Minor Notes: Jarren Duran called up to the majors

Here are this week's minor league notes:

• The biggest news came on Wednesday when news broke that centerfielder and SoxProspects.com's second-ranked prospect, Jarren Duran (pictured, right), was being called up to the majors. He started the season in Worcester, hitting .270/.365/.561 with 15 home runs over 46 games, showing off the newfound power that accompanied a 2020 swing change. 

• His debut would have to wait a couple of nights after the Thursday night Red Sox vs Yankees game was canceled due to a Covid outbreak in the Yankees organization and Duran sat against a lefty starter on Friday. Duran started in center on Saturday, batting sixth, and went 1-for-2 with a walk while singling on the very first pitch he saw in the majors and going on to score. On Sunday, he batted seventh while going hitless in four at-bats with two strikeouts. On Monday, he accomplished another first -- his first big-league homer -- in a 1-for-6 effort.

• Followers of the site likely are familiar with Duran, but if not, the SoxProspects.com scouting department also updated their scouting report of the 6-foot-2, 24-year-old.

• Obviously, the signal immediately went out to the SoxProspects.com team that a podcast would be needed to cover this big news. In episode #217, they cover the Duran call-up and its effects, recap the draft, talk about the Futures game and upcoming Olympics, and some other roster moves.

• Executive Editor Chris Hatfield was so excited that he couldn't be limited to just one podcast, so he joined Matthew Kory on his podcast, The Sox Outsider Podcast, to discuss the Duran promotion. the draft, and other Red Sox prospect-related items.

• Duran wasn't the only one excited about the promotion -- his family had waited years in hopes of getting this news and Alex Speier of The Boston Globe spoke to Jarren's father Octavio about the whirlwind experience getting everyone to New York in time to see his son's major league debut. 

• Duran has been impressed with what the big league club has done over the first half of the season, telling The Boston Globe's Peter Abraham that he thinks he hopes to provide "a little boost of energy."

• Duran isn't the only prospect on the move. First baseman and top prospect. Triston Casas is also headed to a new team, Team USA, as the American team gets ready to head to Japan for the Olympics. Casas spoke to Abraham about his excitement to represent the country.

• The Red Sox kicked off their 2021 undrafted free agent signings with Clemson outfielder Kier Meredith. The 5-foot-10 had been previously drafted by the Cubs in 2017 in the 28th round. After struggling with injuries over his first two years at Clemson, he has been healthy since and hit .283/.387/.422 this past season with three home runs and six stolen bases.

• The Red Sox have also signed a few draft picks including sixth-round pick, utility player Daniel McElveny out of Bonita Vista High school in California. Chris Cotillo has reported that he signed for $200,000, and a slot value for the 166th pick is $306,800.

• The Red Sox have also reportedly signed third-round pick, NC State second baseman Tyler McDonough, for $831,100, the slot value for the 75th pick as reported by MLB.com's Jim Callis. They have also signed 10th round pick, Indiana University righty Matt Litwicki, also for the slot value of $47,500.

• In other moves this past week, the Red Sox announced that they have promoted Tyreque Reed and Ricardo Cubillan to Portland, Joe Davis to Greenville, and Antoni Flores, Angel Maita, and Miguel Suero to Salem.

• The Red Sox announced that they have completed the C.J. Chatham trade by receiving pitcher Victor Santos back as the player to be named later from the Phillies. This season split between the Double-A and High-A Phillies affiliates, 6-foot-1 Santos has a 2.20 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 40 strikeouts and nine walks over 41 innings. 

• With the major league team sitting in first place and the organization's farm system really started to shape up, especially after the selection of Marcelo Mayer with the fourth overall pick, under Chaim Bloom, there is hope for both the present and future as Speier writes.

• The SoxProspects.com donation drive continues. The site is trying to raise funds to keep the site up and running. The team here are all volunteers and do not take a salary, and any donations go directly to help keep SoxProspects.com able to provide the news and information you are looking for. Every little bit helps, and thanks to all our readers for making the site what it is.

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Players of the Week 7/12-7/18

Tyreque Reed, 1B, Portland Sea Dogs

5 G, 16 AB, 7 H, 3 2B, 1 HR, 6 R, 6 RBI, 6 BB, 4 K, .438/.625/.813

Reed's week was split up by a promotion to Double-A Portland but it did not seem to slow him down. In his two games before his promotion, he went 3 for 5 with three walks, five RBI, two doubles and two home runs, with most of that production coming on Thursday. Over the weekend, he continued the strong week by going 4 for 11 with a double, three walks, 2 runs, and an RBI. 

Reed was drafted in the 7th round in 2017 by the Rangers and came over to the Red Sox this past off-season through the Rule 5 Draft. At 24 years old, Reed was a bit old for High-A but has had a tremendously strong season, hitting .296/.405/.587 with 14 home runs over 48 games, a huge improvement over his last stop at High-A in 2019 where he only hit .216. Reed's hit tool has always been a question mark but his power is undeniable. It will be interesting to see how that fares now that he is facing the more advanced pitching in Portland.

Wilkelman Gonzalez, RHP, FCL Red Sox

1 G, 0-0, 5 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 9 K

The 19-year-old (pictured, left) may have not gone deeper into the game, but otherwise, his third start of the season on Monday was perfect. He didn't start the game unlike his first two starts, but instead threw innings 4-8. With the cancelation of the 2020 season, this is only the second season for Gonzalez after signing as an international free agent out of Venezuela in 2018 for $250,000.

Prior to this start, it had been an up and down start, throwing four solid innings on June 28, but having a rough inning plus start on July 5 where he gave up five earned runs. This great start lowers his season ERA to 6.10 with a 1.16 WHIP and 16 strikeouts over 10 1/3 innings. His fastball and breaking ball show potential, but he is still very raw and it will be interesting to see if the underlying talent can show through. 

Photo Credit: Jarren Duran and Wilkelman Gonzalez by Kelly O'Connor

Will Woodward is a Co-Owner and Senior Staff Writer for SoxProspects.com. Follow him on Twitter @SPWill.

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