Nick John

Montgomery is going to be the player in that deal that hurts to have traded. But to get Crochet for him I'm alright with trading him

Baseball America unveiled their updated Top 100 prospects list for May, and the Boston Red Sox are well represented on it with six prospects making the cut. Adding to the impressive display of prospects was the fact the Red Sox had three prospects rank within the top 10. This is the second time since the end of the 2024 season where the Red Sox have had six prospects in the top 100. Making the list were Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, Marcelo Mayer, Franklin Arias, Payton Tolle and Brandon Clarke. Tolle and Clarke are newcomers to the list after making their professional debuts this season. Leading the way is Anthony, as the top prospect reclaimed the number one spot from Roki Sasaki after an outstanding April. Fans and other executives are wondering why Anthony hasn’t been called up to the majors yet after showing that he is more than ready, but for the time being, the outfielder continues to perform at a high level in Triple-A. Currently third on the list is Campbell, as the second baseman continues a rookie campaign with Boston that saw him win the American League Rookie of the Month award for April. Campbell won’t be eligible for the list for much longer, as he’ll graduate from prospect status in the coming weeks. For now, he joins Anthony as one of the three Red Sox prospects in the top 10. Joining the dynamic duo is the last member of the Big Three (and the longest tenured one) in Mayer. After dealing with injuries across multiple years, Mayer seems to be fully healthy, as he’s played excellently on both sides of the ball in Triple-A. Offensively, he leads Worcester in RBIs, and in the field he’s played phenomenal defense whether it’s at shortstop, second base or third base. Mayer ranked ninth in the latest BA list and could see himself move even higher should his play remain consistent. The last member who was previously on the top 100 list is Franklin Arias, the sure-handed shortstop that was recently promoted to Greenville after a hot start to the season in Salem. The shortstop previously ranked 72nd and is now up to 68th on Baseball America's list. Originally signed for his glove, Arias has shown impressive improvement with his bat since signing and has quickly vaulted himself up several prospect ranking lists. The first new comer for the Red Sox is Tolle, who ranked 94th on his first industry top 100 list. Tolle was drafted in the second round of the 2024 draft out of Texas Christian University and has made four starts for High-A Greenville. Tolle's most impressive skill may be his ability to rack up strikeouts. Through 14 2/3 innings, he’s earned 29 strikeouts thanks in part to his elite extension and velocity. Currently, his fastball tops out at 96 mph, but due to an extension of 7.4 feet on average, it allows his fastball to play above it’s velocity and appear faster. He also throws a sweeper, slider and changeup, and he's flashed advanced feel for each one as he hones his arsenal. The final member of the Red Sox prospects on the Top 100 list is Brandon Clarke. The left-hander debuted in a big way, as he threw four perfect innings in his professional debut with Salem. The 22-year-old was promoted to Greenville after three starts that saw him strike out 17 batters in 9 2/3 innings. His impressive start continued in his Greenville debut, where he allowed only one unearned run in 4 2/3 innings while striking out seven. Clarke throws four pitches; a fastball that tops out at 100 mph, a slider, sweeper and changeup, which all lead to many swings and misses by opposing batters. The Red Sox farm system has continued to show it’s elite ability to develop players, even after trading away Kyle Teel and Braden Montgomery and dealing with injuries to top pitching prospect Luis Perales. Even with a number of prospect graduations on the horizon, fans should be pleased at the health of the organization's player development pipeline. View full article

I've watched him quite a few times in Worcester this season. That fastball/slider combination works very well and I think it's worth a shot. If it doesn't work out then just cut him. If it works out, you have another arm

After struggling in Worcester during the 2024 season, this outfielder is hitting better than before since his promotion back to Triple A. Corey Rosier is no stranger to the Worcester Red Sox or Polar Park. Acquired at the trade deadline in 2022 alongside Max Ferguson and Eric Hosmer from the San Diego Padres for pitcher Jay Groome, Rosier has gradually made his way through the Red Sox minor league system. In 2023, he finally made it to Worcester, where in 12 games he put together a stat line of .282/.364/.359, hitting three doubles and driving in two runs. During his short time in Worcester, he also walked four times while striking out 10 times. That offseason, he was selected to play in the Arizona Fall League, putting up similar numbers as he hit .258/.355/.344 in 23 games. Going into 2024, there was some interest in him throughout the organization, as he earned a non-roster invite to spring training and eventually opened the season in Triple-A. Unfortunately, 2024 did not go as well for Rosier, the outfielder bouncing back and forth between Worcester and Portland along with spending nearly a month on the Development List. Overall, Rosier would play in 88 games between Portland and Worcester, struggling at both levels as he finished the season hitting .196/.281/.278 while striking out 68 times. He was not invited back to major league camp this spring, effectively dousing any hype that surrounded him a year ago. Now, however, Rosier seems to have found his hitting stroke in his latest stint in Worcester. After struggling to begin the year with Portland, Rosier found himself promoted a level, as the WooSox needed a body who could play the outfield, as Roman Anthony was dealing with a sore shoulder. Rosier took advantage of the opportunity, and now he's become a fixture in the lineup even with Anthony back in the fray. Since his return to Worcester on April 20th, Rosier has appeared in 12 games, hitting .359/.419/.564 in 39 at-bats. Most importantly, he's drastically cut down on his strikeouts. In 2024, Rosier played 54 games for Worcester, striking out 45 times. This year, he's only struck out seven times in those 12 appearances. Looking at Rosier’s numbers, the outfielder does not miss when he swings at pitches in the zone. Currently, his zone-contact rate is sitting at 87.8%, showing that if he’s swinging at something in the zone, there’s a good chance he’s either fouling it off or putting it in play. Considering his 21.3% whiff rate, Rosier is not missing many pitches. He does have a habit of pulling the ball however, currently pulling 48.1% of the balls he puts in play to the right side of the field. His hits are not exactly rockets either, as currently he’s only barreling the ball at a 3.8% rate and has a hard-hit rate of only 42.3%, a rate that puts him close to average in Triple-A. Rosier has been a paradigmatic example of a slap hitter who’s been putting the ball in play often and getting it to land where the defender isn’t. His swing is short and compact, somewhat reminiscent of Luis Arraez of the San Diego Padres. Though one thing with Rosier’s hot streak you shouldn’t expect to continue is his power. During a recent two-week homestand, the outfielder hit two home runs at Polar Park. He only managed two home runs in his first 66 games in Triple-A before this season. With his low rates when it comes to barreling up the ball or hitting it hard, I would not expect many more to come soon. Rosier is an interesting player for the Red Sox as player who could be a solid fourth outfielder or even a potential utility player. It will all come down to his ability to continue to put the ball in play and utilize his plus-speed. Rosier will be Rule 5 eligible this offseason, and with their young outfield depth, it wouldn’t make sense for the organization to add him to the 40-man roster over someone like Roman Anthony. Though, should Rosier continue to play well in Worcester, he might just bring his value up for a potential deadline deal. View full article

The Worcester Red Sox have a few interesting pitchers on their roster that could provide help to Boston at some point in the season. The one who may be the most interesting pick might be someone who was viewed as nothing more than Triple-A depth. Nick Burdi is no stranger to bouncing around teams. Since being drafted in 2014, he has spent time in the Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees organizations before signing a minor league deal with the Boston Red Sox on February 28th of this year. At the time, he wasn’t expected to compete for a roster spot, having signed after spring training began. Instead, it was expected he would open the year at Triple-A and be used as emergency depth. After an impressive opening to the season, that plan may have to change. Through his first 14 2/3 innings pitched, Burdi has been nearly unhittable. With an ERA of 0.61 that is backed up by a WHIP of 0.82 and a FIP of 0.97, Burdi has been one of the most dominant arms not just in the Worcester bullpen but throughout Triple A. The 32-year-old has used a mix of three pitches: a slider, four-seam fastball and a changeup. His most used pitch has been the slider, with a usage rate near 40%. The pitch has averaged 86.6 mph, breaking around 10.6 inches horizontally towards his glove side, a great pitch to try and get right-handed batters to chase. Unfortunately, while it’s managing a 42.4% whiff rate, it’s only being chased out of the zone at a 27.3% rate. Despite that, the expected weighted on-base average it allows is sitting at an amazing 0.189, providing hope it's still major-league caliber. The fastball has been just as useful, being thrown at 30.6% of the time and averaging around 96 mph, though it has reached 97-98 mph. Overall, it has been less effective than the slider, though thanks to the speed difference between the two pitches, it helps to make his slider even more dangerous to opposing batters. Hitting the zone around 47% of the time with his fastball, Burdi has been able to get batters to chase it 25% of the time and whiff at just under 42% of his fastballs thrown. His final pitch is his changeup, thrown at the same amount of the time as his fastball at 30.6%. Unlike most changeups, this one is hard and firm, being thrown at 93.8 mph. At times, he’s been able to throw it for a slower speed, but for the most part, it is only a few miles slower than his fastball. It’s an interesting pitch for its movement, averaging around 1.5 inches of vertical break and 16.1 inches of horizontal break. The pitch so far has been his most accurate, landing in the strike zone 54.4% of the time, though it’s also been the hardest hit of the three pitches. Only able to generate a 13.8% whiff rate, the pitch has an expected weighted on-base average (xwOBA) of 0.386. The overall numbers don’t do enough justice for Burdi either, as his fastball velocity ranks in the 98th percentile in all of Triple-A, as does his expected weighted on-base average (.213). Add to it that batters are whiffing on 33.3% of his pitches, and Burdi is dominating his competition this year. Most importantly, Burdi is controlling the strike zone and tempo of at-bats, striking out opposing hitters at a 38.6% rate while only walking them at a 5.3% rate. He’s keeping batters off the bases and he’s providing shutdown innings for the bullpen while providing length. In six of his appearances, he’s gone at least 1 1/3 innings, and in all but two of his 11 games, he’s had multiple strikeouts. Burdi’s main issue, however, is his ability to limit hard contact. While most end up as outs, batters have been barreling up 6.5% of batted balls and are hitting them hard at an even higher percentage. Burdi’s hard-hit rate is currently 45.2%, which just won't be sustainable against big league hitters. Burdi does have some experience in the majors, appearing in 31 games across five injury-filled seasons. In that span, he’s tossed 25 innings and struck out 39 batters with a 6.48 ERA. Last season, he pitched much better for the Yankees, appearing in 12 games and throwing 9 2/3 innings. In that span, he struck out 12 batters and only allowed two runs on five hits and nine walks. Burdi is an interesting name to think about should the Red Sox need an extra arm. He may not be the first choice, as someone like Luis Guerrero would likely be recalled before him, but Burdi has put himself firmly back on the radar. He’s had experience in the major leagues, and he’s shown what he’s capable of so far through 11 games in Worcester this season. Eventually, Boston will have to decide on what they want to do with the veteran reliever. View full article

He definitely put in a lot of work during spring training. Defensively he was out on the backfields early in the mornings. We'd be allowed in around 9ish and he would already be taking grounders.

The Boston Red Sox promoted a pair of talented prospects Tuesday afternoon, as first baseman and outfielder Justin Gonzales was promoted to Salem after just one game played in the Florida Coast League this season. Joining Gonzales in the upwards mobility elevator is infielder Antonio Anderson, from Salem to Greenville, as reported by Beyond the Monster's Hunter Noll . Gonzales, who is 18 years old and measures 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, was signed as an international free agent in January of 2024 and has only impressed since joining the organization. Playing for the Dominican Summer League in 2024, Gonzales hit .320/.391/.517 in 47 games. During that time, he also hit five home runs and drove in 29 RBI en route to being named the 2024 Latin Program Position Player for the Red Sox. During his time in the DSL, he was named an All-Star and later became the playoff MVP after hitting .444/.471/.519 in seven playoff games to help the DSL Red Sox take home the organization’s first DSL title since 2016. Per FanGraphs, out of 91 qualified DSL hitters, Gonzales ranked within the top 20 for multiple offensive categories. He ranked ninth for batting average, eighth for slugging percentage, 10th in strikeout rate with a 10.4% rate, 14th in OPS at .908 and was 20th in wRC+ with 140. In the field ,Gonzales has spent time at first base and the corner outfield spots, though he mostly spent last year at first where he played 236 innings. During spring training, he spent some time working on center field and has shown the range needed to handle the position long-term. Gonzales opened the season in extended spring training before playing his first game stateside with the FCL Red Sox. In his debut, he went hitless, striking out twice and driving in a run on a groundout. Despite the very short stint, the Red Sox felt he was ready for the next level of competition and promoted him to Salem. Gonzales has a short swing and shows solid barrel control for someone of his size. Despite the young age, he also has an advanced approach as he has a good understanding of the strike zone. What will determine how he eventually progresses as a prospect will be how his in-game power develops. Currently, he’s projected to have plus in-game power, as the ball jumps off his bat and he’s shown an ability to drive the ball out to all parts of the field. Anderson, on the other hand, was drafted by the Red Sox in the third round of the 2023 draft as a shortstop, though he’s mostly played third base since being drafted. Standing 6-foot-2 and weighing 205 pounds, he began to play exclusively third base in spring training of 2025, though he's since started to play some first base for Salem this season. In 2023, Anderson played only 12 games between the FCL Red Sox and Salem Red Sox, hitting a combined .167/.239/.214 in 42 at-bats. The young infielder drove in four runs while striking out 15 times in his debut season. 2024 was much of the same offensively, though Anderson showed an ability to get on base more. In 108 games with Salem, he wound up hitting .186/.311/.270 in 404 at-bats. He also had five home runs and 34 RBIs while walking 69 times and striking out 122 times. He mostly played third base, though he still appeared at shortstop 23 times that season. It seems that Anderson’s bat has finally woken up to begin the season in 2025, as through 22, games he was hitting .345/.436/.488 prior to his promotion to Greenville. The switch-hitter has also hit a pair of home runs and driven in 17 RBIs in 84 at-bats. Anderson has a tall, well-built frame that has added strength at the cost of his athleticism since he originally signed. Offensively, he starts differently based on the side he’s hitting from. As a left-handed hitter, he will start wide and use a leg kick to help time the pitcher, while batting right-handed, he will start narrow and instead use a toe tap. When it comes to his power, he seems to showcase more of it from the right side of the plate, though his ability to hit for power in-game will depend on his ability to make consistent contact. Now in Greenville, Anderson will have a chance to split time between first and third base as he continues to work on the foundation he’s built to begin the season in Salem. Should he continue to develop, Anderson could become a power-hitting corner infielder that either comes off the bench or is sent up-and-down between the minors and majors as the Red Sox need him. With the two move, the Red Sox continue to stay busy with promoting prospects early in the season. Their aggressive nature is a promising sign for the health of the farm system, as young talent continues to rise closer to the big leagues. View full article

The Salem Red Sox have been on a roll when it comes to winning weekly awards. Last week, Trennor O’Donnell won the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week award. This time around, another pitcher on the roster has claimed the hardware. Right-hander Blake Aita was named the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week for April 28th to May 4th. The right-hander pitched in one game during that span, but it was a dominating performance. On May 1st, Aita started against the Fredericksburg Nationals and went six innings, allowing just one hit and no walks while striking out seven. Aita also led all pitchers in swings and misses on the night with 14 of them. Aita, a sixth-round pick out of Kennesaw State in 2024, previously won the award for the week of March 31st to April 6th after pitching five hitless innings and striking four. A six-foot-four pitcher who weighs 215 pounds, Aita is an interesting arm, as he currently has the potential to possess two plus-pitches and is already showing bat-missing ability with three of his pitches. Currently he throws a fastball, sweeper, cutter and changeup. The righty throws from a three-quarters arm slot with a medium-high leg kick. His fastball is currently sitting 92-95 mph with solid command, though his velocity has shown an increase in 2025, as he previously sat around 89-92 mph in college. His sweeper sits 80-82 mph, though his extremely high spin rate for it makes it an interesting pitch. He has an advanced feel for it and doesn't miss his spot as often as other young pitchers learning the offering. His cutter currently sits 86-89 mph, while his changeup is 85-89 mph and is mostly used against left-handed batters. Aita will be developed as a starter as he continues to show solid feel on the mound and a complete arsenal, along with having an advanced feel for spin on his pitches. While his fastball has gained velocity, it’s his secondary stuff that are his best pitches due to their spin rates. His sweeper alone can sometimes hit 3200 RPMs. After being drafted in 2024, Aita did not pitch at all in the pros last season and instead made his debut on April 4th. On the season, Aita has started five games for Salem, winning two and losing one. He’s gone 24 2/3 innings, allowing nine runs, 20 hits, one home run, and six walks. He’s also managed to strike out 22 batters. He's also managed 43 whiffs. His ERA currently sits at 3.28. Aita is striking batters out at a 22.4% rate while walking them at a 6.1% rate. Batters are only hitting .217 off of him and his WHIP is sitting at 1.050 through his first five games. Most impressively, his groundball rate is sitting at 45.6%. Compared to his fellow pitchers in Single-A, Aita typically ranks within the top 10 of several categories. His ERA ranks eighth best out of qualified pitchers, he’s tied for second in innings pitched, and his 22 strike outs has him tied for seventh. When looking at his walk rate, Aita currently ranks fourth out of qualified pitchers in the Carolina League and third for WHIP. With his early success, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him promoted to High-A Greenville soon. The tougher competition in Greenville would be a good indication of where Aita currently stands in his first professional season, and how fast the Red Sox may be able to move him through the upper levels of the system. View full article

The Boston Red Sox have had several minor league players get off to hot starts at the plate. Whether it was Marcelo Mayer and his minor league leading 34 RBI or Franklin Arias and his hot hitting that led to a quick promotion to High-A Greenville, there was no shortage of great hitters. Though, the one who claimed Talk Sox’s minor league hitter for the months of March and April is instead a player who’s underlying metrics showed that he was the best hitter throughout the organization through the opening month. That hitter was Roman Anthony. Following the conclusion of the April 30th game, Anthony was hitting .292/.423/.539 in 25 games. In those 25 games he’s managed 26 hits with 11 of them being for extra bases while also driving in 14 runs. What may be more impressive, however, has been his ability to get on base as he’s walked 21 times through the first month of the season. Anthony’s ability to get on base is a huge reason for his great start as he’s laying off pitches outside the zone and forcing pitchers to come to him. This is where the metrics help to sell him as the best hitter in the entire minor league system for the Red Sox. On the season so far, Anthony has a 17.9% O-Swing which places him in the 96th percentile for Triple-A. O-Swing is used to explain what percentage of pitches outside the strike zone a batter swings at, showing that the young left-handed hitter is barely chasing. This ability to not be fooled by pitches has helped Anthony become a feared batter. His walk rate is one of the best, sitting at just under 20% at 19.6% and he’s striking out at just over 20% at 20.6%, numbers that are both impressive for someone who is only 20 years old. Thanks to his patience, Anthony has managed to wait on the pitchers he faces to get better pitches which in turn helps with his contact rates. While his zone-contact is only 80.4%, that is in part due to his very patient process at the plate. Anthony on the season is only swinging at 53% of pitches thrown in the strike zone. Meaning that of the 53% of the time he’s swinging, 80.4% of those swings are connecting the pitch. Though what’s most impressive about his swing is just how hard those hits are. Again, keep in mind the fact that Anthony is only 20 years old but so far in the season his average exit velocity on the season is sitting at 96.7 mph while his max on the season has reached 113.1 mph. Add to it a barrel percentage of 31.2% and a hard-hit rate of 62.5%. and Anthony is destroying every baseball he’s making contact with. And while the stats may not back up the thought of Anthony being the best hitter for the months of March and April, the underlying stats do. It would have been easy to defend Franklin Arias and his .346 batting average for Salem or how Abraham Toro and Vaughn Grissom are also putting up great seasons in Worcester with 29 and 28 hits respectively. However, Anthony’s process and results are much more impressive especially when you remember he’s doing this at the age of 20 against significantly older competition. Everything he’s done has screamed that he’s above that level of competition and while hits may not be dropping in all the time, everything else shows that he is arguably the top minor league hitter for the Red Sox through April. View full article

Roman AnthonyKristian CampbellMarcelo MayerFranklin AriasLuis PeralesMikey RomeroJuan ValeraJhostynxon GarciaConnelly EarlyYoeilin CespedesDavid SandlinRichard FittsHunter DobbinsMiguel BleisPayton TolleBrandon ClarkeYophery RodriguezDorian SotoJedixson PaezJustin Gonzales

Roman AnthonyKristian CampbellMarcelo MayerFranklin AriasLuis PeralesMikey RomeroJuan ValeraJhostynxon GarciaConnelly EarlyYoeilin CespedesDavid SandlinRichard FittsHunter DobbinsMiguel BleisPayton TolleBrandon ClarkeYophery RodriguezDorian SotoJedixson PaezJustin Gonzales

From what I've heard, Dobbins has been told to work on getting another out pitch while in AAA so that he has three that could be played as at least average in the majors. A lot of the "issues" in AAA could be from focusing on the pitch development over trying to make quality outings.

The Red Sox's farm system in loaded with high upside talent, and another prospect has burst onto the scene in 2025 with by winning the Carolina League' Pitcher of the Week award. In what is viewed as one of the deepest farm systems in baseball, the Boston Red Sox have earned another award early in the 2025 season. Following a dominant week on the mound, Trennor O’Donnell was named the Carolina League’s Pitcher of the Week for April 21-27, as announced by Minor League Baseball on Monday. Pitching for the Salem Red Sox, O'Donnell pitched five shutout innings and only allowed three hits. The right-hander also struck out seven batters and managed to generate four whiffs in the outing. Across the five innings, he only needed 56 pitches, 40 of them thrown for strikes. In the outing O’Donnell, taken in the eighth round of the 2023 draft, managed to retire the final eight batters he faced. The Red Sox would go on to win the game against the Hickory Crawdads 19-1. O’Donnell has appeared in four games (two starts) this season, throwing 15 innings to the tune of a 4.20 ERA. Across those four appearances, he’s struck out 19 and walked nine while allowing 16 hits, including a single home run. His strikeouts per nine innings, sitting at 11.40, stand out, as does his accompanying strikeout rate of 27.5%. Last season, O’Donnell made his professional debut with Salem as he bounced between the bullpen and rotation. In total, he made 20 appearances (six starts), where he threw 63 innings with a 4.00 ERA. He struck out 71 batters while walking only 21. However, what may be the most exciting stat was how he only allowed three home runs across the entire season. In 2024, O’Donnell’s best appearance came on May 16th in his first start of the year. In that game, he threw five perfect innings while striking out five. O’Donnell is a physically intimidating figure on the mound, standing 6’7” as he towers over his opposition. The right-hander throws from a three-quarters arm slot and has shown the ability to repeat his delivery rather well, allowing him to pitch deep into games. He relies mostly on four pitches, including a fastball, sweeper, slider and changeup, with a fifth pitch being introduced this season in the form of a splinker, as reported by Beyond the Monster's Andrew Parker. The splinker is almost like a hybrid of a splitter and sinker, as the pitch incorporates characteristics of both. Held with a split-fingered grip, it has a sinking motion more similar to the sinker. The pitch was first developed by Paul Skenes accidentally but has made its way around professional baseball now. Currently, O’Donnell, 24, projects to be an organizational depth arm who could be an innings eater. However, due to his large size and ability to throw strikes consistently, should he develop an above-average pitch, that projection could change. Regardless of his projection, there’s a good chance that the imposing right-hander receives a promotion to High-A Greenville in the coming months. View full article

After a month’s worth of games, the Boston Red Sox have had a rollercoaster of a season. What have been the three biggest surprises for the team so far? The Boston Red Sox have been a streaky team to open the 2025 season, currently sitting at 16 wins and 14 losses as they get ready to begin the final series of April against the Toronto Blue Jays. Below are what I feel could be three of the biggest surprises of April. Have your own picks? Tell us about them in the comments below! 1) The Red Sox Really Lost Three Times to the White Sox Everyone always says that baseball games aren’t won on paper and that you need to win the game on the field. That couldn’t have been truer when it came to how the Red Sox played Chicago this season, as they lost three times to arguably the worst team in all of baseball. The lowly White Sox only had two wins when the Red Sox traveled to the south side of Chicago for a three-game series in early April, but you wouldn’t have thought that with how they played. In the opening game, the White Sox destroyed the Red Sox, winning 11-1 as they took advantage of many mistakes. The pain continued in the second game as the White Sox stormed back to tie the game 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to a two-run home run by Luis Robert Jr. off of Zack Kelly. They would go on to win on a walk-off against Aroldis Chapman, making many Red Sox fans question what they just watched. Fortunately, the Red Sox won the next three games these two teams played against each other before another heartbreak occurred. Playing on Easter Sunday, the Red Sox were leading for much of the game as Tanner Houck shook off a rough first inning to pitch six decent innings. The wheels fell off for the Red Sox once more in the seventh as they went to the bullpen where Zack Kelly could not get a single out while allowing three runs to score to make it a 5-4 game with the White Sox winning. The deficit would only increase as the White Sox added two more runs in the eighth on a two-run shot off of Liam Hendriks, and then another a run in the ninth against Brennan Bernardino. The White Sox would hold on to win 8-4 in a game that the Red Sox were dominating until the last third of the game. To make things worse, the White Sox currently have seven wins on the season. Nearly half of their total wins have come against the Red Sox, and at the conclusion of their last series played against each other, the majority of Chicago’s wins had come against the Red Sox. To say that it’s a surprise the Red Sox lost three games to a team like Chicago is an understatement. 2) Kristian Campbell Is Really, Really Good Throughout the offseason and during spring training, it was no surprise that the Red Sox really liked Kristian Campbell. The young infielder had played across three different levels of the minor league system in 2024 while having a breakout season that resulted in him becoming a top prospect on many industry lists. After breaking camp with the team as their starting second baseman and receiving an extension with them shortly after the season began, many had a feeling he was going to be a special player. No one, however, expected him to be this good this soon. Through his first 27 games of his career, Campbell is hitting .305/.412/.474 to go along with three home runs, seven doubles and 10 RBIs. To put that into perspective with other rookies who have played at least 20 games, only three have a better batting average than him, and none have a better on-base percentage. He’s tied for the lead in doubles and is fifth in RBIs and third in home runs, not to mention that he leads all rookies in walks with 18. Campbell burst onto the scene like few others, reaching base in his first 17 games, the second-longest in Red Sox history behind only George Scott’s 26-game streak in 1966. Campbell has been one of the most consistent hitters in an otherwise streaky lineup through the first month of the season and will be looked upon to help carry the offense the rest of the season. 3) The Back-End of the Bullpen Is Better Than We Thought Throughout the offseason and into spring training a major concern for Red Sox fans was the bullpen and who would replace Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin in the late innings. While Jansen had his ups and downs in Boston, he was still an All-Star closer who brought stability to the ninth inning. Martin, on the other hand, was just one of the best relief pitchers in baseball during his two seasons in Boston, even earning Cy Young votes in 2023. Both pitchers left after the 2024 season, the Red Sox replacing them with Aroldis Chapman and the expected returns of Liam Hendricks and Garrett Whitlock. Justin Slaten was also to be among the mix for opportunities at the end of games. It would have been easy to worry about that group as Chapman is pitching in his age-37 season for Boston, Hendriks had last pitched in the majors in 2023, Whitlock had health concerns, and Slaten (though he had a great rookie season) was a relatively unknown and could be subject to a sophomore slump. Instead, three out of those four managed to defy expectations and create a dominant bullpen. While Hendricks opened the year on the Injured List, Chapman was named the closer, though it was stated he wouldn’t pitch strictly in the ninth but rather when it was most important. So far through 12 games, he’s managed to turn back the clock and look like his vintage self, as he’s struck out 16 batters through 10 1/3 innings while converting four saves. His fastball is just as effective as it usually is, averaging just around 99 mph while his sinker is even faster, averaging 100.6 mph. Thanks in part to those two pitches paired with his slider, Chapman has been able to get opposing batters to chase at a 38.3% rate while also getting whiffs at a 41.8% rate. Chapman is still prone to walk batters as he’s walked four so far, but he’s limited the damage thanks to his strikeouts. After three seasons that saw discussion revolve around Whitlock being a starter and three seasons that saw him get injured, the plan was to use Whitlock strictly out of the bullpen for 2025 just like his rookie season. The plan has worked out so far, as the right-hander looks much like his old self through his first 10 appearances. Having thrown 15 2/3 innings, Whitlock has struck out 19 batters while only allowing three runs on 11 hits and five walks. Whitlock’s dominance out of the bullpen is very similar to Chapman’s, as he’s been able to cause batters to not only chase his pitches out of the zone but to also generate a high amount of whiffs. So far through the first month of the campaign, Whitlock is getting batters to chase at a 33.6% rate and whiff on 35.8% of his pitches. Along with that, he’s been able to strike out batters at a high rate of 30.2% and limit the damage when he is hit. Despite allowing 11 hits, Whitlock’s average exit velocity isn’t anything troubling, as batters are only hitting the ball off him at about 87.5 mph on average. Early in the season, Whitlock has mostly been relying on a combination of his sinker, slider, and changeup as the three pitches make up 90% of his pitches, while his sweeper makes up the last 10%. Of those four pitches, his sinker is the only pain point, as batters are hitting .300 off of it. In comparison, his sweeper has not been hit once while his slider is being hit at a .105 average. Slaten is the final member of the three-headed monster that is the back-end of the Red Sox bullpen. Coming off of a great rookie season, Slaten has been even better despite what the numbers may look like. Appearing in 11 games, he’s thrown 10 innings and allowed four runs on four hits and two walks while striking out nine. He’s also managed to save three games. While his ERA is currently 3.60, that is entirely due to a single bad outing against Baltimore where he allowed all four of his earned runs on the season. Since that game, he’s allowed only a single hit and a single walk while striking out eight over eight innings. Slaten has been one of the best relievers in the game in April, getting batters to chase at a 36.7% rate and getting whiffs at a 32.4% rate. While his strikeouts are down compared to last season, he’s walking batters at an amazingly small rate of 5.6% and limiting hard contact thanks in part to not allowing batters to barrel up his pitches The season is still in its early stages, but as the calendar flips to May, the hope is that the Red Sox will continue to get hot and surprise us in positive ways. There’s still five full months left in the season, so we're sure to be surprised a lot more before the playoffs begin. View full article

The Boston Red Sox announced promotions for a few of their top performing prospects Sunday night. After their hot starts, Infielder Franklin Arias and pitcher Brandon Clarke were promoted from Low-A Salem to High-A Greenville. Pitcher Hayden Mullins was also promoted, as he was sent to Double-A Portland. In 19 games played, Arias may have been one of the hottest hitters throughout the organization as he opened the season with an eight-game hitting streak and reached base at least twice in each of his first six games. Despite being 19 years old, Arias has held his own, hitting .346/.407/.397 across 78 at-bats. Despite his ability to hit well, Arias has mostly been a singles hitter. Of his 27 hits, only four have been for extra bases. After his scorching start to the year, Arias started to come back down to earth last week. In his last five games, Arias has gone 6-for-22 with a walk, good for a stat line of .273/.333/.318. On the other hand, Clarke has managed to impress in all three of his starts. The fifth-round draft pick has shown the ability that has led many to believe he was a steal. He’s gone 9 2/3 innings in three starts, allowing only a single run on two hits and two walks. In that span, he’s struck out 17 and generated 33 whiffs. Clarke opened eyes in his professional debut as he threw four perfect innings and struck out five batters. In his second start, he wasn’t as in command, lasting only 2 1/3 innings, but still struck out six while only allowing a single run on two hits and a walk. His third start for Salem showed he was ready for a bigger challenge, as Clarke went another 3 1/3 innings without allowing a hit. He only walked a single batter and struck out six, generating 13 whiffs. Clarke, 22 years old, will look to continue his impressive streak in High-A for Greenville. The last of the promoted prospects, Mullins, has made four appearances and three starts for High-A Greenville this year. He’s thrown 17 innings, allowing two runs on 11 hits, one home run, and three walks. He’s also managed 27 strikeouts in that span while generating 53 whiffs. Mullins is the oldest of the three prospects promoted and has broken out after an average season in 2024. In his final start in Greenville, Mullins went four innings and allowed a single hit while striking out six. He also generated 12 whiffs. Mullins’ promotion to Double-A Portland will allow an opportunity to see if his start to the season was due to the age difference in High-A or an actual breakthrough for the left-hander. All three players have performed to open the year and won’t be the last to get promotions. It’s just a matter of time until others join them in being recognized for their excellent starts to the season. But for now, these three are being recognized for their hot starts with the potential of facing tougher competition. They earned this opportunity. View full article

Red Sox fans keep asking when the team will call up Roman Anthony. It's time that conversation starts to include Marcelo Mayer as well. There’s no disagreement that the Boston Red Sox have a wealth of top prospects that can impact the major league roster. Currently, Kristian Campbell is showcasing that with his play in Boston, while fellow top prospect Roman Anthony is destroying Triple-A pitching while with Worcester. With a stat line of .313/.451/.588 in only 80 at-bats, Anthony has many calling for his promotion. The young outfielder has showcased an advanced plate approach for someone his age, walking at a 20.6% rate along and appearing near the top of the leaderboards in several notable metrics. Not only is Anthony making contact, but he’s doing so with authority. Currently, the percent of his hits being hard-hit is sitting at 63.3%, while he’s barreling the ball up at 33.3%, numbers that are not usually seen from players at any level of professional baseball. Lost among the discussion about Anthony is the fellow top prospect playing alongside him in Worcester. Drafted fourth overall in 2021, Marcelo Mayer has dealt with injuries during his time in the Red Sox system and was even leapfrogged by both Anthony and Campbell when it came to the organization’s prospect rankings. Still only 22 years old, Mayer has managed to showcase this season why he was once viewed as a potential first overall pick back in 2021. Through 21 games on the season Mayer has managed a stat line of .267/.312/.500 to go along with six home runs and a minor-league-leading 28 RBIs. Compared to Anthony’s stats, it’s easy to see why Mayer doesn't stick out as much, especially considering he doesn’t hit it as hard as Anthony. However, Mayer has shown through the first month of the season that he’s ready for a call-up to Boston. His hard-hit rate is still above most minor league players, sitting at 53.6%, and he’s barreling the ball 11.6% of the time, nowhere near Anthony's ridiculous rate, but an amount that puts him above the majority of his fellow minor leaguers. What may be the most exciting part of his profile is Mayer’s ability to work down pitchers While he may not walk as much as Anthony (only a 5.4% rate for the season), Mayer doesn’t miss as much when he takes a swing at a pitch. His whiff percentage sits lower than Anthony’s, entering the end of April at 24.4%, and when he does swing at pitches, he’s making more contact on ones that are in the zone. Currently, Mayer’s zone-contact rate is 82.5%, slightly higher than Anthony’s 79.4%. And while you could draw that up to Anthony's proclivity for taking free passes, it is still nice to see Mayer’s ability to make consistent, quality contact against pitches in the zone. Add to it that Mayer has struck out at a lower rate than Anthony, and the shortstop deserves to be in more conversations as the next top prospect who gets the call to Boston. Defensively, he’s mostly played at shortstop, as he’s made 15 of his 21 appearances there this year and only committed a single error in 56 chances. The Red Sox seem all set for the season at short with Trevor Story, but as an organization that has said they will have the best 26 players on the roster, it doesn’t make sense to leave Mayer down in Triple-A as other players struggle. Mayer himself may be growing bored of Triple-A as well, having gone on a tear during his last seven games played. In that span dating back to April 18, he accumulated 12 hits, half of which were for extra bases and four of those were home runs. Add 18 RBIs to the pile, and he’s shown that he’s more than ready for big league pitching. Mayer will be up in the majors before the end of the season; whether that’s soon is up to the Red Sox. One thing is certain, though: more fans should be clamoring for him to be brought up just like they are doing for Anthony. A lineup featuring Campbell, Anthony and Mayer isn't just the future of the Red Sox. It should be the present. View full article