Minor Notes: Site redesign; Mayer named No. 9 prospect by MLBPipeline

Here are this week's Minor Notes:

• The not-so-minor news is the redesign of the site! Founder Mike Andrews has worked hard on the new design, updating the original layout of the site from 2003. The homepage and some of the other highly-frequented pages have the updated layout, while the remainder of the site will get the same treatment in the coming weeks.

• Chris Hatfield and Ian Cundall also checked in for Episode No. 222 of the SoxProspects.com Podcast. The two checked levels and discussed the prospect status of Tanner Houck and Jarren Duran, a pair of top-five guys in the system that have spent parts of the season in Boston and should soon graduate from prospect status.

• In transaction news, Jonathan Arauz was optioned to Worcester on Monday after Christian Arroyo was activated from the 10-day injured list. He spent a majority of the week on a rehab assignment in Worcester.

• Wyatt Olds earned a promotion from the FCL squad on Friday after just one appearance in the complex league. Olds was activated by the FCL Red Sox on Tuesday. He has now appeared once for Salem, striking out five batters across two innings, though he did hit two batters in said outing.

• He was replaced on the FCL roster by Tyler Uberstine, who was selected in the 19th round of this year's draft out of Northwestern. He made his debut Friday, tossing an inning of no-hit ball.

• The organization also said goodbye to Matt Andriese and Jecorrah Arnold on Thursday. The former was designated for assignment on Tuesday, while the latter had lashed .143/.216/.308 across 91 at-bars in Salem. Kevin McCarthy was also cut loose from Worcester on Saturday.

• MLBPipeline.com shuffled its Top 100 prospect list and its Top 30 Red Sox prospects lists. No. 4 overall pick Marcelo Mayer is the outlet's No. 1 Red Sox prospect and is No. 9 in all of baseball. Mayer is the highest of any 2021 draftee.

• Triston Casas and Jarren Duran are slotted No. 18 and 26, respectively, on the Top 100 list.

• A trio of prospects also landed on MLBPipeline.com's Prospect Team of the Week in Ronaldo Hernandez, Nick Yorke (pictured, bottom) and Chris Murphy.

• Hernandez, ranked No. 21 in the system, slashed .500/.563/.929 with three doubles and a home run. He also drove in five runs.

• The system's No. 8 prospect, Yorke, has really showed the offensive potential that led the team to make a surprise with their No. 17 overall pick in 2020. He slashed .478/.500/1.000 with a trio of home runs, as well as a double and triple mixed in. He drove in 10 runs, scored 11 more himself and only struck out twice.

• Murphy, who is slotted No. 16 in the organization, had arguably his best outing of the season in his third outing for Double-A Portland. He fanned seven hitters against one walk over seven shutout innings, with just one hit.

• Murphy was also named the Double-A Northeast pitcher of the week for his performance.

• Connor Seabold (pictured, top) held a no-hitter into the seventh inning of his outing on Saturday against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Katie Morrison of MassLive.com has the story on the start that almost wasn't for the No. 9 prospect in the system.

• Morrison also had a scoop on Houck, who has earned some high praise from Keith Foulke, a guy who knows a thing or two about pitching in Boston.

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Players of the Week (August 17-22)

Nick Yorke, 2B, Salem Red Sox

5 G, 23 AB, 11 H, 1 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 11 R, 10 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K, .478/.500/1.000

Yorke had a slugging percentage that would make for a good OPS this week as he had quite the power surge, drilling five extra-base hits. His system-leading three home runs represents 30 percent of his career total, as he had his second-career multi-homer game on Saturday. The California native was selected No. 17 overall in the 2020 draft to the surprise of many, but he has certainly lived up to the billing as a guy who can hit the ball, overcoming a slow start that featured a .195/.264/.220 May. The 19-year-old is now slashing .323/.413/.500 and has reportedly been promoted to High-A Greenville, according to the Boston Globe's Alex Speier.

Connor Seabold, RHP, Worcester Red Sox

1 GS, 1-0, 7 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 9 K

Seabold was one of three starters across the system, along with Raynel Espinal and Chris Murphy, to scatter a hit and a walk over seven shutout innings, but Seabold notched a system-leading nine strikeouts, giving him the nod. The Cal State Fullerton product carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning on Saturday against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and the one hit was a single to right. He promptly retired the runner on an inning-ending double play. He set down 14 consecutive RailRiders through the second to seventh innings. Seabold was on the shelf with elbow inflammation and did not make his organizational debut until mid-July, but has pitched to a 3.65 ERA and 1.04 WHIP across eight starts for Worcester and the FCL Red Sox this season.

Photo Credit: Connor Seabold and Nick Yorke by Kelly O'Connor

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