March 7, 2023 at 12:00 PM
Fort Report: Casas, prospects, lead Sox to 7-0 spring start
The Fort Report continues this week, as the first full week of games has come to an end. The Red Sox are off to a hot start with seven wins and no losses, with many youngsters making positive contributions.
Casas leading the way
SoxProspects.com's second-ranked prospect, Triston Casas (pictured), has jumped out to a fantastic start this spring, going 6 for 15 (.400) with two home runs and a 1.238 OPS. Both of his home runs have come off of left-handed pitchers, which is a great sign. Casas struggled against lefties in 2022 at both the minor and major league levels, with OPS' of .619 and .611, respectively, with no home runs.
Other top prospects showing off their talent
Wilyer Abreu and Enmanuel Valdez, the two prospects acquired last summer in the Christian Vazquez trade, have both hit the ball well over this first week. Abreu is 4 for 12 with a double, a home run, and a pair of walks, while Valdez has just three hits but a long home run is included. Jarren Duran is also swinging a great bat, with three hits in six at-bats, including two doubles and a home run. He is using the opposite field very well, as all of his hits have gone to left field. Ceddanne Rafaela also has four hits and three RBI on the young season, while catcher Caleb Hamilton is 4 for 6 with a double and a homer so far.
There have been some tremendous showings so far on the mound as well. Chris Murphy has looked great through 2 2/3 innings, allowing just one hit and no runs with five strikeouts. Brandon Walter has also tossed three scoreless frames, surrendering just one hit with a sparkling 5:0 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Norwith Gudino, who was signed to a minor league deal in December, has been lights out as well with seven strikeouts and just one walk in 4 1/3 scoreless innings. Bryan Mata has appeared as well and thrown two hitless innings with three strikeouts and one walk. Ryan Sherriff, Taylor Broadway, and Durbin Feltman have pitched at least three innings without allowing an earned run.
Transactions
The Red Sox made a few moves yesterday, reassigning four players to minor league camp. They include right-handed pitchers Dan Altavilla and Victor Santos, catcher Elih Marrero, and infielder Matthew Lugo. Lugo was having a nice spring, appearing in seven games and going 4 for 10 with two doubles and a triple. Marrero has appeared in two games and went 1 for 2 with a run scored. Boston has also released Kole Cottam. The catcher was drafted in the fourth round in 2018 and had spent his whole minor league career with the Sox. He hit .271 with a .730 OPS in 64 games with Portland last season.
Minor leaguers in major league games
We will continue tracking the players who are not in major league camp but get looks in MLB games. The full list, with current ranking in parentheses: Pitchers Skylar Arias, Cam Booser, Brendon Cellucci, Rio Gomez, Luis Guerrero (29), Joe Jacques, Robert Kwiatkowski, Sterling Sharp, Joey Stock, Jake Thompson, Jacob Webb, Brendan Nail, Cody Scroggins, Matt Dermody, Ryan Sherriff, Taylor Broadway (41), Norwith Gudino, Oddanier Mosqueda (48), Chase Shugart (57) and Ryan Zeferjahn (58); infielders Christian Koss (33), Daniel Palka, Nick Sogard, Niko Goodrum, Matthew Lugo (14), Niko Kavadas (20), Edwin Diaz; catchers Stephen Scott (40), Ronaldo Hernandez (38), Elih Marrero and Caleb Hamilton; outfielders Marcus Wilson, Raimel Tapia, Narcisco Crook, Nick Decker, Gilberto Jimenez (39), and Greg Allen; and utilitymen Ryan Fitzgerald (54) and Tyler McDonough (30).
SoxProspects continued coverage of 2023 spring training
Our annual Top 60 countdown has continued. Here is Ian Cundall's latest, highlighted by Blaze Jordan and Matthew Lugo. Be sure to follow along on the news page as well as our Twitter feed (@SoxProspects). Also, be on the lookout for in-person coverage, as the SoxProspects crew will be down in Fort Myers for a week, starting on March 14.
Miguel Bleis playing on the back fields
To end it, here is a video of Miguel Bleis hitting a rocket into the left-center gap for a triple. If you blink, you might miss him rounding second.
Photo Credit: Triston Casas by Kelly O'Connor