1. Kole Cottam
The 23 year old is the starting catcher for the Drive. He was drafted in the 4th round of the 2018 draft and is currently hitting .256 with 2 home runs. With the surplus of catchers in the system such as Connor Wong, he's going to have to do better than hitting .250 to leapfrog the others.
2. "Boss" Christian Koss
The 23 year old shortstop made his name in the Cape Cod League while he was in college before being drafted by the Colorado Rockies. He came over in the trade for Yoan Aybar in the off-season and is currently hitting .210 with a home run. Whether or not he makes the majors is up in the air but at least any CCL fans will recognize him.
3. Nick Sogard
The 23 year old infielder came over in the Jeffrey Springs/Chris Mazza trade with Tampa and is currently hitting .269 with 4 home runs. He's the cousin of Eric Sogard and has an outside chance to make the majors someday. Sox GM Chaim Bloom remembered drafting him in Tampa and thinks highly of him.
4. Tyreque Reed
The 23 year old first basemen was picked up in the Rule 5 draft and has been Greenville's best hitter so far. He has 7 home runs and 22 rbis already and he had a reputation of having a power bat when he was playing in the Texas Rangers organization. If he continues to mash the ball the way he has, he could be in Portland sooner rather than later.
5. Tyler Espin
The 21 year old outfielder is the baby of the group and he's hitting .243 with just one home run. Unlike the others, he being only 21 gives him more time to go through some ups and downs. With the removal of the Lowell Spinners, the dregs of the minors get weeded out so hopefully he doesn't end up on the pile.
6. Tyler Dearden
The 23 year old outfielder is actually having a better start to the season than Reed. He's hitting .308 with 5 home runs and 15 rbis so far, forming a nice 1-2 punch with Tyreque. He could be in Portland by the end of the season if this keeps up.
7. Devlin Granberg
The 25 year old outfielder is the elder statesmen of this group. He's hitting .279 with 3 home runs and 12 rbis on the season. Usually 25 year olds in Single A is a bad sign but since Covid wiped out the 2020 season for the minor leagues, he and the others get a pass.
8. Cameron Cannon
The 23 year old infielder is leading the team in batting with a .321 average along with 4 homers and 12 rbis. He was drafted in the second round in 2019 and he's actually outperformed first round pick Nick Yorke so far. We'll see how he turns out.
9. Brandon Howlett
The 21 year old could be the hidden gem of the group. He was drafted out of high school in the 21st round in 2018 and is hitting .310 with 10 runs scored. Greenville has a good offense and he fits right in with the others.
10. Brayan Bello
The 22 year old is arguably Greenville's best pitcher so far. He's 4-0 with a 2.11 ERA in 4 starts this season. He's not actually listed in the Red Sox Top 60 prospects so he's quietly turning some heads. Hope he can continue his pace and guide Greenville to the post-season.
11. Jacob Wallace
The 22 year old was UConn's closer in 2019 before being drafted by the Colorado Rockies. He came over in the Kevin Pillar trade and has struggled in Greenville so far this season. He has struck out 9 in 8 innings but his ERA is 11.25. Like with everyone, his 2020 season was wiped out so he may need time to get acclimated. Sox GM Chaim Bloom had his pick to take anyone in the lower levels and he picked Wallace, he must have seen something in him.
12. Zach Bryant
The 22 year old came over in the Josh Osich trade and has struggled so far this season as well. He has struck out 12 batters in 9 innings but his ERA is 7.00. Just like Wallace, he may need time to get acclimated and its unfair to judge someone fully after not pitching for a year.
13. Jay Groome
The 22 year old has had a miserable career after being taken 12th overall in the 2016 draft. He's had Tommy John surgery, a bevy of other injuries and Covid wiping out last year to delay his development. He's just coming back from TJ and he's 0-2 with a 10,64 ERA. As with the other pitchers, its unfair to read too much into his stats after 20 games so we'll see if he can bounce back.
The Drive appear to be a team that can slug their way out of jams but don't have the pitching to compensate. The season is only 20 games old so we'll see what happens from here. Pay attention to the men on offense because some of them could reach Worcester or the majors someday. That about wraps up our look into the Greenville Drive, the next off-day is June 7th so stay tuned for our look at the Salem Red Sox.
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