Cup of Coffee: Valera, Rodriguez debut at new levels; FCL Sox knocked out

7/26 Cup of Coffee: Thursday was the final full slate of the 2024 season, with the FCL Red Sox playoff hopes coming down to the final day. The team got a win to put themselves in position, but fate was not on their side as the Pirates and the weather conspired to send them home for the winter. Elsewhere, Juan Valera (pictured) extended his hitless streak to a new level in his Salem debut, while Elmer Rodriguez turned in a solid first High-A start in Greenville's win. Roman Anthony and Nick Decker keyed a ninth-inning rally for Portland, while Worcester squandered an excellent Grant Gambrell effort. 

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Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (NYY) 7, Worcester Red Sox 2

An outstanding start by Grant Gambrell went for naught as the bullpen slumped to a seven-run seventh inning. Gambrell surrendered just two hits across six shutout innings, striking out four and walking one. He pounded the strike zone, throwing 53 of 81 pitches for strikes. Unfortunately, that was not the case for Alex Speas, who relieved Gambrell to start the seventh and walked four of the five batters he faced, with a double mixed in. A pair of singles and a walk surrendered by Brian Van Belle allowed all of those runners to score, and suddenly a 2-0 advantage became a 7-2 deficit. Bobby Dalbec got the scoring started with a solo home run in the second inning. Nick Yorke ripped a double and worked a walk, going 1 for 3 to snap a three-game hitless skid.

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Cup of Coffee: Anderson stays hot, Arias crushes first Low-A homer for Salem

7/25 Cup of Coffee: Boston's affiliates went 3-2 on Wednesday. Bobby Dalbec aided Worcester in salvaging a doubleheader split against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Wikelman Gonzalez struck out five over four one-run innings in Portland's loss to Somerset. Greenville's game was suspended in the eighth inning due to rain. In Salem, Antonio Anderson stayed hot while Franklin Arias (pictured) clubbed his first Low-A home run. There were also some late-game heroics in the Dominican Summer League.

 

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Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (NYY) 8, Worcester Red Sox 1 (Game 1)

Justin Hagenman took the loss in his start for Worcester, allowing four earned runs on eight hits, one walk, and four strikeouts over four innings. Wyatt Olds struggled in his Triple-A debut, surrendering four additional runs on three hits (two of which were home runs), two walks, and one strikeout in 2/3 of an inning. Joely Rodriguez retired all four batters he faced. Offensively, Chase Meidroth accounted for his side's only run by going 1 for 2 with an RBI double. Matthew Lugo also doubled and scored that one run as part of a 1 for 3 showing.

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Cup of Coffee: Gasper stays hot, Sogard homers for Worcester

7/24 Cup of Coffee: It was a rough night on the farm, as the Sox affiliates combined to go 0-7. Mickey Gasper stayed red hot for Worcester, while Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell each collected an extra-base hit for Portland. Luis Guerrero and Bryce Bonnin (pictured) had terrific outings out of the bullpen for Worcester and Greenville. 

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Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (NYY) 8, Worcester Red Sox 4

Mickey Gasper continued to rake for Worcester, going 3 for 3 with three singles, raising his batting average to .393 in 26 games with the WooSox. Nick Sogard went 2 for 5 with his 12th home run of the season, a solo shot in the first inning. Chase Meidroth went 1 for 4 with an RBI single and a walk, and Eddy Alvarez smoked a two-run double. Brad Keller opened up the game on the mound with a perfect frame and one strikeout. Jorge Benitez and Naoyuki Uwasawa struggled in relief, as each allowed four runs. Luis Guerrero was dominant in two innings scoreless innings, striking out four without a walk. 

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Minor Notes: Mid-year promotions roll in; Arias and Valera dominate the FCL

The full-season affiliates were out of action until Friday, so it was a lighter week for game action. Franklin Arias (pictured, right) had a full slate in the FCL, and he turned in a near-historic week. Mid-year promotions are the big story while pitching injuries continue for the organization. 

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Measuring up the 2024 draft class

Chris and Ian got together to recap Boston's 2024 draft class in the most recent episode of the podcast. They discuss any different strategies with Craig Breslow now installed as the Chief Baseball Officer while going pick-by-pick through the whole draft. The Red Sox went very pitching and college-heavy, and they debated what that could mean for the system for the remainder of the year. 

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Cup of Coffee: Jimenez leads way as FCL Sox stay tied atop division

7/23 Cup of Coffee: The race in the Florida Complex League is coming down to the wire, and Frederik Jimenez (pictured) led the offense to keep the Sox in a tie for first place in the post-Arias era. The DSL squads were in action as well, but both saw their contests suspended by rain.

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FCL Red Sox 6, FCL Braves 0

Entering Monday's contest, the FCL Sox were locked in a three-way tie for first place in the South Division and a four-way tie for the wild card with only three games left to play. One rain-shortened victory later, the standings haven't budged. It was announced in the morning that scorching-hot shortstop Franklin Arias was being promoted to Salem, but Frederik Jimenez took on the offensive load in his stead. Jimenez started off the scoring with a solo home run in the second inning and then ripped doubles in his other two at-bats. Stijn Van Der Schaaf worked around some wobbly control to go four scoreless innings, surrendering just two hits while he struck out one, walked four, and hit a batter. Diego Hernandez walked a pair in a scoreless fifth and was credited with the win when the game was called for rain before the sixth inning. 

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Cup of Coffee: Romero, Rosario power Greenville to walk-off win in extras

7/22 Cup of Coffee: Boston's affiliates went 2-2 on Sunday. Mikey Romero (pictured) stole the show by homering twice while Ronald Rosario played hero in Greenville's walk-off victory over Bowling Green in extra innings. Gerardo Rodriguez tallied three hits in his Salem debut as the Red Sox extended their winning streak to four. Elsewhere, Justin Gonzales and Anderson Fermin played in the Dominican Summer League All-Star Game.

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Lehigh Valley IronPigs (PHI) 6, Worcester Red Sox 4

Richard Fitts took the loss in his start for Worcester after allowing four earned runs on six hits, three walks, one hit batsman, and just one strikeout over four innings. He gave up two homers as his ERA on the season rose to 4.98. Trey Wingenter struck out three in two scoreless frames out of the bullpen. At the plate, Nick Sogard went 2 for 5 with one double and one run scored. Vaughn Grissom and Mickey Gasper both went 1 for 4 with one RBI. Eddy Alvarez drove in a run as well.

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Cup of Coffee: Teel and Anthony homer; Arias swipes four bases

7/21 Cup of Coffee: It was a day full of close games, with Boston's affiliates coming out on the losing end in most of them. Worcester, Portland, Greenville, and the FCL squad lost one-run games, while Salem squeaked by with a walk-off victory. Kyle Teel (pictured) had one of his best games of the season, and Yordanny Monegro pitched well for the Drive. Franklin Arias has been showing off his power, but his speed stole the show on Saturday. 

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Lehigh Valley IronPigs (PHI) 4, Worcester Red Sox 3

A strong game from Niko Kavadas was not enough to get Worcester past the IronPigs. Kavadas went 2 for 4 with a double and his 17th home run in the losing effort. He is now tied for 11th place in the International League home run chase. Matthew Lugo continued to acclimate to Triple-A as he went 2 for 3 with a walk, and Enmanuel Valdez went 2 for 5. Jason Alexander allowed two runs over five innings, with both coming via a solo home run. Ryan Zeferjahn took the loss after walking in the winning run in the ninth. It was his second walk of the inning, and he also hit a batter. 

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Cup of Coffee: DSL no-hitter; Mayer goes 3 for 3

7/20 Cup of Coffee: It was quite the Friday on the farm, as a DSL squad threw a no-hitter, Salem walked off a wild one in extras and each team that played won their game. Individually, Marcelo Mayer (pictured) was 3 for 3, including a home run, as the only big flies came in the upper minors. Chase Meidroth, Nick Sogard and Enmanuel Valdez each went yard in a drubbing for Worcester, which featured a strong start by Grant Gambrell. The FCL team also held on to its one-game lead over the Pirates and Rays with just one week left in the regular season.

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Worcester Red Sox 14, Lehigh Valley IronPigs (PHI) 3

Lehigh Valley scored first, but Worcester took a commanding lead with a five-run third, then left no doubt with a seven-run ninth that included home runs by both Nick Sogard and Enmanuel Valdez. Six hitters had multiple base knocks as the team combined for 16. Chase Meidroth, who also homered, Bobby Dalbec and Nick Yorke each ripped a trio of hits, while Eddy Alvarez, Sogard and Valdez each had a pair. Grant Gambrell allowed just the first-inning run, scattering three hits and two walks over five innings of work. He struck out four. Lucas Luetge and Chase Shugart combined for three innings of shutout ball before the ninth, when Lehigh Valley grabbed a pair well after the result was decided.

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Cup of Coffee: Arias, Valera propel FCL Sox into division lead

7/19 Cup of Coffee: While the full-season clubs were on the final day of their midseason All-Star breaks, it was a big day down on the complexes. The FCL Red Sox swept a key doubleheader to move into first place, largely due to the efforts of pitcher Juan Valera (pictured) and shortstop Franklin Arias. The DSL teams both won as well, with the Red squad prevailing for a seventh straight contest. 

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FCL Red Sox 8, FCL Braves 3 (Game 1)

Tied at 3-3 through the end of regulation, the Sox piled on five runs in the eighth inning to come away victorious. Franklin Arias continues playing incredible baseball, blasting a game-tying homer in the seventh that sent the game to extras and then delivering a two-run double as part of the decisive eighth-inning rally. Raimundo De Los Santos was 3 for 4, while Starlyn Nunez added a triple. Yeferson Vargas allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits in 4 2/3 innings. Diego Hernandez got the win, giving up one run in 2 1/3 frames, and Cristofer Soriano went a scoreless eighth to close out the win. 

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Podcast Ep. #325: Measuring Up The 2024 Draft Class

The 2024 MLB Draft is over, so Chris and Ian circled up to discuss the newest set of potential Sox prospects. What have we learned about how the Red Sox front office now targets amateur talent? What's up with the class being so college-heavy? Why are all of these pitchers so tall? The answers to these questions and more await!

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Cup of Coffee: Baker, Mambel among top performers in DSL sweep

7/18 Cup of Coffee: The two Dominican Summer League squads were the only affiliates in action on Wednesday. Alexander Mambel recorded three RBIs off the bench in DSL Red Sox Red's extra-innings win over the DSL White Sox. Tavano Baker delivered a walk-off single in the 10th inning of DSL Red Sox Blue's victory over DSL CLE Goryl.

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DSL Red Sox Red 11, DSL White Sox 6 (11 innings)

A five-run 11th inning propelled the Red squad to an 11-6 win on the road. Alexander Mambel led the way offensively by going 2 for 2 with two doubles and three RBIs after taking over for starting first baseman Kenyon Simmons in the ninth inning. Simmons went 2 for 3 with one RBI, one run scored, and one walk. Christopher Alvarado doubled and drove in one run as part of a 2-for-5 showing. Efren Teran and Enddy Azocar each went 2 for 5 as well. The former scored one run and drew one walk while the latter drove in one run and scored three times.

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Minor Notes: Montgomery taken with top pick; Duran wins All-Star Game MVP

To say that this is one of the busiest times on the baseball calendar would be an understatement. Between the MLB Draft, the Futures Game, the All-Star Game, and the upcoming trade deadline, there is a lot happening around the sport right now. As it pertains to the Red Sox, the club has been well represented at all the festivities in Arlington, Texas. They are also in the thick of the American League Wild Card race, so the trade rumors have been flowing as well.

Montgomery headlines Sox' 2024 MLB Draft class

The Red Sox landed Texas A&M outfielder Braden Montgomery with the 12th overall pick in the 2024 MLB First-Year Player Draft on Sunday. The athletic 21-year-old was viewed as a consensus top-10 prospect heading into the draft, but his stock fell after he fractured his right ankle in a Super Regionals game on June 8. It remains to be seen if Montgomery will be able to make his professional debut this season, but he told reporters that he is progressing well and somewhat ahead of schedule.

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Cup of Coffee: Arias keeps hitting, Bido dominantes

7/17 Cup of Coffee: As the All-Star break and MLB First-Year Player Draft continue on, there were just a pair of games in the Sox organization yesterday. Franklin Arias refuses to make outs with another big day for the FCL Sox on their win. The DSL teams played against each other as well, with Merlin Bido headlining the action in that one. 

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FCL Red Sox 5, FCL Orioles 

Franklin Arias remains scorching hot, as he went 3 for 3 with three singles and a walk to push his hitting streak to eight games. He also now has a hit in seven consecutive at-bats and is hitting .465 in July. Kleyver Salazar had a huge game as well, going 2 for 4 with a double and a grand slam. He is up to seven doubles, four home runs, and 30 RBI this season. Justin Riemer was 1 for 3 with a walk. Wuilliams Rodriguez started on the bump and pitched four no-hit innings with four strikeouts and just two walks. Yonfi Rodriguez finished off the final three innings with three runs (two earned) allowed and a pair of strikeouts. 

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2024 Draft Recap: How Boston's picks ranked

Of Boston's 20 selections in the 2024 Draft, 10 were ranked in the Baseball America Top 500, 10 appeared in the Perfect Game Top 500, and six in the MLB Pipeline Top 250 list. 11 Red Sox selections appeared on at least one of the lists, including each of the team's first ten selections.

See below for a listing of the 2024 Red Sox draftees who were ranked by BA, PG, or MLB.com. The full list of this year's draft selections can be found over at the SoxProspects.com Draft History page.

Round-Pick: Player, Position (Rank)

1-12: Braden Montgomery, OF (BA: 7; MLB: 8; PG: 7)

2-50: Payton Tolle, LHP (BA: 82; MLB: 87; PG: 72)

3-86: Brandon Neely, RHP (BA: 212; MLB: 193; PG: 206)

4-115: Zach Ehrhard, OF (BA: 399; MLB: 221; PG: 133)

5-148: Brandon Clarke, LHP (BA: 289; MLB: 177)

6-177: Blake Aita, RHP (PG: 496)

7-207: Will Turner, OF (BA: 177; PG: 121)

8-237: Conrad Cason, RHP/SS (BA: 124; MLB: 102; PG: 168)

9-267: Hudson White, C (BA: 318; PG: 327)

10-297: Devin Futrell, LHP (BA: 210; PG: 280)

12-357: Brady Tygart, RHP (BA: 175; MLB: 181; PG: 116)

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2024 Draft Day 3 Recap: Rounds 16-20

The Red Sox wrapped up the third and final day of the 2024 MLB First-Year Player Draft on Tuesday by nabbing three more college pitchers, a Puerto Rican outfielder, and the son of a franchise icon. For more information on what could happen between now and the signing deadline later this month, be sure to check out this breakdown from our own Mike Andrews.

With that, here are brief summaries of who the Red Sox selected with their 16th, 17, 18th, 19th, and 20th-round picks:

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Welcome to the 2024 Draft Signing Period!

Now that the 2024 First-Year Player Draft is in the books, the signing period is upon us. With some limited exceptions, this year's signing deadline is 5:00 pm ET on July 30, 2024. As most of our readers know, each team's spending on draft pick bonuses is capped. The overall bonus cap is determined by the number and placement of each team's selections.

The bonus cap sets an aggregate limit for a team to spend on its selections in the first ten rounds and also limits teams from spending over $150,000 on players taken after the 10th round (the excess on any late-round bonuses will count against the bonus pool). Boston's cap is $10,521,600 this year. If the club exceeds its pool: (1) by 0-5%, it will be charged a 75% tax on the excess; (2) by 5-10%, it will pay the same tax and will also lose its first-round pick next season; (3) by 10-15%, it will be charged a 100% tax on the excess and lose its first- and second-round picks next season; and (4) by more than 15%, 100% tax on the excess and lose its next two first-round picks.

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2024 Draft Day 3 Recap: Rounds 11-15

After ending day two with a college pitcher, the Red Sox went back to the well to take college pitchers with each of their picks in rounds 11 through 15. Two of the picks recently underwent Tommy John surgery, while another was a top-rated prep pitcher who saw his season end early with a shoulder injury. 

Here are brief recaps of selections 11 through 15: 

11. Steven Brooks, RHP, Cal Poly (CA)

The trend of drafting tall pitchers continued on day three, with the Red Sox using their first pick of the day on the 6-foot-6 right-hander. Brooks was not ranked by any major publications, but Prospects Live noted that he has solid command of a five-pitch arsenal, with a fastball that tops out around 93. The 21-year-old started 15 games this year for the Mustangs, posting an ERA of 5.25 over 82 1/3 innings. He struck out 72 and walked 23. 

12. Brady Tygart, RHP, Arkansas

Tygart (pictured) was one of the top college pitching prospects left on the board entering the draft's final day. Baseball America ranked him 175, and MLB Pipeline slotted him at 181. The 6-foot-2 right-hander likely fell in the draft due to a shoulder injury that ended his junior season early. The reports state that it will not require surgery, but not much additional information is available. Tygart flashes an above-average breaking ball with very high spin rates. He posted an ERA of 3.94 for the Razorbacks this season, striking out 69 over 59 1/3 innings. He also walked 36 and hit 15 batters, and control of his arsenal was noted as an area of opportunity in his scouting reports. He was ranked as the top prep pitching prospect in Mississippi in 2021 and named a Perfect Game First-Team Freshman All-American selection in 2022. 

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Cup of Coffee: Arias stays hot, Riemer collects first hits in FCL Sox sweep

7/16 Cup of Coffee: While many eyes were on the second day of the draft and the Home Run Derby festivities, Franklin Arias was leading a sweep of the complex leagues. Arias continued his hot play, picking up five hits and two doubles in a doubleheader sweep with playoff implications. The DSL squads also both picked up wins, led by homers from Edwin (DSL Red) and Josue (DSL Blue) Brito. 

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FCL Red Sox 4, FCL Orioles 2 (Game 1)

The FCL Sox continue to get outstanding pitching down the stretch. Starter Deybi Salcedo went four no-hit innings, walking and striking out three apiece. Denis Reguillo gave up two runs in three innings to get credit for the win. Justin Riemer was 0 for 5 to start both his rehab assignment and his professional career, but had a monster day at the plate to lead the offense. The 2023 fourth-round compensation pick was 2 for 2 with two walks, a steal, an RBI, and a run scored. Franklin Arias picked up his 14th double of the season during his 1-for-4 effort. 

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Red Sox select Devin Futrell with 10th-round pick

With the 297th overall pick in the 2024 MLB First-Year Player Draft, the Red Sox selected Devin Futrell, a left-handed pitcher out of Vanderbilt University. Futrell is the 210th-ranked draft prospect in Baseball America's Top 500 but is not included in MLB Pipeline's Top 250.

Futrell, 21, hails from Pembroke Pines, Fla., and attended the same high school as Triston Casas (American Heritage) before arriving at Vanderbilt in 2021. As a junior this past spring, the lefty posted a 5.40 ERA and 1.30 WHIP with 44 strikeouts to 10 walks in 12 appearances (10 starts) spanning 48 1/3 innings for the Commodores.

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Red Sox select Hudson White with ninth-round pick

With the 268th overall pick in the 2024 MLB First-Year Player Draft, the Red Sox selected Hudson White, a catcher out of Arkansas.

 

The Keller, Texas native spent two seasons at Texas Tech before making the jump to Arkansas. He was a full-time player for the Red Raiders, making 102 starts, and had a power surge as a sophomore, knocking 11 home runs in 169 at-bats, which led to a .550 slugging percentage and an all-Big 12 honorable mention nod.

 

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