System Restart '17: Low-level pitching

The SoxProspects.com writing staff presents the System Restart, our season-opening, position-by-position preview of the Boston Red Sox farm system for 2017. This is the last of seven parts, featuring the system’s low-minors pitching. 

Position at a Glance: While the Red Sox lack the depth they’ve had in arms on the long-term development track in past seasons, there are still some interesting arms in the lower parts of the system, led by left-hander Jay Groome, a consensus top-50 prospect in the game. After that, there is a pretty big drop off, but several promising Latin American pitching prospects slated for short-season ball have upside, if also a long way to go developmentally. – Ian Cundall 

Jay Groome, Greenville (#3)

Groome, arguably the top prospect in the 2016 draft class, fell into Boston's lap at the 12th-overall pick because of off-field and signability concerns. In early looks during his pro debut and Fall Instructional League last year and Spring Training this year, the big lefty has shown why he’s so highly regarded with a fastball that can touch 97 and a curveball with plus-plus potential. With the trades of Anderson Espinoza and Michael Kopech, Groome is unquestionably the top pitching prospect in the system right now. At 18, they sky is the limit for the New Jersey native, with as much upside as any pitcher in all of the minor leagues. However, he comes with risk, not just from the aforementioned off-field question, but also from the inherent hazard of pitching a baseball: Groome left his 2017 debut with a lat injury after 1 1/3 ineffective innings and has now missed more than two weeks after initial reports had him missing 2-3 starts. – James Dunne

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System Restart '17: Mid-level pitching

The SoxProspects.com writing staff presents the System Restart, our season-opening, position-by-position preview of the Boston Red Sox farm system for 2017. This is the sixth of seven parts, featuring the system’s mid-minors pitching.

Position at a Glance: Between Greenville and Salem, the Red Sox have several pitching prospects who could advance relatively quickly and have at least a chance of developing into starters at the big league level. That said, none of these prospects have top of the rotation potential. – Ian Cundall

Top Prospects

Roniel Raudes, Salem (#8)

Raudes (pictured, right), an international free agent signed out of Nicaragua in 2014, spent last season in Greenville as one of the youngest players in the South Atlantic League at 18 years old. Raudes put up impressive numbers with a 3.65 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 113 1/3 innings, striking out 104 batters and walking just 23. Raudes’ control and command are impressive for a pitcher his age, but he lacks dominating stuff, his fastball sitting around 88-90 mph. He mixes all four of his pitches, with his curve and change flashing average-to-better. Questions remain whether he simply possesses a profile that allows him to succeed at lower levels with better-than-typical command, pitchability, and funky mechanics, or whether he can truly succeed with his unique profile for an age-advanced arm at higher levels of the minors and the majors. Raudes begins the year as the youngest player in the Carolina League, but has been hit hard in two of his three outings, giving up 12 hits including three home runs in nine innings while striking out just six in those contests, with his lone positive start cut short due to a long rain delay. – Nick Rabasco

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System Restart '17: Upper-level pitching

The SoxProspects.com writing staff presents the System Restart, our season-opening, position-by-position preview of the Boston Red Sox farm system for 2017. This is the fifth of seven parts, featuring the system’s high-minors pitching. 

Position at a Glance: In the high minors, the Red Sox lack potential starting pitching options but boast a bonanza of potential major league relief arms. The top options for spot starts in Boston are technically no longer prospects, and after that the drop off is steep, the departure of Michael Kopech in the Chris Sale trade leaving a hole on the depth chart. The current Portland rotation doesn’t boast any potential starting options unless Trey Ball can take a big step forward. Meanwhile, both levels feature pitchers in the rotation and bullpen who could contribute in a major league bullpen in the near future, the number perhaps approaching double digits. – Ian Cundall

Top Prospects

Henry Owens/Brian Johnson, Pawtucket (graduated)

Now in their sixth and fifth full seasons in the system, respectively, Owens and Johnson (pictured, above) need to prove that they can be relied upon to at least provide serviceable spot starts in order to provide value to the Red Sox, and they need to move forward from there if they want to have major league careers. Owens is overhauling his mechanics out of the wind-up, and so far, returns have been mixed: he has 20 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings over three starts, but has also walked 10 and given up a pair of home runs. Johnson got first crack at a spot start after two strong starts, getting through five innings that weren't great but could have been worse. With Spring Training darling Kyle Kendrick getting hit around in his first three starts—and, without options, in danger of being claimed by another team if called up for only a short-term fill-in role, the 2017 Red Sox probably need one of Owens or Johnson to figure things out in order to have success. – Chris Hatfield

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System Restart '17: Catcher

The SoxProspects.com writing staff presents the System Restart, our season-opening, position-by-position preview of the Boston Red Sox farm system for 2017. This is the fourth of seven parts, featuring the system’s catchers. 

Position at a Glance: Catcher is perhaps the weakest position in the Red Sox system, especially if one does not include Blake Swihart (pictured, right), who has exhausted his prospect eligibility although he begins 2017 with Pawtucket. After Swihart, who still features a considerable ceiling and could be a significant major league contributor this season, the drop-off is precipitous. The system’s catching prospects project as future backup options at best and all have issues that could keep them from even reaching that ceiling. However, with Swihart and the current major league combination of Sandy Leon and Christian Vazquez, the Red Sox ideally should be set at the catcher position for the foreseeable future. While the lack of depth isn’t an issue now, it could be if the club is unable to bring in some new talent in the next few years and neither Vazquez nor Swihart pans out as a long-term stalwart behind the dish. – Ian Cundall 

Top Prospects

Blake Swihart, Pawtucket (Graduated)

After being drafted 26th overall in the 2011 draft, Swihart steadily rose up the rankings and became SoxProspects.com’s top-ranked prospect by the end of the 2014 season. Swihart made his major league debut the next year, taking over as the club's primary backstop after injuries to Vazquez and Ryan Hanigan. Entering 2016 as the starting catcher, but only a short leash, he was sent back to Pawtucket after just about a week in favor of Vazquez. He re-emerged about a month later as the team's new primary left fielder, but an ankle injury ended his season after just 13 starts. During his abbreviated 2016, the 24-year-old hit .243/.344/.311 over 29 games at Triple-A and .258/.365/.355 in 19 games for Boston in what became a lost season due to the position shuffling and injury woes. Now recovered, Swihart has the benefit of the team recommitting to him as a catcher. The odd man out in Boston because neither Leon and Vazquez had options remaining, Swihart will get the lion's share of the playing time behind the plate to work on improving his defense, especially consistency and framing. His ability to shore up those parts of his game will be key to finishing his development and approaching the lofty expectations that still follow the former top prospect. – Will Woodward

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System Restart '17: Outfield

The SoxProspects.com writing staff presents the System Restart, our season-opening, position-by-position preview of the Boston Red Sox farm system for 2017. This is the third of seven parts, covering the outfield. 

Position at a Glance: After the graduation of the entire starting outfield for the current Red Sox—for the purposes of this series, we are going to treat the consensus top prospect in the game, Andrew Benintendi (pictured, far right), as graduated, especially given that he has already literally graduated as of this date—and the trades of several other high-end prospects, the farm system is bereft of high-end talent in the outfield. Ironically, this has been an issue for some time despite the youth and talent in the current major league outfield—consider that Mookie Betts is a converted second baseman and Benintendi tore through the system in a little over a year. As it now stands, no player in the farm system projects as a surefire starting outfielder, but there are a handful of intriguing prospects, headlined by Aneury Tavarez and followed up by a pair of 2015 draftees and a pair of interesting prospects in Greenville. – Ian Cundall

Top Prospects

Aneury Tavarez, LF/RF, Portland (#28)

Receiving Tavarez (pictured, left) back at the end of spring training from the Baltimore Orioles, who had selected the talented Dominican in December's Rule 5 draft, was a potential godsend for the Red Sox outfield depth in the upper minors. Tavarez just turned 25 years old and is coming off a tremendous year in Portland that saw him hit .335/.385/.506 in 106 games. He has continued to hit throughout the winter in the Dominican Professional Baseball League, where he hit .283/.349/.362 in 46 games, and the early going in 2017, as he his currently hitting .342/.409/.447 for the Sea Dogs. While Tavarez has spent much of his time in the Red Sox system since first signing in October 2010 flying under the radar, he is forcing his way into what should be an imminent promotion to Pawtucket and, perhaps, into the picture should an outfielder be needed in case of injury at the major league level. – Nick Rabasco

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System Restart '17: Middle Infield

The SoxProspects.com writing staff presents the System Restart, our season-opening, position-by-position preview of the Boston Red Sox farm system for 2017. This is the second of seven parts, covering the middle infield. 

Position at a Glance: With the middle infield positions secured at the major league level by Xander Bogaerts and Dustin Pedroia for the foreseeable future, the Red Sox have traded the majority of the system’s depth at these positions over the past year-plus, with players such as Yoan Moncada, Mauricio Dubon, Javier Guerra, Carlos Asuaje, and Luis Alejandro Basabe shipped out for major league talent. The end result is that only one prospect from either side of the keystone remains in the top 30 of the system—one, sixth-ranked Marco Hernandez, currently in Boston—although there are several interesting prospects in the low minors that could take a step forward. – Ian Cundall

Top Prospects

CJ Chatham, SS, injury rehab (projection: Greenville) (#7)

Chatham (pictured, above) was considered one of the top defensive shortstops in the country when the Red Sox selected him with the 51st overall pick in the second round of the 2016 draft. But at 6-foot-4, 185 pounds, there were questions about whether he could stick at short with his larger-than-average frame, but Chatham showed a strong arm and surprising quickness to the ball in his professional debut in Lowell. Chatham struggled at the plate after returning from rehab for a broken thumb, but finished strong, hitting .303/.378/.530 with all four of his home runs over his final 16 games. Chatham strained a hamstring at the end of spring training, which kept him from being assigned to an affiliate out of camp, but he should join the Greenville Drive once he is healthy. – Eric Gendron

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System Restart '17: Corner Infield

After a one-year hiatus, the SoxProspects.com writing staff is pleased to present the return of the System Restart, our season-opening series that takes a position-by-position look at who to watch in the Boston Red Sox farm system this season. In the first of seven parts, we’ll begin with the corner infielders.

Position at a Glance: Even with all the trades Dave Dombrowski has made since becoming President of Baseball Operations, one area where the system still has depth is the corner infield. This likely isn’t a coincidence—at the big league level, first base and third base are among the few spots where the club should have opportunities in the near future. In the high minors, each of the corners features a top-four prospect in the system, and each is followed by two other top 11 prospects. There isn’t a lot of depth after that, but with corner infielders making up six of the top 11 season-opening prospects in the SoxProspects.com rankings, it is arguably the strongest area in the system. – Ian Cundall

Top Prospects

Rafael Devers, 3B, Portland (#2) – The highly regarded third baseman has steadily advanced through the system and up the rankings since signing for $1.5 million as an international free agent in 2013. 2016 was another successful year, as Devers (pictured, above) hit .282/.335/.443 over 503 at-bats with Salem while being 3 1/2 years younger than the average Carolina League position player. Devers has the potential to hit for both average and power in the majors, his bat having always been his calling card, but the Red Sox have shown faith in his defensive abilities at third after initial questions if he would grow too much to stay at the position. His performance, particularly last year, has quieted much of the speculation of a positional change. Devers will once again open the season as one of the youngest players in his league, as he began the season as the second-youngest player in the Eastern League. Devers is the lone holdover at the top of the rankings after a slew of promotions and trades, and he opens 2017 as probably the surest thing in the organization not yet in the majors. – Will Woodward

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System Restart 2015, Pt. 7: Low Minors Pitchers

Position at a Glance: Every year at this time, the Lowell and GCL pitching staffs look thin prior to being stocked with June’s crew of draft picks. That holds true for the 2015 edition, but there is still a great deal of intriguing talent. The organization’s strong international presence, particularly its scouting focus in Venezuela, has supplied a great deal of interesting arms with some upside.

Burning questions:

Who coming stateside from the Latin program bears watching? 

The two most intriguing arms are Dominican right-hander Gerson Bautista and Venezuelan lefty Enmanuel De Jesus. Both are tall with the lanky, projectable frames the Red Sox favor. Bautista was dominant in the DSL last year after being suspended for nearly all of the 2013 season. De Jesus showed advanced command considering his understandable lack of polish against older hitters at Fall Instructs. Both are likely to be assigned to the Gulf Coast League.

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System Restart 2015, Pt. 6: Mid-Minors Pitchers

Position at a glance: A change in focus away from polished college arms and toward high school athletes gives the Red Sox a far different look at Salem and Greenville than they have had in recent years. The approach may yield less on-field success in terms of wins and losses, but has a better chance to generate the frontline starter it has been searching for. 

Burning questions:

Will Trey Ball begin to live up to being the seventh overall pick?

As Jon Meoli wrote last week, Greenville pitching coach Paul Abbott believes so. After a very difficult first half in 2014, Ball (pictured, right) really began to straighten things out as the summer wore on. An improved changeup becae a legitimate second pitch to complement his fastball, and mechanical adjustments in how he threw his curveball showed promise as well. The results of those tweaks were visible in Ball’s stat line: After posting a 7.27 ERA through the end of June, he had just a 2.70 mark in his last 11 starts, along with improved strikeout and groundball rates. 

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System Restart 2015, Pt. 5: Upper Level Pitchers

Position at a Glance: Pawtucket enters the season with its strongest rotation in memory and perhaps the best in the minors, featuring four of the organization’s top eight prospects. The wealth of talent extends into the bullpen, with each member a potential candidate for a major league call-up this season if performance merits it. Portland does not have the same top-end talent, but it has several depth options, including a couple arms making intriguing moves to the bullpen.

Burning questions:

Who will step in when there are openings in the major league rotation?

We learned on Thursday that Steven Wright would likely not get the start on Saturday in Yankee Stadium after all. Whether he returns to the PawSox or remains on the major league roster in a bullpen role is unclear. Matt Barnes is the other most likely option, but has yet to be stretched out after getting a long look for the final bullpen spot. One hopes that hewould be ramped up to a starter’s workload by late April. Of the trio of left-handers, Eduardo Rodriguez probably has the advantage early in the season by virtue of his presence on the 40-man roster. Adding Henry Owens (pictured, above) or Brian Johnson would require more roster maneuvering, but that becomes less onerous the farther into the season we get, as both will need to be added to the 40-man this offseason anyway.

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System Restart 2015, Pt. 4: Outfielders

Position at a glance: Historically, Boston has not focused on power in its draftees, focusing rather on quickness and athleticism. That approach shows when looking down the outfield depth chart, as it is filled with raw, toolsy projects who can make contact but do not yet threaten opposing pitchers with the long ball. 

Burning questions:

Did the club’s failure to develop an outfielder lead to the current major league OF situation? 

The current major league outfield consists of a converted shortstop signed as a free agent this winter, a converted second baseman, and a 34-year-old coming off his second injury-plagued season in three years. Waiting in the wings are the $72 million Cuban defector signed last summer. Can this rightly be considered a failure of the Red Sox player development system?

Well, sort of. Consider that since 2009, Ryan Westmoreland had his career ended by medical issues and Ryan Kalish had his more-or-less entirely derailed. Josh Reddick was traded in a package for Andrew Bailey and Reymond Fuentes in another for Adrian Gonzalez. Finally, Jackie Bradley gave the Sox a home-grown outfielder, but he countered his all-world defense with historically poor offense, putting him back in Pawtucket to start this season. The depth was there at one point, but a variety of circumstances disbursed that talent to the winds.

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System Restart 2015, Pt. 3: Middle Infielders

Position in a Nutshell: The speedy ascents of Xander Bogaerts and Mookie Betts had left middle infield position in the minors without real star power. There were a pair of solid performers projected to Pawtucket and some intriguing-but-raw talents in the lower levels, but very little in terms of superstar projection. The signing of Yoan Moncada (pictured, left) changed that in a hurry, suddenly making the organization’s depth up the middle look much fuller in one fell swoop.

Burning questions:

What is a realistic timeline for Yoan Moncada? 

After a year off from the game, the Red Sox will be patient with their new phenom. After shaking off the rust of not having played a game in over a year in extended spring training, Moncada will reportedly be assigned to Greenville. Ideally he would not meet with much resistance at Low A, allowing him to adjust to the culture and the rigors of the season.

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System Restart 2015, Pt. 2: Corner Infielders

Position in a Nutshell: The Red Sox have plenty in the pipeline on the corners, starting with the two top prospects currently battling for an assignment to Greenville, moving up to a fast-moving 2014 college draft pick, and culminating with a man who everyone forgets led the minors in on-base percentage in 2013 and is now blocked at the major league level.

Burning questions:

If both are assigned to Greenville, where will Rafael Devers and Michael Chavis (both pictured, right) play?

On opening day, there is a possibility that at least one of the two is kept in extended spring training. Both players made their professional debuts last year, and Chavis is still only 19 while Devers is only 18. For historical comparison: Trey Ball, Boston’s top draft pick in 2013, began the season in extended spring training and did not make his first appearance for Greenville until May.  But that said, the SoxProspects.com staff unanimously reports back that both looked great in camp, and it is likely that both will make the Drive out of camp, or at very least will make it there soon thereafter.

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System Restart 2015, Pt. 1: Catchers

With the season approaching, it’s time for the return of the System Restart, our position-by-position preview of who to follow in 2015. First up, the catchers.

Position in a Nutshell: Last year in this space, we used the term “top-heavy,” and the term applies even more now than it did then. The Red Sox have Blake Swihart (pictured, left), the consensus top catching prospect in baseball, targeted for Triple-A, and defensive prodigy Christian Vazquez heads into the regular season as the major league starter at age 24, albeit with a potentially serious injury concern in his throwing arm that has cropped up this spring. But after that, the drop-off is precipitous. While there are a few intriguing players to keep an eye on for the long term, there is little in the way of help that looks to be ready this season.

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System Restart 2014, Pt. 7: Low Minors Pitchers

Position in a Nutshell: Led by the earliest pick the organization has had since 1993, there are plenty of arms to dream on in the low minors after a pair of pitcher-heavy drafts.

Burning question

Where are Ball, Buttrey, and McGrath? This was the question, in some form, that many had when the opening day rosters came out, perhaps in declining order of frequency. Trey Ball (pictured), the number seven pick overall in June’s draft, was assumed by many to be a lock for Greenville, but as you will read below, the club may have felt him too unrefined to assign to full-season ball right out of the gate. Ty Buttrey’s progression was behind this spring—we saw his first live batting practice in Fort Myers in late March—so he likely needs another few weeks to get ready for the season. As for Daniel McGrath, although he was successful in the Gulf Coast League and a brief cameo with the Spinners in 2013, he likely needs one more go-round through short-season ball before he will be ready to start next year in the South Atlantic League.

Who to watch

Top Prospect: Trey Ball, Projection: Mid-season assignment to Greenville – After seeing Ball in Spring Training, the thing that stood out was how raw he was. The potential was clear: He has the tools that comprise a starter’s kit for what a top pitching prospect should look like, but he has a long way to go to actualize those tools. (We recently profiled Ball in the Scouting Scratch, and won’t repeat that info here, so be sure to check that out.) Ball begins the season in extended spring training, but depending on when a roster spot opens up and how he pitches down at the Fort, he could join the Greenville rotation at some point in the first few months of the season. But if he has not received that promotion by June, it would not be out of the question for Ball to head to Lowell, where he could refine his tools in a more structured environment and focus on working on what he needs to in order to improve, rather than focusing on the results.

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System Restart 2014, Pt. 6: Mid-Minors Pitchers

Position in a Nutshell: In the middle tier of the system, there is one stud above everyone else, with a few intriguing arms to compliment him.

Burning Question

Why the conservative assignments? Had this edition of the System Restart run before the start of the season, a number of the pitchers highlighted herein would have been projected to start at higher levels, including Brian Johnson, Cody Kukuk, and Pat Light, as well as younger pitchers Trey Ball and Ty Buttrey. It looks like the organization wants a few of these players to get off to solid starts to the year, earn their way to the next level, and if all goes well, set the stage for a series of early promotions. Do not be surprised if the starting rotations for Portland, Salem, and Greenville look entirely different come June. That said, some players—Corey Littrell and Simon Mercedes, who both skipped over Greenville, come to mind—have been handed challenging assignments, so this really is the cumulative result of the team taking things on a case-by-case basis, rather than an organizational philosophy. (As for Buttrey and Ball, more on them later this week.)

Who to Watch

Top Prospect: Henry Owens, Assignment: Portland – There is not much to say about Owens (pictured, above) that hasn’t been said already. Owens knows how to pitch, and more importantly, he gets outs. While his fastball velocity does not stand out, a combination of his length and deception allow the pitch to play up and elicit poor swings from hitters. When you combine that with two potential solid-average-to-plus secondary offerings, you have the makings of a solid big league starter. Owens is back in Portland to start the year and is already off to a flying start, throwing six no-hit innings in his debut with nine strikeouts. If he continues to have anywhere close to that level of success, he will be short for the level and pushing for a promotion to Pawtucket.

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System Restart 2014, Pt. 5: Upper Minors Pitchers

Position in a Nutshell: In terms of near-MLB-ready pitching talent, the Sox are perhaps the deepest in the game.

Burning Question

What are the Red Sox realistically going to get out of the Workman/Webster/Ranaudo/De La Rosa/Britton group? Time for our annual “pump the brakes” chat. These five represent one of the best near-major league-ready groupings of pitchers in the game, if not the best. But that does not mean the group will definitely become the better part of a future Red Sox rotation plus a late-inning bullpen arm or two. As you will read below, all have questions. Fixing those issues will allow them to reach their ceilings as at least mid-rotation major league starters, while not doing so could lead all of them to become bullpen arms, and not necessarily late-inning ones.

Perhaps the best recent example of a similar assemblage of talent was the Orioles’ group of Chris Tillman, Brian Matusz, Jake Arrieta, and Zach Britton. All four were ranked at least in the top 75 of Baseball America’s Top 100 in 2009 or 2010, and of the four, only Tillman looks to be a major league starter. That is not to say that the Red Sox group will face a similar fate, but something similar is within the range of reasonable results, particularly given that Tillman, Matusz, and Britton were all Top 30 prospects at one point, something nobody in this particular Sox group can boast quite yet.

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System Restart 2014, Pt. 4: Outfielders

Position in a Nutshell: Depth in the upper minors, athletes in the lower minors, and not much in between. Quite thin beyond a handful of top players with a lot of low-floor, projectable young players.

Burning Questions

Are things a bit crowded in the upper minors? Yup, especially now that Grady Sizemore has emerged as the club’s starting major league center fielder, pushing Jackie Bradley to Pawtucket when everyone on the major league roster is healthy. Of the team’s top four outfield prospects, three—Bradley, Bryce Brentz, and Alex Hassan (pictured)—will patrol the same outfield, at least once Shane Victorino gets healthy. Add free agent signee Corey Brown, who had a great spring training showing, and the club will at least have sufficient depth for Sizemore and Victorino.

But after that, things look pretty barren. What happened? Yeah, after that loaded Triple-A group, things tail off pretty quick, with Manuel Margot the only marquee name. There are a number of reasons for this. Looking at outfielders of note who would still be prospects in the system, the club has traded Reymond Fuentes (2009 – 1st) and Brandon Jacobs (2009 – 10th); Williams Jerez (2011 – 2nd) and J.C. Linares (2010 – IFA) have not panned out; and Peter Hissey (2008 – 4th) has been unable to stay healthy despite showing flashes. Players like Keury De La Cruz (2008 – IFA) and Henry Ramos (2010 – 5th) have also not elevated themselves above sleeper status. More recently, the club’s drafts have done little to re-stock the coffers in the outfield, with the only outfielders signing from the 2012 draft being football players (Shaq Thompson, Brandon Magee), and the outfielders selected in 2013 were of the high-ceiling, low-floor variety.

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System Restart 2014, Pt. 3: Middle Infielders

Position in a Nutshell: The Red Sox likely have their long-term answers at second and short in the majors already, but there are a handful of other intriguing players in the system, meaning those players will likely either change positions or end up traded, barring catastrophe.

Burning Questions

Does the organization think Deven Marrero is ready for Triple-A? – Marrero (right) has the chance to impact the game with his defense, while hitting enough to profile as a bottom-of-the-order bat. He has looked good in both respects in his second major league Spring Training this year, and avoided the first round of cuts (although he was eventually reassigned to minor league camp on Monday), giving rise to the question of whether the club could push him to Pawtucket to start the year. After just 85 plate appearances in Portland last season, we will stay conservative, but this is worth watching.  Projection: Portland

So with Xander Bogaerts and Dustin Pedroia in Boston, what will happen to all of the potential major leaguers at these positions? – For the most part, just do not worry about it. Marrero might just be a utility infielder if his bat does not progress, making him a great potential backup. Mookie Betts (more on him below) is athletic enough that if he is not traded, he could move to another position or become a multi-position player in the Ben Zobrist mold. And as for any players farther down the ladder, the Sox will deal with that (nice) problem if they need to down the line.

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System Restart 2014, Pt. 2: Corner Infielders

Position in a Nutshell: One top prospect, and some interesting players, but lacking depth with a lot of organizational players occupying starting roles.

Burning Question

Is Travis Shaw ready for Pawtucket yet? – His 2013 numbers (.221/.342/.394) kind of say no, but Shaw had a great performance in the Arizona Fall League, as the Trackman batted ball readings showed him to be one of the batters who impacted the ball the hardest in the whole circuit. After 662 Double-A plate appearances, will he need one last go-round in Portland to show he is ready for the next step? He was sent down in the first round of cuts from MLB camp, probably signifying that the club has its plans for him figured out. The potential presence of Ryan Lavarnway, Brandon Snyder, and Alex Hassan to get first base at-bats in Triple-A may push him back down to start the year.

Why aren't there more guys here? – As for first base at least, the position is thin throughout the minors—see, for example, MLB.com ranking Shaw eighth on its list of the top prospects in the game at the position. At third, there are two strong prospects in Garin Cecchini (above, right) and Rafael Devers (see below on both), plus, of course, the still-under-25 Will Middlebrooks (above, left). It's really not as bad as it looks.

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System Restart 2014, Pt. 1: Catchers

With Spring Training underway and minor league opening day approaching, we’ll be previewing the 2014 season in our System Restart series, a position-by-position look at the state of the Red Sox minor league system. In this new feature, we will assess the depth at each position and highlight the players to follow entering the year at each spot in the field. Today, our first installment covers the catchers.

Position in a Nutshell: The system is top-heavy at catcher. It’s heavy in major league talent in the upper minors, but a space in the lower minors for the next wave to step up.

Burning Questions
Is Jon Denney ready for a full-season affiliate? - At one point, Denney was thought to have among the best power potential in the 2013 draft, but reports near the end of his senior high school season and start to his pro career focused on how raw he was both offensively and defensively. One would hope a player ranked among the top 50 draft prospects would be ready for Greenville, but the reports make one wonder if he might get held back for Lowell. Projection: Greenville

Where does Ryan Lavarnway fit? - There's more on this below, but with Lavarnway getting work at first base this spring, the writing is on the wall that he is getting squeezed out of the picture at catcher by the next two guys highlighted here. Projection: Pawtucket

Who to watch

Top Prospect: Blake Swihart, Projection: Portland – Swihart (pictured, above right) established himself as a top-100 prospect after a strong season both offensively and defensively with Salem. He alleviated any questions about his ability to handle the position long term, stemming from his being relatively new to the position having only picked it up late in high school, showing off improved receiving, blocking, and game-calling skills. Though his stat line at the plate does not jump off the page, he also made strides there, showing an improved approach and a potential above-average-to-plus hit tool. Swihart has yet to show much in-game power, but he has shown the ability to drive the ball with backspin in the gaps. As he gains strength, some of those doubles—29 of them in 2013—should turn into home runs.

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