In late May, Red Sox assistant GM Eddie Romero mentioned 20-year-old Dominican Republic native Allan Castro as a prospect who was about to take off.
“He’s struggled some so far a little bit but he’ll finish off strong,” Romero said back then. “He’s a really good athlete. He plays all three outfield positions and has got power.”
Romero was spot-on. Castro, a switch-hitter, heated up for Low-A Salem in June, then earned a promotion July 14 to High-A Greenville where he batted .283 with a .355 on-base percentage, .446 slugging percentage, .801 OPS, four homers, 11 doubles, two triples, 23 runs, 17 RBIs, 17 walks, 36 strikeouts and four steals in 43 games (186 plate appearances). He posted both an impressive walk percentage (13.8%) and strikeout percentage (18.3%) in 492 plate appearances between both levels.
Castro will turn 21 in May and could be primed for a breakout season in 2023.
“I remember seeing him in spring training and I was excited to see how his year was going to go,” Greenville manager Iggy Suarez said. “And when he joined us, I was like, ‘Man, this is going to be fun to see it first hand.’ To see it outside of the complex, out of spring training, that’s a whole other beast — to get out of Fort Myers and to be able to play under the lights.”
Six prospect breakout candidates in 2024
1. Allan Castro, OF: Boston signed Castro for $100,000 as a 16-year-old in July 2019.
He was eligible to be drafted in the Rule 5 Draft last Wednesday. But the Red Sox felt comfortable enough leaving him unprotected (off the 40-man roster) with him having no experience yet in the upper-levels of the minors. It would be difficult for any major league team, therefore, to keep him on its active 26-man roster for the entire 2024 season.
“Wiry frame,” Suarez said. “That guy’s got some thump in that bat. Quick. Quick twitch. Fast runner. Good defender in the outfield. Good arm.
“He was a middle of the order bat for us,” Suarez added. “Gamer, gamer. He loves the game. That’s what you see right away. He uses his speed. He’s in the thick of things. He’s an exciting player for sure.”
2. Kyle Teel, C: The 21-year-old catcher, who Baseball America already ranks Boston’s No. 4 prospect, made it to Double-A Portland less than two months after the Red Sox drafted him 14th overall this past July out of the University of Virginia. He’s ranked No. 85 overall on Baseball America’s Top 100 list.
MLB Pipeline grades his arm 60 (above average) on the 20-80 grading scale and he has posted pop times under 2 seconds. He has the ability to slug and hit for average. He has slashed .363/.483/.495/.977 in 26 games (114 plate appearances) in Boston’s system so far.
With such a complete game, Teel has the chance to take a major leap into the Top 30 of Baseball America’s rankings during his first full professional season in ‘24 like Roman Anthony did after beginning the 2023 season unranked.
The Red Sox need to be careful not to rush the 21-year-old left-handed hitter to the big leagues though.
There are eight other catchers ranked ahead of Teel on Baseball America’s Top 100 list. Two of them, Dalton Rushing and Austin Wells, were college draft picks like Teel.
Rushing, a 2022 Dodgers second round draft pick out of Louisville, spent his entire first full season of pro ball in 2023 at High A (injuries did factor in). He’s No. 44 on BA’s list.
Austin Wells, a Yankees first round pick in 2020, spent his first full season of pro ball at Low A and High A. Wells, who is ranked No. 75 overall on BA’s list, didn’t make it to Double A until his second full season. He didn’t make it to Triple A and the big leagues until his third full season.
Henry Davis, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 draft, finished his first full season of pro ball in 2022 at Double A. He didn’t make it to Triple A and the majors until his second full season in 2023.
It took Teel only three games to leap from the Florida Complex League to High-A Greenville, then only 14 games to leap from Greenville to Portland after being drafted in July.
But there’s no reason to rush him as Connor Wong and Reese McGuire did an adequate job as Boston’s catching tandem in 2023. Boston also has been rumored to be interested in veteran free agent Martín Maldonado, a 37-year-old Gold Glove catcher who’s just a .207 career hitter but would provide great value to a Boston pitching staff that struggled last year.
3. Noah Song, RHP: The 26-year-old was typically between 92-94 mph with his fastball last season.
He had touched 98 mph in the WBSC Premier 12 tournament in November 2019, five months after Boston drafted him out of the United States Naval Academy.
But the drop in velo was to be expected after he missed three seasons (2020-22) while fulfilling his service commitment to the Navy. The Philadelphia Enquirer wrote last February that he played catch only occasionally during his three years of service and February marked his first time throwing off a mound since ‘19.
Song has never gone through a full, regular offseason as a professional. He hasn’t had a full offseason to prepare since heading into his senior year at Navy in 2019.
He has the chance to prepare normally this offseason. And so perhaps his velo will increase a few miles per hour and he’ll sharpen his curveball, which Baseball America considered a plus pitch coming out of college.
He had so much potential when Boston drafted him. It should be very interesting to see how his pitches play when he arrives at spring training.
4. Kristian Campbell, IF/OF: Baseball America and MLB Pipeline both rank three 2023 Red Sox draft picks among the top 30 prospects in the organization.
Both outlets rank Teel Boston’s fourth best prospect. Second round draft pick Nazzan Zanetello is listed as the Red Sox’s No. 8 prospect by MLB Pipeline and No. 13 prospect by BA. Third round draft pick Antonio Anderson is ranked No. 15 by MLB Pipeline and No. 18 by BA.
Middle infielder/outfielder Kristian Campbell — Boston’s 2023 fourth round compensation pick for Xander Bogaerts — not only has a chance to join them in Boston’s Top 30 with a strong 2024 season. He also has the upside to become a top 15 organizational prospect this coming season, a jump that 2022 fourth round pick Chase Meidroth made it 2023.
Baseball America ranked Meidroth, a second baseman, Boston’s No. 27 prospect entering last season. It now lists him No. 14 after he posted a .408 on-base percentage in 111 games (493 plate appearances) combined between Greenville and Portland.
The 21-year-old Campbell and 22-year-old Meidroth are similar. Both are contact hitters who reach base at a high rate.
Campbell had 29 walks and 17 strikeouts in 217 plate appearances (13.4% walk percentage, 8% strikeout percentage) at Georgia Tech in ‘23. Meidroth had 40 walks and 25 strikeouts in 275 plate appearances (14.5% walk percentage, 9% strikeout percentage) during his final season at the University of San Diego in 2022.
Campbell went 21-for-68 (.309 batting average) with a .441 on-base percentage, .471 slugging percentage, .911 OPS, one homer, four doubles, two triples, nine runs, five RBIs, three steals, 10 walks and 18 strikeouts in 22 games combined between the FCL Red Sox (eight games) and Greenville (14 games) after signing with Boston.
“Really just (make) contact, put the ball in play,” Campbell told MassLive, explaining his plate approach. “Find a way to get on base any way I can. Try to be a tough out. I’ve always tried to be that guy.
“I just hit the balls where they’re pitched,” he added. “I don’t really think about it too much. I just try to hit the ball as hard as I can where it’s pitched into the gaps.”
5./6. Elmer Rodriguez–Cruz RHP and Hunter Dobbins RHP: Look back to before the Red Sox hired Craig Breslow as chief baseball officer. The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney, who covers the Cubs, wrote why the Red Sox had interest in him.
Mooney highlighted that Breslow in Chicago oversaw “a rebuild of the organization’s pitching development infrastructure.” Mooney added, “Breslow’s tenure has seen the Cubs accumulate big gains on the pitching side of the organization” and cited Justin Steele, Adbert Alzolay, Javier Assad and Jordan Wicks as some of the homegrown pitchers who developed under him.
It should be interesting to see how Boston’s two top pitching prospects, Wikelman Gonzalez and Luis Perales, get better under Breslow and Justin Willard who Breslow hired away from the Twins to be Boston’s director of pitching.
Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz and Hunter Dobbins are two other very interesting pitchers who each could take a major step forward in 2024 with a new pitching infrastructure in place.
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Dobbins, who turned 24 on Aug. 30, recorded a 3.67 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and .240 batting average against in 20 outings (19 starts) between Greenville and Portland last year. He fell to the Red Sox in the eighth round in the 2021 draft after undergoing Tommy John surgery that year. He had heard from major league teams before his injury that he might be a late first round draft pick or early second rounder in 2021 if he put together a strong junior year.
Dobbins fastball reached the upper-90s in 2023. He also has a splitter, slider and curveball.
Rodriguez-Cruz, a righty from Puerto Rico who is only 20 years old, posted a 2.60 ERA in 14 starts for Low-A Salem in 2023. Opponents batted .219 against him.
The 2021 fourth round draft pick has a mid-90s fastball, curveball, changeup and slider.
Rodriguez-Cruz missed some time in 2023 with right elbow inflammation but he returned in September. He has the stuff and athleticism to make a significant jump in 2024. Right now Baseball America ranks him Boston’s No. 24 prospect.
