Nick John

The Boston Red Sox suffered a massive blow to their roster Wednesday afternoon as manager Alex Cora announced that Roman Anthony is headed to the injured list with an oblique strain. During his afternoon appearance on WEEI, Cora not only dropped the news about the stint on the injured list, but that the estimated timetable for recovery and return is around four to six weeks. Anthony suffered the injury during Tuesday night’s games against the Cleveland Guardians in the bottom of the fourth inning. After striking out, Anthony reached for his backside and made his way into the dugout before heading straight into the tunnel. He was immediately replaced in the top of the fifth by Nate Eaton. The loss of Anthony is a big one for Boston, as the outfielder had been a spark for the team serving as the leadoff hitter shortly after his promotion to the majors. In 71 games, the 21-year-old hit .292/.396/.463 with 18 doubles, a triple, eight home runs and 32 RBIs. Since calling Anthony up, Boston has gone 46-27, taking them from a near-.500 team to one of the top teams in the American League. Boston will now look to navigate the final month of the season without their sensational rookie.

The Boston Red Sox continue to be aggressive with the promotion of their young prospects, as Franklin Arias was promoted from High-A Greenville to Double-A Portland Tuesday afternoon. Arias, the team’s No. 1 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, joins his third team of the season after starting the year with Single-A Salem. In 106 games between Single-A and High-A, Arias slashed .279/.343/.383 with 25 doubles, a triple, six home runs and 58 RBIs. He also walked 38 times while striking out just 47 times. Arias, who entered the season known for his amazing defensive skill at shortstop, broke out offensively by hitting .346/.407/.397 before his promotion to Greenville. He began his time with the Drive continuing to hit before struggling in June, where he slashed just .169/.228/.265 in 20 games. His numbers have slowly climbed since then, culminating in him hitting .253/.380/.337 in 22 games in August. Arias, who won’t turn 20 years old until November, will be one of the youngest players in all of Double-A for the remainder of the season. Boston hopes he can respond to the increase in competition and prove why many prospect lists have him ranked as the best player in their farm system.

With September officially here, MLB rosters can officially be expanded to 28 players (14 pitchers max). The Red Sox have done just that, as they have added pitcher Zack Kelly and catcher Ali Sánchez to the active roster according to MassLive's Christopher Smith. Kelly has been shuttled this season between Boston and Worcester with a stint on the injured list as well. His last appearance with Boston was on June 29 against the Toronto Blue Jays, where he would end up leaving with an injury. Overall on the season, Kelly has appeared in 17 games for Boston going 1-3 with a 5.56 ERA in 22 2/3 innings pitched. He’s been a victim of poor luck, as shown by his expected ERA being 3.70 and his FIP being 3.65. With Worcester, he’s appeared in 21 games and produced a 6.15 ERA in 26 1/3 innings pitched. Sánchez was previously acquired by Boston on August 8 when Carlos Narváez was banged up. Serving as the third catcher, Sánchez appeared in just one game as a defensive replacement before getting designated for assignment. After refusing an assignment to Worcester, Sánchez became a free agent and signed with the New York Mets. On August 31, he was traded back to Boston by the Mets and was assigned to the Worcester Red Sox this morning before being activated to the major league roster. To make room for Sánchez on the 40-Man roster, Marcelo Mayer was transferred to the 60-Day injured list. Both players will be active starting today as the Red Sox open the final month of the season against the Cleveland Guardians.

The Boston Red Sox made a surprise signing Saturday night, as the club and star closer Aroldis Chapman agreed on a one-year extension for the 2026 season, along with an option for the 2027 season. The deal, first reported by Francys Romero, will be worth $13.3 million in 2026, while the option for 2027 is a vesting option based on innings. Should the vesting option not trigger, it will instead become a mutual option. Overall, Chapman could earn $26 million over the next two seasons should the option be picked up. Saying Chapman has been dominant this season would be an understatement, as the left-handed pitcher has appeared in 57 games this season going 4-2 with 26 saves and a 1.04 ERA across 52 innings. In that span, he has struck out 74 batters while allowing just 14 walks. After entering spring training as part of the competition for the closer role, Chapman made it his own and has solidified the ninth inning for the Red Sox. By locking up Chapman, the Red Sox have made sure the back end of their bullpen is all set for the 2026 season, as relievers Garrett Whitlock and Justin Slaten will also be under contract. Chapman, who will be 38 years old next season, made his eighth All-Star team this year and his first since 2021. For his career, he has appeared in 853 games across 16 seasons. In that span, he’s gone 59-47 with 361 saves and a 2.53 ERA in 812 innings.

The Boston Red Sox continue to shake up their pitching staff as the team prepares for the final month of the season. With the news of top pitching prospect Payton Tolle making his major league debut Friday night in Boston, the team needed to open a roster spot. According to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo, the team has released struggling pitcher Walker Buehler. Buehler, who signed a one-year, $21.05 million contract with a $25 million mutual option for 2026, struggled throughout the 2025 season. In 23 games, Buehler made 22 starts and went 7-7 with a 5.45 ERA in 112 1/3 innings. In that span, he only struck out 84 batters while walking 55 and allowing 22 home runs. Along with that, Buehler spent close to a month on the injured list due to right shoulder bursitis. After his start on August 19, the Red Sox decided to move him to the bullpen instead of keeping him a starter. Part of the decision was likely due to a contract escalator he had where, for every two starts after his 20th start, Buehler would make an additional $500,000 until he hit 28 starts. After being moved to the bullpen, Buehler only made one more appearance on August 24 in a blowout loss to the New York Yankees A former top pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Buehler was signed with the hope that he could continue the pitching he showcased throughout the playoffs in 2024 with the Dodgers. Instead, he was inconsistent with the Red Sox and could never get into a groove with his new team. Buehler will now hit free agency and should a playoff team sign him before September 1, he could potentially be added to their playoff roster.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.