BOSTON — Catching prospect Kyle Teel made it to Double-A Portland last year just 58 days after the Red Sox drafted him out of the University of Virginia and only 46 days after he officially signed a contract with Boston.
The 22-year-old spent five days in the Florida Complex League before Boston had him skip Low-A Salem completely and sent him straight to High-A Greenville. He spent 28 days in High A before heading to Portland where he went 10-for-31 (.323) with a .462 on-base percentage and .484 slugging percentage in nine games.
He’s the first Red Sox prospect since pitcher Craig Hansen in 2005 to make it to Double A in the same year he was drafted. He’s believed to be the first high-profile Red Sox position player prospect to do it since Mo Vaughn in 1989. Boston drafted Vaughn on June 5, 1989, and he went straight to Double-A New Britain.
A few other smaller-name minor leaguers have done it. Zach Borowiak, an infielder Boston drafted in the 14th round in 2003, made it to Portland during his draft year. So did 2004 15th-round pick Dustin Kelly, a shortstop. Gettys Glaze, a 1992 15th-round pick, pitched for Double-A New Britain during his draft year.
“Do you always do that with draft picks? No, we haven’t,” Red Sox director of player development Brian Abraham said by phone earlier this week. “It’s the ability to handle adjustments, maturity, handling things on and off the field. It’s on-field performance but it’s also handling a routine, understanding workload, the ability to work in various areas and manage all those things that are happening. And when a player like Kyle or anyone else shows they’re able to do that, it’s an opportunity to push them and put them in an environment where they have to train harder, compete more and deal with maybe some more adversity.”
Teel is at Portland again this season and nearing a promotion to Triple-A Worcester. He entered Wednesday batting .320 with a .415 on-base percentage, .495 slugging percentage, .910 OPS, seven homers, 14 doubles, 42 RBIs, 47 runs, 29 walks and 55 strikeouts in 51 games (234 plate appearances).
Teel is on the fast track to the majors but there’s no reason to rush him, especially considering his position. There will be more on his plate as a catcher.
Just ask Yankees 2020 first round draft pick Austin Wells, a 24-year-old rookie catcher who’s sharing time behind the plate with veteran Jose Trevino. Wells has started 39 games behind the plate and Trevino has started 36 games.
“The most important thing that gets overlooked is the relationship with pitchers and being able to understand quickly what they’re trying to do and how they’re trying to be successful, especially getting called up maybe during the middle of the season or the end of the season,” Wells said. “Guys have been doing it for the whole season and then you’re coming in and calling pitches for them. You want to get on the same page. And I think that’s the most underrated (aspect). You can’t really put a number value on it.”
Wells, Baseball America’s No. 71 prospect entering 2024, said he benefited from playing almost three full seasons in the minors after the Yankees drafted him out of the University of Arizona.
New York promoted him for his first major league stint last September. He called his minor league development time “very important.” He said playing every day helped him learn how to handle difficult situations and understand what needs to be done to get back on track.
“And I think being a college or high school player, you don’t really get to experience that because you’re not playing every single day,” he said. “So getting to play every single day down in the minors and grind it out, I think that was a valuable time just to figure yourself out.”
The Red Sox are in an ideal spot because they don’t have to rush Teel. Connor Wong and Reese McGuire have been one of MLB’s most productive catching duos. Wong is a candidate to make the AL All-Star team. Teel’s big league ETA is early 2025.
A scout told MassLive about Teel before the season: “Very mature mentally and physically. Sound left-handed swing with the ability to generate 20-plus home runs, contact and better offense than most we see. Defense is above average at present, ahead of his bat, which could get him to the major leagues quicker than expected. Projects a strong feel for handling pitchers, which he takes a great deal of pride in. Very talented kid with a terrific package of physical skills and intangibles with sound athleticism. The manager will love this kid taking charge and lending a strong trust at a key position.”
“Your job is to come up and try to get outs and be able to control the pitching staff,” Wells said. “Being blessed to be on a team like the Yankees, you’ve got guys who can score a lot of runs at the top of the lineup. So just being focused on defense. Obviously you want to focus on offense but the priority is defense when you’re a catcher. Having the offense we do, it helps a lot.”
Wells has struggled offensively, posting a .210/.294/.323/.617 line in 42 games this season so far.
Earlier this year, Red Sox slugger Triston Casas mentioned that Teel, Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer — Boston’s top three prospects — are on the fast track to the majors and he doesn’t want them to feel like they have to do too much on offense when they arrive. Casas wants to be viewed as one the veteran hitters carrying the lineup when Anthony, Mayer, Teel and others arrive. He doesn’t want that pressure of carrying the lineup on Teel and others.
“The catching position is such a selfless position,” Abraham said. “Understanding how important it is to focus on the staff’s well being sometimes vs. your own. I think he’s been able to sacrifice that. We’re really lucky he’s offensive as well. But I think the position tends to lend itself towards being a defensive-focused position.”
Teel has good strike zone discipline. He has a 12.4% walk percentage so far this year and a 14.4% walk percentage in 77 minor league games. He’s still, therefore, able to reach base and maintain a high on-base percentage at the times when he’s struggling to get hits.
“I know he’s been working on his bat speed to continually hit the ball hard to do damage as much as he can,” Abraham said. “And then I think just continuing to harness the strike zone and really take advantage of pitches within the heart of the plate vs. kind of on the edges and off. He does have good bat-to-ball skills. So balancing his strike zone awareness with the ability to impact the baseball where he can do damage is something I think he’s been working on.
“Defensively, he’s definitely working in the bottom of the zone, especially glove side,” Abraham added. “It’s always difficult for catchers. It’s just a tough place to receive.”
Abraham said Teel also is working on his overall handling of the pitching staff.
“Getting to know pitchers, really focusing on their strengths and really being a support for them,” Abraham said.
“I think just as a fairly still young professional player, understanding his routine, his workload capacity, when he can work really hard, when he needs to take a step back to be able to play every day,” Abraham added. “So I think all those types of things are things he’s learning and balancing at the upper levels where that all matters. It’s a balance of continuing to develop off the field in the pregame work, early work, in the cages. And then being ready to perform at night so you can improve those skills that he has and ultimately allow him to (move) toward the big league level.”
Teel is one of 10 catching prospects ranked on Baseball America’s Top 100 list. Of the 10, Teel (No. 46) is one of only two drafted out of college. The other is Dodgers’ 2022 second-round pick Dalton Rushing who’s ranked BA’s No. 26 prospect. Rushing made it to Double-A this year for the first time after playing his entire first full season at High A.
Wells (2020 first rounder) began his second full season of pro ball at High A, then earned a promotion to Double A in early July.
Henry Davis, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 draft, finished his first full season of pro ball in 2022 at Double A. The college pick didn’t make it to Triple A and the majors until his second full season in 2023.
So Teel has moved faster (so far) than all these other catchers.
But is it more important to be careful not to rush a catcher to the majors (more so than a star prospect at another position) because there’s so much more on his plate once he gets there?
“It’s all relative,” Abraham said. “I think a lot of that depends on the player, their capacity to learn, their ability to make adjustments. Some players are able to make adjustments really quick and evolve and change and do things quicker than some other players. So I don’t disagree with the general thought — the catching position, there’s probably a little bit more on Kyle’s plate or just the catcher’s plate. Handling a pitching staff, understanding what the pitchers are doing and then having to focus on performing offensively as well.
“There’s definitely more on the plate,” Abraham added. “But there’s so many things that come into play. It’s who is above you? It’s the ability to get playing time. The ability to develop. The ability to put the specific player in the best environment to have success and continue to improve. I think all those things kind of come into play. A lot of times the player is going to dictate how fast he moves depending on the work he puts in, the improvements he makes and the success he can have on the field and whether or not the success is transferable from level to level. Every player is different. It’s also relative and all depends on the player.”
