Fort Report: Roster takes shape, Houck makes case

Welcome to another week of the SoxProspects.com Fort Report. With the minor league season scheduled to begin in early May, we will be continuing the Fort Report through the month of April. 

Here are this week's minor league notes:

• Major league spring training is scheduled to wrap up this afternoon with a contest against the Braves at JetBlue Park. The roster has begun to take shape, which Chris Hatfield and Ian Cundall discussed in-depth on the latest SoxProspects.com podcast. 
• On Friday, the team optioned infielder Jonathan Arauz to the alternate training site and reassigned Chris Herrmann, Danny Santana, Cesar Puello, Michael Gettys, Kevin McCarthy, and Marcus Walden to minor league camp. 
• Hermann and McCarthy had upward mobility clauses that went into effect on Sunday. If a team wants to add either player to its major league roster, the Red Sox would have to either add them or allow them to sign elsewhere. The clause has a 48-hour window, so Boston should know the status of both players on Tuesday.
• Injury considerations notwithstanding, two roster decisions remain: Phillips Valdez and Colten Brewer are competing for the final spot in the bullpen, while Michael Chavis and Franchy Cordero vie for a spot on the bench. Cordero remains on the COVID-19 injured list, so the team would need to open up a 40-man spot to add him. 

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Podcast Ep. #205: I'm kinda over spring training

We are less than a week away from the start of the 2021 Major League Baseball season and the guys want to get going already. Chris and Ian have the latest analysis of the big league lineup. They start with the rotation, and what Tanner Houck and Connor Seabold need to do in Worcester. For hitters, the guys talk through what to do with Michael Chavis, Bobby Dalbec and Jarren Duran, as well as the surprising spring of Jonathan Arauz. They also discuss the various rule changes that will be tried out in the minors this year. And as always, we get to the mailbag and your terrific questions.Thanks for writing in and make sure to send your questions to podcast@soxprospects.com 

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Fort Report: Dalbec, Jimenez, Duran, Whitlock continue to impress

Welcome to another week of the SoxProspects.com Fort Report. The Fort Report will run every Tuesday throughout spring training, catching you up on all things prospect-related in Fort Myers.

Here are this week's minor league notes:

• 
  With a little more than a week left until opening day, the Red Sox have started to make some roster moves this past week. Those moves included optioning righty Tanner Houch and reassigning seven others - corner infielder and top prospect Triston Casas (pictured, right), outfielder Jarren Duran, lefty Stephen Gonsalves, catcher Kole Cottam, righty Daniel Gossett, first basemen Josh Ockimey, and utility player Yairo Munoz.

• Those moves bring the roster down to 36 players left for the 26 spots on the opening day roster. The expectation is that four pitchers and six hitters will be part of those trims before opening day. Chris Hatfield, SoxProspects.com's executive editor, spoke to a source who detailed the relatively few opt-out clauses the Red Sox handed out this year. As he details, there were only two - Kevin McCarthy and Chris Herrmann.

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Fort Report: Groome and Casas make spring debuts

Welcome to another week of the SoxProspects.com Fort Report. The Fort Report will run every Tuesday throughout spring training, catching you up on all things prospect-related in Fort Myers.

Here are this week's minor league notes:

• The 204th episode of the SoxProspects.com Podcast came out on Monday, with Chris and Ian breaking down players in camp as well as answering numerous questions from the mailbag. Some of the more notable camp performances they discussed were Gilberto Jimenez, Jarren Duran, and Jay Groome. 

• Jimenez, Nick Yorke (pictured, right), and Eduard Bazardo have all been getting more buzz lately after strong showings at the Fall Instructional League and Spring Training, and they recently had their scouting reports updated by the SoxProspects.com scouting team. While Yorke only had limited reps with the big league club this spring, he has impressed scouts and coaches alike. 

• Jeter Downs left the game on Monday with an injury to his side after diving for a ground ball while playing shortstop. The Red Sox will run more tests to determine if it is an oblique issue, which would likely sideline him for a few weeks. Downs was 4 for 9 with a home run and two walks so far this spring. Julian McWilliams of The Boston Globe wrote about how Downs is impressing the Red Sox from the ground up. 

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Podcast Ep. #204: And our next email is from...

Chris and Ian have a metric ton of emails to go through. We put out a call for questions and you all stepped it up. Awesome work. Before getting after the emails, the guys go over details from camp. In particular they break down the position players and pitchers who have shown something in camp. They go into details on how the alternate site will return due to the delay of the start of the AAA season. The guys welcome Zach Bryant to the club, who is the player who was named later for Josh Osich. And then Chris and Ian get to the mailbag and your terrific questions. Thanks for writing in and make sure to send your questions to podcast@soxprospects.com 

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Scouting Report Updates: Gilberto Jimenez, Nick Yorke and Eduard Bazardo

Today's SoxProspects scouting report update features three prospects who participated in the 2020 Fall Instructional League and who have now been invited to Major League Spring Training. Nick Yorke and Eduard Bazardo have been at Spring Training since the start, but Gilberto Jimenez was only recently added. 

Gilberto Jimenez, Outfield

Physical Description: Extremely loose and athletic. Standout athleticism. Some projection in his frame. Lower half is filled out. Has transformed his body since signing; once on the skinny side, is now strong and physical.

Hit: Potential average hit tool from the left side and plus hit tool from the right-side. Plus bat speed and very quick hands. Unusually advanced contact skills. Started hitting from the left side in Fall 2017. Has already made strides with his left-handed swing, but it is still a work in progress. Starts open in a crouch and utilizes a toe tap timing device. Does a much better job now of incorporating his lower half and staying in the box and on the ball longer than he did earlier in his career. These changes, along with his added strength, allow him to make more pronounced contact, especially to the pull side. Still willing to drop a bunt down for a base hit if the defense will not guard against that. Swing is more fluid from the right side of the plate, which is his natural side. Starts squarer and more vertical. Barrel stays in the zone longer and he generates more hard contact. Approach and pitch recognition are raw, but strikeout rates are very low due to advanced bat-to-ball skills. At 2020 Fall Instructs, he built on changes to left-handed swing first implemented during 2019 Fall Instructs, starting with a wider base and using a more pronounced weight transfer to better incorporate his lower half. In 2019 with Lowell, he tended to slap at the ball, looking to put it in play rather than drive it, and failed to effectively incorporate his lower half.

Power: Will show above-average raw power from the right side and fringe-average raw from the left. Below-average in-game power potential right now, but added strength plus improvements with his left-handed swing give him a chance for more. Added strength has really helped him to tap into his power and hit the ball harder. Need to see it translate in-game, as his swing is still more designed for hard line drives in the gaps than over-the-fence power. As recently as 2019 in Lowell generated concerningly low exit velocities, but improvements are alleviating those concerns.

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Fort Report: Duran, Whitlock impress early

Welcome to another week of the SoxProspects.com Fort Report. The Fort Report will run every Tuesday throughout spring training, catching you up on all things prospect-related in Fort Myers.

Here are this week's minor league notes: 

• SoxProspects.com's Director of Scouting, Ian Cundall updated some more scouting reports, highlighting number one prospect Triston Casas, as well as a pair of players Boston acquired for Mitch Moreland last summer, Jeisson Rosario and Hudson Potts. 

• Boston signed 30-year-old Danny Santana to a minor league deal. Santana can play almost anywhere, as he has made at least one appearance at every single position other than pitcher and catcher at the major league level. He struggled at the plate last year with the Rangers (albeit in only 15 games), but had a very good 2019 campaign, hitting .283/.324/.534 with 28 long balls and 21 stolen bases with Texas. Santana had his UCL repaired last September, but the Red Sox liked what they saw of him during workouts in the Dominican Republic and Miami, Florida. 

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Scouting Report Updates: Triston Casas, Jeisson Rosario and Hudson Potts

The latest SoxProspects scouting report update features three prospects who participated in the 2020 Fall Instructional League and who have now been invited to Major League Spring Training. Triston Casas and Hudson Potts have yet to make their Spring debuts, but Jeisson Rosario had made several appearances before he injured himself while chasing a fly ball against the Minnesota Twins.

Triston Casas, First-base

Physical Description: Strong, imposing frame. Thick, fully developed lower half. Some remaining projection in his upper body, but strong already. Will have to work to maintain body and athleticism. Very long limbs. Has done a good job with conditioning early in his career, showing up to 2020 Alternate Training Site with a more toned physique.

Hit: Starts slightly open in a slight crouch. Quiet pre-pitch. Utilizes a leg lift timing device and gets his foot down in time. Easy load, hips really fire through. Plus bat speed; whips the bat through the zone. Smooth, fluid swing, especially given his size. Strong feel for hit for a high school draftee. Utilizes all fields. Will always have some swing-and-miss and holes in his swing. Has shown willingness to try adjustments to swing and to abandon them if they are not working. Has clear two-strike approach in which he widens his stance and chokes up on the bat. Potential to develop strong plate discipline skills in the future. Needs to continue to refine approach and pitch recognition, but has the potential to develop an above-average hit tool.

Power: Plus-plus raw power. Easy all-fields power, but power plays best to the pull side. Has the ideal combination of size, strength, and bat speed for a power hitter. Ball really jumps off his bat. Drives the ball with backspin. How power actualizes will depend on development of hit tool, but can project for at least plus in-game power at his peak and potentially more.

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Fort Report: Games begin

Welcome to another week of the SoxProspects.com Fort Report. The Fort Report will run every Tuesday throughout spring training, catching you up on all things prospect-related in Fort Myers.
Here are this week's minor league notes:

• The SoxProspects.com scouting team is hard at work early on in the spring, as scouting report updates for six minor leaguers, including two top-30 arms in Jose Rodriguez (ranked 29th) and Durbin Feltman (30).

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Scouting Report Updates: Jorge Rodriguez, Durbin Feltman, and more

Our next group of scouting report updates is pitcher-heavy, headlined by SP Top 30 prospects Jorge Rodriguez and Durbin Feltman, as well as Taiwanese pitcher Chih-Jung Liu and 2020 fifth-round pick, Shane Drohan.

SoxProspects.com scouting reports are written by our scouting team, led by Director of Scouting Ian Cundall.

Jorge Rodriguez, Left-handed pitcher

Physical Description: Small-framed left-hander with some projection remaining.

Mechanics: Starts open with his glove low, then brings it above his head. Medium-to-high leg kick. Brings leg across his body for torque.

Fastball: 88-92 mph. Good movement and advanced control for his age. Not an overpowering offering, but plays up due to deception and has a high spin rate. Average potential.

Curveball: Excellent spin rate. Average potential.

Changeup: Average potential.

Career Notes: Had the best performance of any pitcher for the GCL Red Sox in 2019, earning a season-end promotion to Lowell. Participated in the Fall Instructional League in 2019 and 2020, but did not pitch in game action in 2020.

Summation: On the smaller side, but shows promise. Has major league potential with his excellent control profile and spin rates, needs added velocity and further development of his fastball and curveball to reach full potential. Excellent pitchability for his age.

Note: This page will be updated with a complete scouting report after the scouting team has seen the player in person.

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