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).

• Additional ranked prospets with updated write-ups included pitchers Chih-Jung Liu (34) and Shane Drohan (35), infielder and top 2019 draftee Cameron Cannon (45), and outfielder Darel Belen (46).

• The Red Sox received Zach Bryant from the Chicago Cubs on Saturday to complete the August trade that sent Josh Osich to the North Side. Bryant was picked in the 15th round out of Jacksonville in the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2019. He profiles as a relief prospect.

• Marwin Gonzalez officially joined the Red Sox on a one-year contract on Tuesday worth $3 million. Marcus Walden was designated for assignment to make room for the utility man. He would clear waivers and was outrighted to Worcester on Monday. He was also added to the 75-man major league spring training roster.

• Garrett Benge has retired. The corner infielder was a 13th-round selection out of Oklahoma State in 2017 and made it as high as Salem. Benge was a 2017 New York-Penn League all-star and followed that with an excellent .327/.466/.452 2018 campaign between Lowell and Greenville. He appeared in 187 games in the Red Sox system over three seasons.

• Nick Yorke, Boston's first-round pick in the shortened 2020 draft, is among the non-roster invitees to major league camp and earned his first action on Monday. The 18-year-old laced a single in his first at-bat and WEEI has the scoop.

• Yorke was also discussed by WEEI earlier in the week, prior to the commencement of games. Cora expects big things from the young infielder.

• Yorke was also among MLB Pipeline's Top Performers on Monday for his effort.

• The Red Sox had their first spring training contest on Sunday. Jeter Downs, the No. 2 prospect in the system, drilled a home run and WEEI's Rob Bradford wrote an article about the infielder.

• Downs was part of MLB Pipeline's Top Performers on Sunday after his big fly.

• Tanner Houck (pictured) showed fans what he could do after his call-up late in 2020, but is projected to begin the year in the minor leagues. However, he could force his way into the big league rotation to begin the 2021 season. As discussed by Bradford, Houck spent time with elite major leaguers, including Noah Syndergaard and Max Scherzer.

• In COVID-19 news, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will enter Phase IV of its re-opening process on March 22, in time for the Red Sox to welcome fans to Fenway Park. The team will announce its plan and safety protocols at a later date.

• Despite welcoming fans, the organization intends to continue to use Fenway Park as a vaccination site while games are not occurring.

Photo Credit: Tanner Houck by Kelly O'Connor

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