2023 SoxProspects.com Awards: Pitcher of the Year

This concludes the fifth and final day of Awards Week here at SoxProspects.com. Throughout the week, we have recognized our All-Star position players and pitchers, our Graduate, Homegrown, and Ex-Prospect of the Year, our Rookie, Comeback, and Breakout Player of the Year, and our Player of the Year. To wrap things up, we will name our Pitcher of the Year for 2023.

Pitcher of the Year

Yordanny Monegro (pictured, right) earns the honors after bursting onto the scene this season and emerging as one of the more intriguing pitching prospects in the organization.

Unranked to begin the year, Monegro repeated at the rookie-level Florida Complex League out of the gate. In three starts for Boston's Fort Myers-based affiliate, the 20-year-old right-hander posted a 1.20 ERA and 2.28 FIP with 20 strikeouts to just four walks over 15 innings in which he held opposing hitters to a miniscule .102 batting average against. He then received a promotion to Low-A Salem in late June and was recognized as the FCL Pitcher of the Month shortly thereafter. 

Upon arriving in Salem, Monegro made the most of his Carolina League debut by fanning 11 and scattering two hits over five scoreless frames as part of a 7-2 win over the Down East Wood Ducks on June 25. Including that stellar outing, Monegro pitched to a 2.43 ERA and 2.30 FIP with 60 punchouts to 17 walks in nine starts (40 2/3 innings) for the Red Sox before making the jump to High-A Greenville as the calendar flipped from August to September.

With the Drive, Monegro appeared in two games before the South Atlantic League regular season came to a close. He followed the rehabbing Zack Kelly on Sept. 1 and delivered by striking out eight over five scoreless innings of relief in a 3-0 win over the Brooklyn Cyclones. One week later, the righty made his first start for Greenville against the Aberdeen IronBirds and allowed two runs in five innings.

Since the Drive had already secured their spot in the Sally League playoffs by clinching the south division first-half title earlier in the summer, Monegro also received his first taste of postseason baseball last month. He started Game 2 of the Division Series against the Hickory Crawdads on Sept. 14 and struck out seven over five innings of two-run ball to send Greenville to the SAL championship, which it eventually won by sweeping the Hudson Valley Renegades in two games.

Overall, Monegro went 6-3 with a 2.06 ERA (2.55 FIP) and 93 strikeouts to 26 walks in 14 regular season appearances (13 starts, 65 2/3 innings) while pitching for three different affiliates in 2023. He is now regarded by SoxProspects.com as the No. 25 prospect in Boston's farm system, which ranks fifth among pitchers in the organization. Baseball America has him at No. 29 while MLB Pipeline has him at No. 22 on its Red Sox-centered list.

Monegro, who turns 21 later this month, originally signed with Boston for only $35,000 as an international free agent coming out of the Dominican Republic in February 2020. The 6-foot-4, 180-pound Santo Domingo native throws from a high-three-quarters arm slot and operates with a four-pitch mix that consists of a 93-95 mph fastball that tops out at 96 mph, a 76-81 mph curveball, an 82-86 mph slider, and an 89-91 mph changeup that is considered to be a work in progress. He also pitches with emotion and swagger, as noted by SoxProspects.com's director of scouting Ian Cundall.

With room to grow in several areas, Monegro is projected to return to the Greenville starting rotation for the start of the 2024 minor-league season in April. With that being said, Monegro himself recently told MassLive.com's Christopher Smith that one of his goals for next year is to make it to the big-leagues. 

Photo Credit: Yordanny Monegro by Kelly O'Connor

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