Podcast Ep. #434: 2026 in Review: Low-Minors Hitters

It's part 2 of our season look-back, and the guys are headed south to the low-minors affiliates. 2026 Breakout Player of the Year Franklin Primera and four 2026 draftees lead a crop of hitters with interesting potential, but a ways to go. Plus, with the season approaching its end, Chris and Ian looked at this year's particularly noteworthy crop of minor league free agents, and how the organization might approach whether and how to retain those prospects.

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Fall/Winter Roundup: International Winter Leagues kick off

The fall and winter league schedule continued to heat up this week. In addition to the ongoing Arizona Fall League action, the schedules kicked off in Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico (where the Red Sox do not have anyone currently on a roster). The two top prospects in the Caribbean are upcoming free agents Allan Castro (pictured) and Yordanny Monegro. For a full roster of all affiliated prospects currently assigned and their statistics for the season, make sure to check out our Fall & Winter Leagues page. 

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Arizona Fall League

It was an unusual week for the Mesa Solar Sox, with a rare weather postponement on Monday followed by another cancellation on Tuesday due to a power outage. Antonio Anderson followed up on a strong opening week by going 3 for 10 with a pair of doubles and three walks in his three starts. He scored twice and drove in a pair. Mason White got two starts at second base and one at shortstop, going 2 for 11 with an RBI and a pair of walks. Nazzan Zanetello struggled to an 0 for 8 week. 

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Podcast Ep. #433: 2026 in Review: High-Minors Hitters

Part 1 of our season-in-review takes a look at the hitters who reached Double-A or higher in the system this year, led by the system's top prospect. Before diving in, Chris and Ian looked back at last week's episode, considering whether the "look ahead" segment had too pessimistic an outlook in response to some discussion on the SoxProspects forum. These season-in-review episodes will be great for listeners with any level of knowledge, serving as a great jumping-on point for those who want to learn about the players in the Red Sox farm system while also providing the usual in-depth analysis our regular listeners expect!

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Fall/Winter League Roundup: Anderson erupts as AFL season gets underway

With the 2026 minor league regular season in the books, we move on to the fall and winter leagues. Boston sent three position players and five pitchers to play for the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League. This week's roundup covers everything from October 3-11, and stats for all participating players can be found at the SoxProspects.com Fall & Winter Leagues page.

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Arizona Fall League

Over the first week-plus of game action, Antonio Anderson (pictured) has been one of the best hitters in the league. With the Solar Sox down by three runs in the top of the ninth on Friday, Anderson launched a go-ahead grand slam that left the bat at 115.2 mph. He followed that up with another home run on Saturday. In all he is batting .368/.500/.737 with five walks and eight strikeouts in 24 plate appearances. Nazzan Zanetello has also had a solid start, slashing .200/.385/.450 over 26 plate appearances. He has a home run, triple, and two steals to go along with six walks and nine strikeouts. Mason White, a 2026 SoxProspects All-Star, has had the slowest start of the trio. He is 3 for his first 18, though one of his hits was a home run. Similar to the other hitters, he has accumulated a high amount of walks (5) and strikeouts (8). In total the three batters have combined to walk or strikeout in 56 percent of their plate appearances thus far. 

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2026 SoxProspects.com Awards: Pitcher of the Year

This concludes the fifth and final day of 2026 SoxProspects.com Awards week. Over the past week, we at SoxProspects.com have recognized our All-Star position players and pitchers, Graduate of the Year, Homegrown Players 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 name our Pitcher of the Year.

Pitcher of the Year

Despite being traded to the Orioles in early August, Anthony Eyanson (pictured, right) takes home SoxProspects.com's Pitcher of the Year award for a stellar first full professional season. The 22-year-old right-hander entered 2026 as the organization's No. 6 prospect after being selected with the 87th overall pick in the 2025 draft out of Louisiana State and signing for $1.75 million. He further elevated his stock with a standout spring training that included touching triple digits in the Spring Breakout showcase.

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2026 SoxProspects.com Awards: Player of the Year

Welcome to the fifth and final day of 2026 SoxProspects.com Awards week. Throughout the week, we have recognized our All-Star position players and pitchers, Graduate of the Year, Homegrown Players 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 begin by naming our Player of the Year.

Player of the Year

After moving up three levels in 2025, Franklin Arias (pictured, right) entered 2026 as the organization's No. 2 prospect behind only left-hander Payton Tolle. The 20-year-old infielder returned to Portland out of camp this spring and got off to a blistering start, homering eight times in 20 games on his way to earning Eastern League Player of the Month honors for April. He continued to swing a hot bat into the summer, culminating in him being selected to play in the All-Star Futures Game and receiving a promotion to Worcester in late July.

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2026 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. The Comeback player award honors 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 2026 honorees include Boston's minor league strikeout leader, a pitcher who started this season in a different organization, and a 19-year-old catcher who reached base in half of his plate appearances. 

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Rookie of the Year: Dylan Brown

For the third year in a row this award is going to a left-handed pitcher after Payton Tolle won last year and Connelly Early won it in 2024. Brown was an eighth-round pick in the 2025 draft out of Old Dominion University, receiving a slot bonus of $229,000. He debuted in Salem in April of this year, and he made quick work of the Carolina League. He struck out 32 in 23 1/3 innings while pitching to an ERA of 2.31. The 22-year-old got promoted to Greenville where he continued to miss bats at an impressive pace. The South Atlantic League had an offensive explosion this year when compared with prior years, but Brown was still able to post a 3.78 ERA with 111 strikeouts and only 24 walks in 83 1/3 innings. 

Helped in part by the trade of Anthony Eyanson to Baltimore, Brown led Boston's minor league system in strikeouts this season with 143, and the Red Sox named him their 2026 Minor League Pitcher of the Year. He ended the season particularly strong as he won the SoxProspects.com Pitcher of the Month award in August with an ERA of 2.66 while holding opposing batters to an average of just .186. 

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2026 SoxProspects.com Awards: Graduate, Homegrown, and Ex-Prospect

We continue our SoxProspects.com Awards coverage with the 2026 Graduate, Homegrown Player(s), and Ex-Prospect of the Year. The Graduate of the Year led the Red Sox in strikeouts as a rookie. The two Homegrown Players of the Year were among the best defensive outfielders in baseball. The Ex-Prospect of the Year, meanwhile, put together a resurgent season in Arizona.

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Graduate of the Year (Player who graduated this season who contributed the most to the Red Sox): Payton Tolle

After debuting at the major-league level late last summer, Tolle (pictured, left) entered 2026 as the organization's top pitching prospect and one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. The 23-year-old left-hander did not make Boston's starting rotation out of spring training and instead opened the season in Worcester. He made three starts for the WooSox, allowing eight runs (five earned) in 15 innings, before getting the call back up on April 23.

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2026 SoxProspects.com All-Stars: Pitchers

Awards week continues here at SoxProspects.com with the pitcher portion of our 2026 All-Star selections. We have made a change to our selection process this year. With more minor league pitchers working in longer relief and swingman roles and fewer working in traditional short relief, we flipped from selecting five starters and three relievers to just naming the eight best overall pitchers on the year. That was further altered when there was a tie for the last spot on the team, resulting in nine pitchers being selected. Six of the nine are being recognized for the first time, eight are currently ranked in the organization's top 60, and one has already made his major league debut. The first three pitchers listed were unanimous selections by participating members of the SoxProspects.com staff. 

Pitcher: Dylan Brown

A left-hander selected in the eighth round of the 2025 draft out of Old Dominion, Brown jumped onto the radar late in spring training and quickly rose through the rankings during an impressive rookie campaign. The first man to throw a pitch for the Salem RidgeYaks, Brown fired five scoreless innings on opening day and then needed only five starts to pitch his way out of the Carolina League. He finished the year with a 3.46 ERA in 106 innings across 22 appearances between Salem and Greenville. Brown led the organization with 143 strikeouts, walked 37, and surrendered only four home runs.

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2026 SoxProspects.com All-Stars: Position Players

Welcome to the 2026 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. This year's All-Star Team is headlined by the top three prospects in the system, a pair of 2025 draftees, and a player who performed so well before being traded at the deadline that his spot on the team could not be denied. 

 

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Catcher: Franklin Primera

Making his stateside debut after spending last year in the Dominican Summer League, Primera's stock rose more than perhaps any other prospect in the Red Sox system this season as he jumped from No. 36 in the preseason SoxProspects.com rankings to No. 3 by the end of the year. Primera started the season in the Florida Complex League and made an immediate impression, hitting .427 with eight home runs through 32 games before earning a promotion to Salem. While he slowed down slightly in Salem, he still put together an excellent performance in Single-A as he hit .329/.466/.494 in 42 games. Primera led the Red Sox system in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage among players with at least 300 plate appearances.  

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Podcast Ep. #432: Taking stock

After an anticlimactic sweep at the hands of the Yankees, there's plenty to discuss about what we learned in the Red Sox short postseason run and what it means for the future, enough so that the guys pushed the season in review back a week. Chris and Ian analyzed what went so wrong in the Wild Card Series and what can be taken away from the disappointing end to a truly bizarre season.

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