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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 30, 2020 12:14:53 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 7m Also, the #PawSox are starting today's sim game. Since the future is all the rage -- Bryan Mata, Jay Groome, Connor Seabold and Seth Blair all expected to pitch. #RedSox
Jay Groome is first off the mound at McCoy Stadium this afternoon. More from him earlier this week here. #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 30, 2020 12:26:54 GMT -5
Boston Red Sox trade: Who are Hudson Potts, Jeisson Rosario from Mitch Moreland deal? Rosario does celebration backflip Updated 1:24 PM; Today 1:22 PM Hudson Potts
Then-Padre Hudson Potts cannot field a base hit by Athletics' Robbie Grossman during the second inning Friday, March 8, 2019, in Mesa, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)AP By Christopher Smith | csmith@masslive.com
The Boston Red Sox acquired prospects Hudson Potts and Jeisson Rosario from the San Diego Padres for first baseman Mitch Moreland on Sunday.
Both prospects will report to Boston’s alternate training site, Triple-A Pawtucket.
Potts is a 21-year-old third baseman who San Diego selected 24th overall in the 2016 Draft out of Carroll High in Southlake, Texas.
He has batted .256 with a .315 on-base percentage, .428 slugging percentage, .743 OPS, 57 homers, 94 doubles, nine triples and 224 RBIs in 423 minor league games.
He has started 331 games at third base, 25 games at shortstop, 25 games at second base and five games at first base.
“Hudson Potts is primarily a third baseman, although he did see some time at second base last summer as well,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said. “A big, physical kid with a lot of power and a good arm. Really good tools. A chance particularly as he continues to develop his approach that he could be a real asset with the bat and also be able to play multiple positions.”
Rosario, a 20-year-old left-handed hitter, has batted .264 with a .376 on-base percentage, .340 slugging percentage, .716 OPS, seven homers, 41 doubles, nine triples, 93 RBIs and 37 steals in 289 games. He has not played above High A.
The Padres signed the center fielder out of the Dominican Republic as an amateur international free agent in 2016.
“Jeisson Rosario is a top-flight athlete who profiles as a true center fielder and a true leadoff hitter,” Bloom said. “Plus, plus runner. Again, really good athlete. Very good ability in the outfield. Has a really advanced feel for the strike zone at a young age. And we’re excited to see how he develops as he grows and adds strength. But he’s got the upside to play center every day and hit at the top of the lineup.”
Baseball America had Potts ranked the Padres’ No. 17 prospect and Rosario No. 28.
MLB Pipeline had Potts at No. 16 in the Padres system and Rosario at 19. It already has Rosario ranked Boston’s No. 16 prospect and Potts No. 20.
Rosario’s MLB Pipeline scouting report states, “Rosario has natural hitting ability thanks to a combination of bat speed, barrel control and hand-eye coordination. But his left-handed swing has a few moving parts, which makes it tricky to repeat. If he can simplify things, Rosario has quick hands and makes a lot of hard contact from the left side of the plate, and he could grow into some power. ...He still needs time to develop in the Minors, mostly to fill out his lean and athletic frame. But the finished product could be that of a big league regular, with the athletic capabilities to do dazzling things on the baseball field -- including his trademark backflips to celebrate victories.”
Potts’ MLB Pipeline scouting report states, “Potts’ quick right-handed bat and strength give him plenty of raw power, but he has yet to show he can make enough contact against quality pitching to tap into it. He’ll always be a power-over-hit guy, but he’ll need a more disciplined approach to do enough damage to claim an everyday job in the big leagues. He doesn’t walk much and he’s a fringy runner, so almost all of his offensive value comes from his pop.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 30, 2020 13:45:56 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 12m Bryan Mata is down and hurt at the #RedSox alternate site. Looked like his left leg.
Mata is leaving the game. Trainers were trying to stretch his left hamstring. Unable to put much weight on his left side at all.
@soxprospects lists Mata as the No. 3 player in the #RedSox organization.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 30, 2020 14:44:37 GMT -5
Red Sox Stats @redsoxstats · 22m Besides the homer to Casas, Seabold had absolutely no trouble in his first sim game. Dominant command and stuff as expected. 3 IP, 6 K.
Groome was very good as well. Now we wait for the Mata news.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 30, 2020 16:32:37 GMT -5
Jen McCaffrey @jcmccaffrey · 7m Regarding Mata leaving today's alternate site game today, sources say the initial evaluation was just a hamstring cramp, but they'll check in on him again tomorrow Show this thread
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 30, 2020 16:56:36 GMT -5
Jen McCaffrey @jcmccaffrey · 32m Regarding Mata leaving today's alternate site game today, sources say the initial evaluation was just a hamstring cramp, but they'll check in on him again tomorrow
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 31, 2020 9:35:04 GMT -5
Introducing the newest Red Sox prospects
The Red Sox add a pair of good prospects from the Padres. By Matt_Collins@MattRyCollins Aug 31, 2020, 10:30am EDT
As we await what will happen over the next few hours leading up to today’s trade deadline, our focus remains on the deal the Red Sox already made on Sunday, sending Mitch Moreland to the Padres in exchange for a pair of prospects. It was a good return for Moreland, as both Hudson Potts and Jeisson Rosario give us reasons to be excited about their potential future. It is worth mentioning that both players will need to be added to the 40-man roster over the offseason to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft, and with the Padres facing a 40-man crunch this winter they became an easy target for a team like the Red Sox who have so much of their roster in flux.
Earlier today we looked at the Moreland portion of this deal and what the Red Sox are losing in the veteran first baseman. Now, it is time to focus on the future and what the Red Sox are getting in this deal. Let’s take a look at what there is to like and maybe not like so much with each of these players, as well as try to place them in the Red Sox farm system. Hudson Potts, 3B
We start with Potts, who was drafted in the first round (24th overall) out of Carroll High School in Texas by the Padres back in 2016. At the time, he went by Hudson Sanchez but changed his name not long after being drafted. Potts has slowly made his way through the system since then, making his full-season debut in 2017 and largely going one level per year since then. He made his Double-A debut in 2018 in what was just his age-19 season, but only played 22 games there due to an oblique injury. That led him to repeat the level in 2019 as a 20-year-old, and he hit .227/.290/.406 for a 93 wRC+.
Potts fits the mold that a lot of corner infielders that have graced the Red Sox system in recent years have fit in that he has big raw power but also issues in making contact. Both of those things were on display at Double-A last season when he struck out 28.6 percent of the time but also put up a solid .178 Isolated Power. It is worth nothing that he was very young for the level, too, coming in almost four years younger than the average player in the league. Potts isn’t quite a three true outcomes kind of player as he doesn’t draw a ton of walks — he looks to be more average in that area, maybe a little below — but he strikes out and hits homers. As with players like Michael Chavis and Bobby Dalbec, the key will be finding a way to get those strikeouts down to a reasonable rate to let the power flourish.
Defensively, Potts did come into professional baseball having played shortstop as an amateur, but that is no longer a realistic landing spot. However, there is reason to believe he can turn into a very solid defensive player at the hot corner. With a plus arm he can make all the throws, though he needs to work a bit on the instincts required to play third base. That should come with time, however.
As far as where he fits into the Red Sox farm system, I will refer back to my tiered rankings from after the draft. As a reminder, these are how I tiered the top eleven spots.
Triston Casas, Jeter Downs
Bobby Dalbec, Bryan Mata
Noah Song, Jay Groome, Jarren Duran, Gilberto Jimenez
Thad Ward, Tanner Houck, C.J. Chatham
I’m very torn on this one. I think I ultimately put Potts in that fourth tier between Ward and Houck, but with a couple of important caveats. One is that I am obviously biased towards the players that were already in the system. I know them better and have heard more positive things about them over the years. It’s hard to wipe away those biases, hard as we may try. Second is that I am biased against the kind of strikeout-heavy profile that Potts presents. I acknowledge that it certainly has a place in today’s game, but I just have a hard time buying into these players. I suspect most rankings will have Potts somewhere just outside the top five — based on their Future Values, FanGraphs would seemingly have Potts in the four-to-seven range — but I’m putting him at ten. San Diego Padres On Deck Game v Texas Rangers Jeisson Rosario, mid backflip Jeisson Rosario, OF
Rosario is, frankly, my kind of prospect. The outfielder was a big J2 signing by the Padres back in 2016, signing for $1.85 million as part of a monster international class by San Diego that year. He’s been moved fairly aggressively since then, going up to the complex instead of the DSL the year after being signed and making his full-season debut in 2018 as an 18-year-old. He more than held his own there, too, making his way up to High-A in 2019 where he hit .242/.372/.314 for a 102 wRC+.
From those numbers, it’s really not all that difficult to see what this profile is. The upside is admittedly limited due to an obvious lack of power. He has just six home runs over his last two seasons of pro ball despite getting over 500 plate appearances in each of those two seasons. The hope is that he gets older he’ll fill out a little more and add a little more power to his game, but he’s always going to be below-average in that area. However, he helps make up for that by having a tremendous understanding of the strike zone, something that is particularly striking given his age. (He turns 21 in October.) He walked over 16 percent of the time in 2019 despite being 3.5 years younger than the average player in the California League.
What his profile is going to come down to is his hit tool. There is real potential for this to be a plus tool, and if it is he can be a fantastic leadoff hitter even despite the lack of power. It’s not a finished product, though, and there’s obviously no guarantee he gets to the ceiling. He hits a lot of balls into the ground, and while his speed can help turn some of those balls into hits he’ll need to get more authority behind the ball if he’s going to max out that hit tool. I’d expect the Red Sox developmental staff to work on some swing changes to help alleviate those concerns.
The athleticism here is off the charts, though, as Rosario has well above-average speed and flashes that both on the bases and in the field. He has 29 steals over the last two seasons and is regarded as an above-average defensive player in center field. Again, there is work to be done but there is a ceiling here of an everyday center fielder who can hit leadoff.
As for his ranking in the system, I have the opposite bias issue here that I had with Potts. I often feel like the general consensus on low-power players with athleticism is too low, and end up being higher on those guys than most. See Jarren Duran as a recent example and Mauricio Dubon before that. I am actually almost tempted to put him ahead of Potts in these rankings, but for now I will defer to the experts, all of whom have Rosario behind Potts. Still, I don’t think the gap is very large and by next spring I have a feeling I’ll have them flipped. For now, though, I will put Rosario at the top of the next tier and at number 13.
So here’s how I’d have my top 15, for what it’s worth. Lines are marking off tiers.
1. Triston Casas
2. Jeter Downs
3. Bobby Dalbec
4. Bryan Mata
5. Noah Song
6. Jay Groome
7. Jarren Duran
8. Gilberto Jimenez
9. Thad Ward
10. Hudson Potts
11. Tanner Houck
12. CJ Chatham
13. Jeisson Rosario
14. Chris Murphy
15. Matthew Lugo
Note that I moved Chatham out of that fourth tier since the draft.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 31, 2020 12:28:55 GMT -5
August 31, 2020 at 1:00 PM Minor Notes: Potts and Rosario join the system; Dalbec homers in debut
Here are Monday's minor league notes:
With the trade deadline approaching on Monday, the Red Sox traded first baseman Mitch Moreland to the San Diego Padres in exchange for prospects Hudson Potts and Jeisson Rosario. MLB Pipeline rated Potts at No. 16 and Rosario at No. 19 in a loaded San Diego farm system, while Baseball America had Potts at No. 17 and Rosario at No. 28.
Potts was the 24th overall pick in the 2016 Draft, and while he was drafted as a shortstop, he has primarily played third base while also getting some reps at second base. Equipped with a strong arm and plus power, the Red Sox are hoping he can continue to develop his approach at the plate, as his hit tool is the main thing holding him back from being a more valuable prospect. Fangraphs had him rated as the 126th-best prospect in baseball after the 2018 season, but after striking out in 28.6 percent of his at-bats in Double-A in 2019 and hitting only .227, he dropped off the top-100 radar.
Another player who was once on the top-100 radar but has seen his prospect value diminish in the past year, Rosario was a top international prospect in 2016, with the Padres signing him for $1.85 million out of the Dominican Republic. Rosario held his own as an 18-year-old in Low-A ball in 2018, hitting .271/.368/.353. A hamstring injury in 2019 saw him struggle in his High-A debut, hitting .242/.372/.314. A tremendous athlete who should be able to stick in center field, MLB Pipeline rates all his tools as average or better, except for his power, which the Red Sox hope will improve as he gets older and gains some strength. Rumors out of San Diego are that parting with Rosario has been the toughest part of their deadline deals.
Both Potts and Rosario need to be added to the 40-man roster after the season, and the Red Sox will have plenty of room to add them when the time comes.
With Moreland shipped to San Diego, the Red Sox made room for Bobby Dalbec (pictured, above) on the big league roster. He debuted on Sunday and lived up to his reputation, going 2 for 4 with a home run and two strikeouts while playing first base. His two hits came on fastballs, and his two strikeouts came on breaking balls. Dalbec figures to get regular playing time going forward, especially if JD Martinez misses any time with an injury.
Ian Cundall put together an initial scouting report on Connor Seabold, one of the pitchers acquired from Philadelphia in the Brandon Workman trade.
Ian and Chris discussed that trade further on the most recent episode of the Podcast. They also discussed other players, like Moreland, who could be on the move, and what the Red Sox might be looking for in potential returns.
The Draft Retrospective series rolled on last week, with Nick Rabasco covering the 2014 draft. Led by Michael Chavis and Michael Kopech, there are a lot of interesting picks in this draft, both signed and unsigned. In the second post, this draft's impact on the 2018 World Series title came in to focus, though it was more as trade chips rather than individual contributors.
As a countermove to the Moreland trade, the Red Sox released Marco Hernandez (pictured, right). Hernandez once ranked as high as fifth in the SoxProspects.com rankings, hitting his way to Boston in 2016 after being acquired from the Cubs in exchange for Felix Doubront in December of 2014. In 2016 with the Red Sox, he hit .294/.357/.373 in 51 at-bats as a 23-year-old, but his 2017 season ended in May after undergoing surgery to stabilize his left shoulder after a subluxation. The injury lingered into 2018 and led to another surgery, and in 2019 he had just a .617 OPS in 148 at-bats with Boston.
On Saturday, the Red Sox recalled Chris Mazza from the Alternate Training Site and placed Nathan Eovaldi on the injured list.
The roster churn under Chaim Bloom continued as Boston outrighted Stephen Gonsalves to the Alternate Training Site, outrighted Mike Shawaryn and removed him from the Club Player Pool, and released RJ Alvarez.
Jalen Beeks, who the Red Sox traded to Tampa Bay in exchange for Eovaldi in 2018, will likely be undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Alex Speier of the Boston Globe talked with arguably the most talented pitcher in the Red Sox farm system, Jay Groome. 2020 was the supposed to be a comeback season for Groome as he worked his way back from Tommy John surgery, but instead he has spent most of the season at the Alternate Training site in Pawtucket. In their conversation, they talk about the arc of Groome's career and what it has been like and what his goals are for the rest of the year.
There was some troubling news from the Alternate Training Site on Sunday, as Bryan Mata left his start with a leg injury and had to be helped off the field. It appears to have just been a hamstring cramp, and he has hopefully avoided a serious injury.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 31, 2020 16:35:51 GMT -5
Chris Hatfield @spchrishatfield · 30m Triston Casas just took Marcus Walden REALLY deep. My word.
That's at least a AAA pitcher. Casas is showing why we think he's the top prospect in the system.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 1, 2020 8:18:49 GMT -5
Brendan McGair Update on RHP Bryan Mata, who exited Sunday's sim game at McCoy Stadium with a left leg injury. Via Ben Crockett: "He felt a little better, but still had mild soreness today. He received treatment, played light catch and will continue treatment tomorrow." #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 1, 2020 11:51:59 GMT -5
Boston Red Sox top prospect Triston Casas homers again at alternate site, this time 414-feet off Marcus Walden Updated 12:33 PM; Today 11:17 AM Triston Casas
Red Sox first round draft pick Triston Casas poses before a game against the Mariners in Boston, Saturday, June 23, 2018. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)AP By Christopher Smith | csmith@masslive.com
Boston Red Sox top prospect Triston Casas homered again Monday.
Casas belted a 414-foot home run against right-hander Marcus Walden during a simulated game at Boston’s alternate site, Triple-A Pawtucket. It left the bat with a 100-mph exit velocity. See a video of the home run below.
Boston added Casas to the 60-man player pool Aug. 20.
He also homered against Connor Seabold on Sunday. Seabold, who the Red Sox acquired with Nick Pivetta from the Phillies for Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree, pitched well though. He went three innings and struck out six.
The Red Sox selected Casas, a first baseman/third baseman, in the first round (26th overall) of the 2018 Draft out of American Heritage High in Plantation, Fla.
Baseball America ranks him Boston’s No. 1 prospect. He is listed No. 74 on Baseball America’s Top 100 list.
The slugger was named Boston’s 2019 minor league offensive Player of the Year when he batted .256 with a .350 on-base percentage, .480 slugging percentage, .830 OPS, 20 homers, 26 doubles, five triples and 81 RBIs in 118 games at Low-A Greenville and two games at High-A Salem during 2019. He he started 96 games at first base and eight games at third base in his first full professional season.
He said last January that he emulates Reds star Joey Votto who chokes up on the bat.
“He’s my favorite player,” Casas said.” I choke up on the first pitch of the at-bat.”
Red Sox vice president of player development Ben Crockett is pleased with Casas’ physical shape after a lengthy coronavirus shutdown.
“Absolutely a credit to Triston to come in the shape he is in right now. He’s in tremendous physical shape,” Crockett said Aug. 25. “I think the conditioning test, he would have beaten almost everyone in a normal spring training based on his performance on those tests. He came in really, really good shape. I think he’s ready to go. I know he has been itching to get some competition and we’re excited to be able to bring him in here.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 1, 2020 16:48:17 GMT -5
Jim Cain @_JimCain · 17m Triston Casas was the story today at #SimCity.
He hit an RBI, ground-rule double over the LF wall. He walked three times and also played 2 innings at third base.
Other notes:
• Tanner Houck struck out 9 in 5 IP. LHH against him: 1-for-4, 4 BB
• Jarren Duran homered again
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 1, 2020 17:19:07 GMT -5
Christopher Smith @smittyonmlb 8m Jarren Duran has 5 home runs in sim games at the alternate site
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 2, 2020 3:54:03 GMT -5
Jim Cain @_JimCain · 11h Triston Casas was the story today at #SimCity.
He hit an RBI, ground-rule double over the LF wall. He walked three times and also played 2 innings at third base.
Other notes:
• Tanner Houck struck out 9 in 5 IP. LHH against him: 1-for-4, 4 BB
• Jarren Duran homered again
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 2, 2020 7:23:05 GMT -5
Baseball America @baseballamerica · 43m Big news, via @jnorris427 .
MLB has told teams they *will* be allowed to hold instructional games/workouts for minor leaguers later this month.
Pro scouts can also scout those games in person.
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