters and striking out 45. Since then, the team wasted little time in promoting him to Greenville, as he got the call on June 9 to head to High-A Upon joining Greenville, Aita has been even better in eight starts for the Drive. In that span, he’s gone 3-3 with a 3.06 ERA in 47 innings pitched, walking only 13 batters and striking out 41. Between the two levels, he’s pitched to a 3.67 ERA across 98 innings. At the time of this writing, those 98 frames pitched lead all Red Sox pitchers in the minor leagues. From a pitching standpoint, Aita starts from the first base side of the rubber and throws from a high three-quarters arm slot where his arm swings behind him before coming to the plate, and due to the angle, can allow him to hide the ball well. Pitch-wise, he has four main offerings, those being his fastball, sweeper, cutter, and changeup. The fastball, as mentioned before, now reaches 95 mph while maintaining high spin rates and solid command and control, giving him an above-average pitch to build his foundation on. His best pitch, however, may be his sweeper that averages 80-82 mph with a long, horizontal break thanks in part to a high spin rate. So far, he’s shown a good feel for the pitch, and it’s demonstrated strong bat-missing ability that has allowed him to use it against both right-handed and left-handed batters. The cutter, meanwhile, averages around 86-89 mph, while his changeup is 85-89 mph and is mainly used against left-handed hitters thanks to its "diving" characteristics. On the season, Aita’s success has primarily come from his ability to limit opponents from being on base, as he has a walk rate of just 5.6% and batters are hitting just .209, leading to a WHIP of 1.00 across the two levels (opponents are hitting just .176 against him in Greenville). And while he isn't overly reliant on strikeouts, he still gets them when it matters, posting a solid 22.1% K-rate on the year. Aita uses his pitch mix to his advantage, getting batters to swing at nearly half of all his pitches thrown (currently 49.8% of his thrown pitches are swung at), while 75.9% of those swings end up connecting with the pitch. Should the batter make contact, Aita has managed to limit damage thanks in part to a 43.8% ground ball rate (though it has dropped to 34.5% with Greenville). There’s still some work to go, as his fly ball rate has jumped to 46% in High-A, but he’s limiting it from leading to danger as he’s only allowed nine home runs across his 98 innings. There is a chance for slight regression with Aita—his FIP sits at 4.02 in Greenville, which is league average—who is currently rocking an absurd .202 BABIP at his current level. That's sure to regress to the mean at some point. However, it can’t go without saying how he buckles down when runners do reach against him, as he’s stranded 63.5% of runners on base (something that has increased to 69.3% with Greenville). Aita is an interesting prospect, as he limits walks and baserunners while also giving up a small number of home runs. Having already shown an ability to increase his velocity as well, he could develop an impressive arsenal thanks to his high-spin breaking pitches. Should Aita continue his masterful work this season and into next year, he should be able to push his name into the conversation around the top Red Sox's pitching prospects View full article

Today, the Boston Red Sox signed rookie sensation Roman Anthony to an eight-year, $130 million contract that could increase to $230 million based on various escalators within the contract. The deal itself means that Anthony should remain a Boston Red Sox through the 2033 season, with a club option to keep him through 2034. While everyone is celebrating the huge moment (rightfully so), there seems to be an avoidance of the possible downsides of this contract should anything go wrong. From a fanbase viewpoint, no one wants to think of such an outcome, but there’s a reason a lot of these contracts for young players are signed early in their careers instead of waiting to cash in once they get to free agency. Typically, it's to make sure the young player gets guaranteed money before a possible injury occurs; sometimes, they’re leaving money on the table, and other times it works out. An example would be David Wright of the New York Mets, a former superstar who saw injuries derail his career. The former third baseman originally signed a six-year, $55 million extension in August of 2006 and played up to that contract. It was the following extension that proved to be the bad gamble. Coming off of a season that saw Wright hit .306/.391/.492 with 41 doubles, two triples, 21 home runs and 93 RBIs, the Mets not only picked up the option for the 2013 season but also added on seven years and $122 million through an extension. After 2013 when that extension kicked in, Wright would go on to only play 211 games between 2014 and 2018, including missing all of the 2017 season. Wright would be released from the contract following 2018 and retired. Wright made his debut at 21 years old in 2004, playing in 69 games where he hit .293/.332/.525 with 17 doubles, a triple, 14 home runs and 40 RBIs. From 2005 through 2013, he was a force in the lineup, only failing to hit 20 or more home runs in 2009. Notably, 2011 and 2013 which were the only seasons he failed to play in more than 150 games before his huge extension kicked in. He had five seasons of over 100 RBIs, four straight years of 40 or more doubles, and not only won two Silver Slugger awards but also two Gold Gloves and made the All-Star team seven times. The Red Sox hope Anthony can become a player like Wright was before his unfortunate string of injuries. But there’s no denying that with an extension like that comes to the worry of a potential injury (or underperformance) derailing a season or even more. Fortunately, Anthony has shown no signs of injury concern so far in his career both in the minor leagues and with Boston, and should remain healthy in the outfield compared to the more physically demanding position of third base that Wright previously played. Of course, there’s also the chance of Anthony just not working out. This probability seems very unlikely based on how Anthony has looked and performed so far, but there’s always that chance. A team signs a player to a long-term extension in hopes of locking them up for the future and instead are left with an awful contract. This happened to the Philadelphia Phillies back in 2018 when they signed Scott Kingery to a six-year, $24 million contract that included three options that would have brought the deal up to $65 million. All of that was awarded because of his unbelievable 2017 season between Double-A and Triple-A before hitting close to .400 in spring training and winning a big league roster spot. It didn’t work out in the end for the Phillies as Kingly struggled. In fact, from 2018-22, he played in just 325 games (273 of those were in his first two seasons), and he spent most of 2021, 2022 and all of 2023 either hurt or playing in Triple-A. Eloy Jiménez is another example of a contract that didn’t really work out for various reasons. Jiménez signed a six-year, $43 million contract before playing a single game in the major leagues. It quickly looked like a smart investment, as he hit .267/.315/.513 with 18 doubles, two triples, 31 home runs and 79 RBIs in his rookie season. Unfortunately, he never played more than 122 games in a season again. Ignoring the Covid-shortened 2020 campaign, Jiménez only appeared in more than 100 games one more time during the span of that contract in 2023, where in 120 games he hit .272/.317/.441 with 23 doubles, 18 home runs and 64 RBIs, a rather league-average offensive showing. Right now, Jiménez isn’t even in major league baseball at the moment, instead a free agent after playing for Triple-A Durham in the Tampa Bay organization before getting released on July 12. He might have to settle for another minor league deal for next season or attempt to rebuild his value overseas in either the NPB or KBO. That's a rather length preamble to this whole conversation, but it's important to remind ourselves that even the most surefire deals don't always work out. That being said, despite all the aforementioned issues with long-term extensions for young players, especially those who were mostly unproven, there really shouldn’t be much concern for Anthony. Unlike the other players, his metrics back up how well he’s played. It isn’t like he’s gotten extremely lucky at the plate; he's actually performing very similar to his minor league self. He isn’t being overwhelmed by major league pitching and is staying true to himself; working counts and getting the pitch he wants to swing at. Anthony hasn’t tried to sell out for more power in the majors despite showcasing some of the hardest hit baseballs in the league thanks to impressive bat speed and the ability to square up the baseball at high rates. Offensively, he’s shown he is exactly the kind of player you would invest this amount of money into, as his numbers are very similar if not higher than Rafael Devers following his 2022 season (the one before he signed the extension). In fact, at this point in time, Anthony has a higher xwOBA, average exit velocity, hard-hit rate, launch angle sweet spot, bat speed, squared-up rate, chase rate and walk rate than Devers had before his extension. And everyone knew the kind of offensive player that Devers was, so there should be no worries in regard to the gamble the Red Sox just took on with Anthony. If anything, it might be a steal considering the type of player Anthony is projected to become. The Red Sox have wagered that this is all going to work out, and things right now point to the fact that Anthony should continue progressing into a middle-of-the-order, All-Star-caliber hitter who plays great defense. He’s exactly the type of player you should want to gamble on, because his floor is just so high. Obviously, if all goes according to plan, peak Anthony will make this extension a bargain, but even if it doesn't, he should still play well enough throughout his 20s to justify this kind of expenditure. In today’s game where locking up young players is becoming more common, the Red Sox may have just gambled on their scouts and development system. Anthony was under team control for another five or six years at relatively cheap rates. If his early success is to be believed, though, Boston just secured its future at an extremely affordable price. View full article