Podcast Ep #387: Closing in on the Official Start of the Offseason

Ian is joined by Mike Andrews this week to discuss all the latest Red Sox news! They start off by talking about the new hitting coach, minor league coaching changes and Kristian Campbell’s weight loss. Then Mike runs through all the relevant dates to know about for once the World Series ends. After that, they wrap up by answering your emails including questions on Tanner Houck, Henry Owens, Ceddanne Rafeala’s plate skills and more!

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Fall/Winter League Roundup: Perales continues to build up in the AFL; Neely makes impressive relief outing

It was an active week for Red Sox minor leaguers, as seven of the eight players that Boston sent to the Arizona Fall League appeared in games. The week was highlighted by third-ranked prospect Luis Perales' longest outing of the season, though he continues to be hit hard in the offensively-charged environment in the AFL. A pair of Red Sox prospects also got into game action in the Dominican Professional Baseball League. 

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Arizona Fall League

Luis Perales' return to the mound after missing nearly the entire 2025 regular season continues to be one of the most interesting storylines among Red Sox prospects in the AFL. Perales started for the Salt River Rafters on Sunday and made his longest outing of the fall, going 2 2/3 innings and throwing 54 pitches. However, he struggled as he allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits while striking out two batters and walking one. This start raised Perales' ERA to 6.75 through eight innings in the AFL. 

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Podcast Ep #386: Arizona Fall League and Emails with Chris Clegg

Ian is joined by Chris Clegg this week to talk about his trip to the Arizona Fall League. They start off discussing the setup of the AFL and the playing conditions before diving into specific players with Chris providing first-hand reports on Luis Perales, Brandon Neely, Johanfran Garcia and the rest of the Red Sox Prospects there. To start the show, Ian and Chris also briefly talk about Tony Vitello leaving Tennessee for the Giants and then after the AFL discussion, finish the show by answering your emails.

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Podcast Ep# 385: Early Offseason Thoughts with Alex Speier

Ian is joined by Alex Speier this week for a wide-ranging discussion about all things Red Sox. They start off discussing the greatness of Shohei Ohtani and then talk about what these playoffs have revealed about team building and how it could impact the Red Sox offseason. They then discuss the turnover in the front office and Craig Breslow’s thoughts heading into the offseason. Finally, they wrap up by talking about the Red Sox offseason needs and what areas they could be looking to improve.

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Fall/Winter League Roundup: Perales makes a pair of starts, Guerrero and Hernandez play in the Dominican Republic

With the Arizona Fall League in full swing, several Red Sox prospects have been seeing game action for the last week and a half. While it has been tough for most of the Boston representatives, Luis Perales continues to ramp up following his recovery from Tommy John surgery. In addition to the Fall League, a pair of Red Sox farmhands saw some action in the Dominican League. This week's roundup covers everything from October 13-19, with stats available at the SoxProspects.com Fall & Winter Leagues page.

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Arizona Fall League 

Without a doubt the most intriguing storyline among Boston's players is Luis Perales, who made his second and third starts of the Fall League this week. After kicking things off for the Salt River Rafters with 1 1/3 scoreless innings in the season opener, Perales followed it up with two innings in his second start. While he allowed a run on a walk in the second frame, he did not allow a hit and struck out four while throwing 21 of his 31 pitches for strikes. Perales also topped out at 100.7 MPH on his fastball. In his third start on Sunday afternoon, the right-hander struggled with command. He allowed three runs on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts tallied to his line, throwing just 29 of his 51 pitches for strikes while topping out at 100.5 MPH. 

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Fall/Winter League Roundup: Perales hits 101 mph, Tucker off to hot start

It was a busy week for Sox players in the first few days of action in the Arizona Fall League. Boston sent eight players, three position players and five pitchers, who are playing for the Salt River Rafters. This week's roundup covers everything from October 6-12, and stats for all participating players can be found at the SoxProspects.com Fall & Winter Leagues page. 

 

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Arizona Fall League 

Catcher Johanfan Garcia is off to a nice start this fall, going 4 for 12 with four singles and a walk last week. The 20-year-old backstop hit .261 with 12 home runs and a .792 OPS in 58 games between the FCL Sox and Greenville. Second baseman Stanley Tucker has played in four games and is hitting .333/.412/.333. In the early going, Tucker leads Salt River in RBI with six and in stolen bases with three. Nelly Taylor is off to a cold start at the plate, as he went 1 for 8 with a single last week. He has, however, stolen two bases and scored a couple of runs. 

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Podcast Ep #384: Breaking Down The New SoxProspects Rankings

Ian and Mike are back for a full breakdown of the latest SoxProspects rankings update! They start off explaining how they settled on the order of Franklin Arias, Luis Perales, Kyson Witherspoon and Payton Tolle and then move down the list and discuss why other prospects made notable jumps or fell down the list. Players discussed further include Justin Gonzales, Yhoiker Fajardo, Henry Godbout, John Holobetz, Jesus Travieso and more. After that they end the show by answering a few listener emails!

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2025 SoxProspects.com Awards: Pitcher of the Year

This concludes the fifth and final day of 2025 SoxProspects.com Awards week. As previously mentioned, we at SoxProspects.com have spent the past week recognizing our All-Star position players and pitchers, Graduate of the Year, Homegrown Player of the Year, Ex-Prospect of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, Breakout Player of the Year, and Player of the Year. To wrap things up today, we are naming our Pitcher of the Year honoree.

Pitcher of the Year

Like Player of the Year Jhostynxon Garcia, Connelly Early (pictured) stood out in several areas on his way to making his MLB debut late this season. On the heels of earning 2024 SoxProspects.com All-Star and Rookie of the Year honors, the 23-year-old left-hander opened the 2025 campaign as the No. 10 prospect in the system.

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2025 SoxProspects.com Awards: Player of the Year

Welcome to the fifth and final day of 2025 SoxProspects.com Awards week. Throughout the week, we at SoxProspects.com have recognized our All-Star position players and pitchers, Graduate of the Year, Homegrown Player of the Year, Ex-Prospect of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, and Breakout Player of the Year. Today, we start by naming our Player of the Year.

Player of the Year

Jhostynxon Garcia (pictured) followed up a standout 2024 season by putting up more impressive power numbers and making his MLB debut in 2025. After being added to the Red Sox' 40-man roster for Rule 5 protection purposes last November, the 22-year-old outfielder took part in his first big league camp this spring and returned to Portland for the start of the new campaign. At that time, he was ranked as the No. 14 prospect in the system.

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Podcast Ep #383: Moving onto the Offseason

Ian is joined this week by Editor-in-Chief Mike Andrews to break down the Red Sox wild card series loss to the Yankees and where they go from here. They discussed some of the reasons the Red Sox lost and then the key areas they need to upgrade in the offseason. After that they touched on the start of the Arizona Fall League where both Luis Perales and Brandon Neely pitched on opening day. Finally, they wrap up the show by answering your emails!

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2025 SoxProspects.com Awards: Rookie, Breakout, and Comeback Players of the Year

We continue our SoxProspects.com Awards week with our Rookie, Breakout, and Comeback players of the year. Eligible Rookies will have fewer than 50 plate appearances or 15 innings pitched in their minor league careers. Comeback Player is awarded a player who has returned to prospect form from injury, poor performance, or a combination of the two. Breakout Player recognizes the player who made the greatest jump in prospect status during the season. The 2025 honorees include a member of the 2025 playoff roster, a pitcher who has overcome obstacles throughout his career, and a high-upside 18-year-old who showed advanced skills for his age. 

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Rookie of the Year: Payton Tolle

A unanimous selection among the SoxProspects.com staff, Tolle blazed through the minor leagues and found himself on a big-league mound in August. A second-round pick in the 2024 draft out of Texas Christian, fans were a bit surprised to see Tolle get a slightly above-slot bonus at the 50th overall pick. He was ranked 87th in the draft by MLB Pipeline and 82nd by Baseball America. But the Red Sox clearly liked him more than that, and the left-hander debuted with Greenville on April 8. His first start was one to forget, as he gave up six runs while only recording five outs. It ended up being his worst start of the year, and he responded quickly by striking out 76 and allowing 14 runs over his next 48 innings. 

He made his Double-A debut on June 28, but it only took him five weeks to completely overpower the Eastern League. His eye-popping numbers of a 1.67 ERA and 0.74 WHIP with Portland turned a lot of heads, and he was promoted to Worcester for what ended up being just a cup of coffee in Triple-A. His three starts with the WooSox saw him strike out 17 and walk only 2 over 15 innings while batters hit .193 against him. His major league debut was one of the highlights of the 2025 season for Red Sox fans as he struck out eight over 5 1/3 innings while leaving with a shutout until the bullpen let two inherited runners score. He ended the year in a bullpen role where he hit triple digits while connecting with fans due to his charisma on the mound. 

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2025 SoxProspects.com Awards: Graduate, Homegrown, and Ex-Prospect

We continue our SoxProspects.com Awards coverage with the 2025 Graduate, Homegrown Player, and Ex-Prospect of the year. The Graduate and Homegrown honorees both made significant contributions to the big-league club this year, while the Ex-Prospect Award recipient is someone who started the year in the middle of Boston's lineup. 

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Graduate of the Year: Roman Anthony

Anthony cemented himself as the top prospect in baseball in his two-plus months to begin the year in Worcester. He hit .288/.423/.491 with almost as many walks as strikeouts as a 20-year-old (turned 21 on May 13) in the International League. He was the Red Sox Minor League Hitter of the Month and the SoxProspects.com Player of the Month in April. When last year's winner of this award, Wilyer Abreu, went down with an oblique injury on June 9, Anthony was called up to take his place in right field. His performance barely took a dip in going from Triple-A to the majors, as he hit .292/.396/.463 over 71 games before an oblique injury ended his regular season on September 2.

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2025 SoxProspects.com All-Stars: Pitchers

Following up on Monday's post recognizing All-Star position players, we continue 2025 SoxProspects.com Awards week by shifting our focus to All-Star pitchers. This group includes two lefties who made their big league debuts this season, three trade acquisitions, and one undrafted free agent.

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Starting Pitcher: Payton Tolle

Tolle is a first-time SoxProspects.com All-Star after making quite the impression in his first full professional season. Selected with the 50th overall pick in the 2024 draft out of TCU, Tolle opened the 2025 campaign in Greenville but wasted very little time in moving up the organizational ladder. By late June, the 22-year-old left-hander was promoted to Portland. By early August, he was in Worcester. Between the three levels, he forged a 3.04 ERA with 133 strikeouts to 23 walks across 20 appearances (18 starts) spanning 91 2/3 total innings in which he held opponents to a .203 batting average. The 6-foot-6 southpaw was recognized as the Red Sox' Minor League Pitcher of the Year and made his MLB debut on Aug. 29, posting a 6.06 ERA with 19 strikeouts to eight walks in his first seven outings (three starts) and 16 1/3 innings for the big club. Equipped with an upper-90s fastball that can reach triple digits, Tolle is currently ranked as both the top pitching prospect and top overall prospect in the system.

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2025 SoxProspects.com All-Stars: Position Players

Welcome to the 2025 SoxProspects.com Awards week! Over the next five days, we will present our annual awards on the news page, recognizing the standout performers from the season. Following the format we've used the last few years, the schedule will be as follows:

Monday: All-Star position players

Tuesday: All-Star pitchers

Wednesday: Graduate of the Year; Homegrown Player of the Year; Ex-Prospect of the Year

Thursday: Rookie of the Year; Breakout Player of the Year; Comeback Player of the Year

Friday: Player of the Year; Pitcher of the Year

We kick things off with the All-Star position players as selected by the SoxProspects.com staff. While we consider factors such as age advancement and opponent quality, these awards recognize the players' in-game performances rather than a commentary on any status as a prospect. The All-Star team is highlighted by four players who made their major league debuts in 2024, two on the position player side.

 

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Catcher: Johanfran Garcia

After a knee injury that limited Garcia to just 14 games in 2024, he re-emerged with a strong 2025 campaign. Garcia started the year on the injured list as he continued to rehab, tuning up with a 12-game stint in the FCL before taking his spot in Greenville. He hit a solid .249/.327/.428 with the Drive, popping nine homers in 46 games. He caught in consecutive games for the first time on July 10 and 11, portending his healthy second half during which he slugged .500. Garcia is currently the 31st-ranked player in the system, highest at the catcher position. 

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