Red Sox 20-year-old minor league pitcher Jedixson Paez is a relatively unknown prospect with little information about him online. Baseball America has no scouting report and doesn’t rank him among Boston’s Top 30 prospects. The righty also doesn’t appear on MLB Pipeline’s Red Sox Top 30 list.
Out of nowhere though, he landed as Boston’s No. 8 prospect on a Top 47 Red Sox prospect list that Fangraphs dropped July 2.
The Venezuela native is 3-1 with a 2.67 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 72 strikeouts and just seven walks in 13 outings (six starts) between Low-A Salem and High-A Greenville. He’s averaging 11.3 strikeouts and only 1.1 walks per nine innings. He earned his promotion to High A on May 29.
“He’s always had this incredible poise and just an advanced feel,” Red Sox assistant GM Eddie Romero said. “It’s always been like that — strike throwing ability over high velo or pure off-the-charts stuff. But his pitchability is incredible. We’ve seen the velo tick up now into the low 90s. Really good feel for a breaking ball. He has a four- or five-pitch mix that he really controls and commands really well. And that’s been kind of what has driven his success.”
The command is off the charts. Paez — listed at 6-foot-1, 170 pounds — has averaged 8.8 strikeouts and 1.5 walks while posting a 3.14 ERA in 57 (45 starts) in the minor leagues since Boston signed him Jan. 15, 2021.
“Now that he’s physically getting stronger we are seeing that velo start to tick up a little bit,” Romero said. “So he’s really exciting. A true starter in every sense.”
He throws a sinker, four-seam fastball, cutter, changeup and slider.
“Really the three go-to (pitches) for him are the slider, the changeup and that sinker,” Romero said.
The slider and sinker work well together.
“Because they’re going in opposite directions,” Romero said. “He’s able to manipulate both really well. That’s been key. His changeup has also been very effective.”
Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen listed Paez at No. 8 and wrote the following: “Paez is not the best pitching prospect in this system, but he is my favorite. The little low-three-quarters righty looked like a Vance Worley starter kit last year, but his secondary pitches and velocity have both taken a meaningful leap compared to 2023 and Paez has retained his incredible command in the process. Paez is an east/west artist and rarely misses in hittable locations. He’ll bury his sinker in spots that make it impossible to elevate, run it back over the corner of the plate for a strike, set up his excellent changeup with precise arm-side location, and occasionally run his heater up the ladder where it can slip past certain hitters’ bats because of its angle.
“Paez’s slider is much harder this year than last, averaging 82 mph, up four ticks from 2023. His ability to attack with lateral fastball/slider divergence and then pull the string with his changeup is so advanced that Paez could probably be pitching at Double-A right now. His cross-bodied delivery requires a fair bit of effort for the little righty to execute, but Paez is a fantastic athlete and has never had strike-throwing issues. This is one of the few prospects in the minors who has a chance to develop elite, 80-grade command and could be a mid-rotation starter despite his relative lack of size and velocity.”
Romero also mentioned Paez’s athleticism.
“He does a lot of the little things like he fields the position really well and holds runners well,” Romero said. “So he’s mature in a lot of ways.”
Arias ‘has done a hell of a job’
Franklin Arias, an 18-year-old shortstop who Boston signed out of Venezuela on Jan. 15, 2023, is batting .296 with a .419 on-base percentage, .474 slugging percentage, .893 OPS, three homers, 13 doubles, one triple, 21 RBIs, 29 runs, 26 walks, 33 strikeouts and 19 steals in 41 games (167 plate appearances) in the Florida Complex League.
“He’s a really good athlete,” Romero said. “When we were scouting him, he just oozed this professionalism and maturity about him. Very advanced in terms of knowing where to be at all times on the field. … He’s never out of control. That’s just kind of how he is, attitude-wise also. We’ve been pleasantly surprised at how well he’s advanced offensively. We were confident in his abilities but he’s done a great job getting stronger, agile.
“He’s continued to be a really good defender,” Romero added. “And the offense, he’s driving the ball. He’s done a hell of a job with our guys, our staff, down there in terms of getting his bat speed numbers up and driving the ball. I think that’s something we knew was going to come in time. It might be happening a little earlier than we thought. But he’s slugging the ball down there. He’s been patient in terms of like he’s drawing walks and not striking out much. So overall, it’s been a really positive season for him. He performed very well in the Dominican, which was nice to see. And he’s continued that this year. I think his underlying numbers really prove kind of like the artificial overlying numbers. So that’s been fun to see.”
Reyes up to 93-94 mph as a 17-year-old
Red Sox 17-year-old prospect Dalvinson Reyes has thrown 16 scoreless innings and allowed just two walks and eight hits while striking out 17 in four starts in the Dominican Summer League.
He’s already listed at 6-foot-5, 204 pounds.
“He’s up to 93, 94 (mph) down in the Dominican,” Romero said. “He’s been really good. Pounding the strike zone.”
Boston signed him Jan. 15 out of the Dominican Republic.
“He’s been really impressive,” Romero said.
Two other prospects to watch
Romero also pointed out 17-year-olds Anderson Fermin and Justin Gonzales as prospects to keep an eye on.
Fermin is 26-for-84 (.310) with a .434 on-base percentage, .357 slugging percentage, .791 OPS, two doubles, one triple, 12 RBIs, 16 runs, 18 walks, nine strikeouts and eight steals in 22 games in the Dominican Summer League. Boston signed him out of the D.R. on Jan. 15.
“He’s a really athletic center fielder who’s been getting on base a lot and making contact and playing really good center field,” Romero said.
Gonzales, who is listed at 6-foot-4, 210 pounds, also signed out of the D.R. on Jan. 15. The 17-year-old is 26-for-83 (.313) with a .394 on-base percentage, .530 slugging percentage, .924 OPS, two homers, six doubles, three triples, 15 RBIs, 16 runs, 10 walks and eight strikeouts in 23 games in the Dominican Summer League.
“He’s a big, strong 6-4 first baseman/corner outfielder,” Romero said. “Plus arm. And he’s been driving the ball just as well as anybody down there.”
