Dodgers Stun Sox on Freeman's Slam (7/19/24)

Well that sucked. For 7 innings the Boston Red Sox held the powerhouse Los Angeles Dodhers in check as Nick Pivetta tossed 6 shutout innings and All-Star Game MVP Jarren Duran hit a home run. It all fell apart in the eighth inning as Brennan Bernardino allowed a grand slam to Freddie Freeman to blow the game. Gavin Stone and the Dodgers bullpen held the Sox to one measly run as LA laughed at the Sox 4-1 at Dodgers Stadium.

                                                                   This game sucked

Stone got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jarren Duran doubled to center to start. David Hamilton lined out to first, Tyler O'Neill lined out to second and Rafael Devers lined out to right to end the inning. Pivetta got the ball in the bottom of the first and Shohei Ohtani struck out swinging to begin. Will Smith got a base hit to center but Freddie Freeman went down hacking. Teoscar Hernandez grounded out to short to end the inning. 

Masataka Yoshida flied out to right to start the top of the second before Wilyer Abreu struck out swinging. Dominic Smith grounded out to second to end the inning. Andy Pages was called out on strikes to start the bottom of the second and Miguel Rojas grounded out to first. Gavin Lux struck out swinging to end the inning. 

Ceddanne Rafaela got a base hit to right to start the top of the third but looked to have been thrown out at second trying to steal when Reese McGuire struck out swinging. Sox manager Alex Cora challenged that he was safe and the call was overturned. Duran grounded out to second to move Rafaela to third but Hamilton grounded out to second to end the inning. Miguel Vargas walked to start the bottom of the third but Chris Taylor popped up to first. A wild pitch moved Vargas to second but Ohtani struck out swinging. Smith grounded out to second to end the inning. 

O'Neill singled in the hole at short to begin the top of the fourth and Devers singled off the glove of Stone. Yoshida flied out to center to move O'Neill to third, but Abreu struck out swinging. Smith grounded out to short to kill the rally and end the inning. Freeman flied out to left to start the bottom of the fourth but Hernandez doubled to left. Page struck out swinging and Rojas flied out to right to end the inning. 

The Sox struck first in the top of the fifth as Rafaela lined out to second to start. McGuire grounded out to first but Duran crushed his 11th home run of the season to put Boston on top. Hamilton popped up to short to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0. 

                                                      All-Star Game MVP does it again

Lux flied out to left to start the bottom of the fifth before Vargas popped up to Rafaela. Taylor lined out to second to end the inning.

O'Neill singled off the glove of Taylor to start the top of the sixth to chase Stone. Anthony Banda came in to pitch and Devers struck out swinging. Yoshida struck out swinging and Abreu lined out to short to end the inning. Ohtani struck out swinging to begin the bottom of the sixth before Smith went down hacking. Freeman lined out to left to end the inning. Despite just throwing 90 pitches, that was it for Pivetta after 6 shutout innings. He allowed just 2 hits and a walk while striking out 8 batters.

                                                            Good work Pivetta

Alex Vesia came in to pitch the top of the seventh and Smith doubled to left to start. Rafaela took strike three and Connor Wong pinch hit for McGuire and struck out swinging before Duran struck out swinging to end the inning. Zack Kelly came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Hernandez flied out to center to start. Pages walked but Rojas popped up to short. Lux struck out swinging to end the inning.

Ryan Yarbrough came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Romy Gonzalez pinch hit for Hamilton....only to fly out to left. O'Neill once again singled in the hole at short but got doubled off first on a bloop to left by Devers to end the inning. The Dodgers struck back in the bottom of the eighth as Vargas walked to start. Taylor was rung up for strike three and that was it for Kelly. Brennan Bernardino came in to face Ohtani and naturally Shohei pounded a ground rule double to left. Smith was intentionally walked to load the bases and Freeman laughed as he effortlessly hit a grand slam to put the game away. Greg Weissert came in to pitch to Hernandez and Teoscar flied out to right. Pages lined out to third to end the inning with the Dodgers up 4-1.

                                           Horrible relief pitching

James Outman came in for Vargas with Daniel Hudson in to close out the top of the ninth. Somehow Yoshida got a base hit to center to start but Abreu struck out swinging. Smith banged into a double play to end the game. The Sox had blown the game to the Dodgers 4-1.

                                                                 Dodgers win

Jackass of The Night is Brennan Bernardino. He gave up the grand slam to Freeman to lose the game.

                                                          There goes the game, Jackass 

The Good:

Jarren Duran was 2 for 4 with a home run.

Tyler O'Neill was 3 for 4.

Ceddanne Rafaela was 1 for 3 with a stolen base.

Nick Pivetta tossed 6 shutout innings allowing 2 hits and a walk while striking out 8.

Greg Weissert got the final two outs of the eighth inning.

The Bad:

David Hamilton was 0 for 3.

Romy Gonzalez was 0 for 1 at the plate.

Reese McGuire was 0 for 2 with a strikeout.

Connor Wong was 0 for 1 at the plate.

Wilyer Abreu was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.

Zack Kelly was charged with a run in 1 1/3 innings.

The Ugly:

Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.

Masataka Yoshida was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.

Dominic Smith was just 1 for 4.

Final Thoughts:

Not the best way to come out of the all-star break but the Sox have a big problem. With Justin Slaten and Chris Martin rumored to both be out for the season, the Sox back end looks pretty bad in the later innings. Sad part was this was the first blown save loss after the 7th inning since April 16th, they'd been dominant for 3 months. The offense ran into a hot pitcher but now it's rumored Triston Casas won't be back until mid-August at the earliest. They STILL don't have a true fifth starter so it's all bad Ness with the trade deadline looming. The loss dropped the Sox to 53-43, 5.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to rebound tomorrow night against LA when Brayan Bello  (10-5, 5.32 ERA) tales on Justin Wrobleski of the Dodgers. The game begins at 7:15 at Dodgers Stadium.

Off-Day News: 2024 MLB Draft Part 2 (7/16/24)

The third and final day of the 2024 MLB Draft began with the Boston Red Sox choosing Cal Poly right handed starting pitcher Steven Brooks in the 11th round. Sox GM Craig Breslow finally pulled a Chaim Bloom and picked a straight up bum. He was 4-2 with a 5.58 ERA his sophomore year and he was 5-7 with a 5.14 ERA this year in 15 starts. Usually pitchers who sucked in college suck in the pros so the outlook doesn't look good. Who knows, maybe Craig will fix him.

                                                       11th round - RHP Steven Brooks

Keeping with the theme of starting pitcher, the Sox picked Hudson White's Arkansas teammate right handed pitcher Brady Tygart in the 12th round. Tygart was 4-3 with a 3.94 ERA in 13 starts for the Razorbacks and Breslow is banking on that translating to the pros. If a pitcher with a sub 4.00 ERA was available in the 12th round, why the hell did they pick Brooks in the 11th? Oh well.

                                                       12th round - RHP Brady Tygart

In the 13th round the Sox took a local star, Hanover's own Shea Sprague. The left handed pitcher went to BC High and spent 2024 at North Carolina. He went 3-2 with a 4.25 ERA in 15 starts for the Tar Heels. Breslow is taking a whole team worth of starting pitchers in hopes one or two of them stick. 

                                                         13th round - LHP Shea Sprague

Continuing the string of pitchers, the Sox took right handed pitcher Alex Bouchard out of Lehigh University in the 14th round. This will be a crapshot because Bouchard got hurt and missed almost the entire 2024 season. He had a strong 2023 by going 4-2 with a 3.65 ERA in 12 starts and that's what Breslow is looking for moving forward.

                                                    14th round - RHP Alex Bouchard

Breslow kept the starting pitching train rolling in the 15th round when he picked Portland University right handed pitcher Joey Gartrell. Just like Bouchard, Gartrell got hurt and missed all but two starts this past season. He had a miserable Junior season going 5-5 with a 5.17 ERA in 14 starts but he might have been turning the corner before he got hurt. Hopefully he can bounce back when he's healthy.

                                                    15th round - RHP Joey Gartrell

Rounding out the seven pitchers in a row drafted, the Sox took right handed pitcher Griffin Kilander out of Wayne State University. Kilander has some of the finest hair and mustaches you'll ever see and his sophomore year he was 7-3 with a 2.44 ERA shuffling between starting and the bullpen. Unfortunately he had a mediocre junior year going 6-3 with a 4.00 ERA in 12 starts. The concern is if he had trouble getting batters out at little known Wayne State, how's he going to get guys out at the pro level who were studs in D1 schools? We'll find out soon enough.

                                                   16th round - RHP Griffin Kilander

Deviating from the script, the Sox took Puerto Rican high school outfielder Yan Cruz. He may not play for the Red Sox as he's committed to Gulf Coast State, and since he's an unknown high schooler, this is definitely a low risk, high reward pick. If he doesn't sign or flops, oh well.

                                                           17th round - OF Yan Cruz

Going back to the mound, the Sox took right handed pitcher Cole Tolbert out of Ole Miss in the 18th round. This is one of the rare "what the hell were they thinking" picks as he only pitched in 18 innings the last two years for Ole Miss and allowed 15 runs. Maybe Breslow thinks he can fix him with the staff he has in the minors. If they don't, oh well, just another failed 18th round pick in a sea full of them. If they do, good work.

                                                          18th round - RHP Cole Tolbert

In what was a running joke on social media for years, the joke became a reality when the Sox used their 19th round pick on D'Angelo Ortiz....yes, THAT D'Angelo Ortiz aka the son of Big Papi himself, David Ortiz. D'Angelo spent 2024 at Miami Dade Community College and unfortunately doesn't have his father's power, as he hit .328 in 48 games but only with one home run. This is definitely a nepo pick since Big Papi is his father, but hey, its the 19th round. 

                                                19th round - 3B D'Angelo Ortiz

With the 20th and final pick in the draft, the Sox took Brigham Young University right handed pitcher Ben Hansen. They scraped the bottom of the barrel with this one as Hansen had hideous stats his freshman year going 0-5 with a 6.71 ERA in 16 games and followed that this year going 5-7 with a 6.63 ERA in 14 starts. Going 5-12 with an ERA near 7 in college is a bad sign but by the 20th round, the top tier talent is already gone. Good luck to Hansen.

                                                        20th round - RHP Ben Hansen

As we conclude Day 3 its apparent that the Sox had a mission and that mission was starting pitching. 14 of their 20 picks were pitchers and the ones that weren't were a Puerto Rican high school outfielder, a college catcher, the son of David Ortiz, a college outfielder, their 13th round pick from 3 years ago and Braden Montgomery who slipped right into their hands.  A lot of these guys won't be making the majors but hopefully law of averages says ONE of them should be decent. Good luck to them all moving forward.

Off-Day News: 2024 MLB Draft Part 1 (7/15/24)

The 2024 MLB Draft began with the first two rounds broadcasting Sunday night and the Cleveland Guardians took Oregon State star second baseman Travis Bazzana first overall. The Cincinnati Reds took Wake Forest ace Chase Burns with the second pick and on paper it looks like the Boston Red Sox caught a break. With the 12th overall pick the Sox selected Texas A & M star outfielder Braden Montgomery. This was a shock as Montgomery was scheduled to go in the top 10 but fell to pick 12. The reason is he shattered his ankle back in June and still can't even walk on it. The injury will heal if not by the end of this season but definitely by Spring Training next year. He clubbed 27 homers, drove in 85 runs and batted .322. The Sox didn't need any more position players but who knows, maybe someone will be traded in a few weeks.

                                                            12th overall - OF Braden Montgomery

In the second round, Sox GM Craig Breslow FINALLY picked a starting pitcher in the top 50 when they selected TCU left handed starter Payton Tolle. Tolle struggled his first two years at Wichita State but transferred to TCU his junior year. He was 7-4 with a 3.21 ERA in 14 starts and supposedly can hit 96 on the gun. The Sox haven't developed a left handed power pitcher since Jon Lester and its about time they at least tried to.

                                                      50th overall - LHP Payton Tolle

Tonight we got to see rounds 3-10 and in the third round the Red Sox took Florida University relief pitcher Brandon Neely. This was a bit of a head scratcher as he was 3-4 with a 5.13 in 28 games this past season. Its one thing to draft one of the later round picks with a high ERA in college, but to use your third round pick on a bum is a big risk. Hope it works out.

                                                              3rd round - RHP Brandon Neely

In the fourth round the Sox selected a familiar face, none other than their own 2021 13th round pick, Zach Ehrhard. Zach was taken in the 13th round back in 2021 as a high school shortstop but he elected to go to Oklahoma State University. This past year he hit .330 with 14 home runs and 57 rbis in the outfield and the Sox chose him again. He would have made $125,000 if he signed in 2021 but he's signing for $600,000 this time around. He better be worth it.

                                                            4th round - OF Zach Ehrhard

In the fifth round, the Sox picked State College of Florida left handed pitcher Brandon Clarke. Clarke is another crapshot because he went 6-2 with a 4.36 ERA in 14 starts for SCF. If he's posting a 4.32 ERA in junior college, how's he going to get pro batters out? Still, Luis Guerrero is knocking on the door in Boston and he was a junior college guy.

                                                         5th round - LHP Brandon Clarke

Keeping the pitching train rolling, in the sixth round the Sox took right handed pitcher Blake Aita out of Kennesaw State. Aita was 7-4 with a 3.90 ERA in 16 starts for Kennesaw State his sophomore year and the Sox are hoping he can translate to the pros. The one weakness for the organization is starting pitching and Breslow is at least trying to fix it.

                                                          6th round - RHP Blake Aita

In the 7th round, the Sox took a crapshot on South Alabama outfielder Will Turner. Turner had a hell of a sophomore season when he hit .349 with 9 home runs and 52 rbis in 2023 but fell off a cliff hitting just .218 with 9 home runs and 24 rbis this year. That dropoff is probably why he fell all the way to the seventh round. Breslow is banking that this season was just a fluke and he'll be better off when 2025 starts.

                                                          7th round - OF Will Turner

The Sox got creative when they took Greater Atlanta Christian shortstop/right handed pitcher Conrad Cason in the eighth round. He was one of the top shortstops and pitchers in Atlanta prep schools but the problem is he's committed to Mississippi State. Does he want to collect $219,000 now or do what Zach Ehrhard did and play 3 years of college ball and try to make it to a lower round? The choice is his.

                                                      8th round - SS/RHP Conrad Cason

The Sox filled another positional hole when they used their 9th round pick on Arkansas University catcher Hudson White. White spent two years at Texas Tech before playing for Arkansas this season where he hit .297 with 8 home runs and 33 rbis for the Razorbacks. The Sox already have Kyle Teel and Nathan Hickey as the possible heir apparent to Reese McGuire but you can never have too much depth, hopefully White can pan out too.

                                                   9th round - C Hudson White

To end Day 2 of the draft, the Sox picked up left handed starting pitcher Devin Futrell out of Vanderbilt University. Futrell seemed on the fast track when he was 17-6 between his freshman and sophomore seasons in 28 starts, but fell off a cliff this year as he went 4-1 with a 5.40 ERA in 10 starts. Just like with Will Turner, Craig Breslow is banking on this year being a fluke and the real Futrell will show himself in the majors.

                                                  10th round - LHP Devin Futrell

All in all Breslow's gameplan was starting pitching and he picked five of them in the first 10 rounds. They might have taken a pitcher in the first round had Braden Montgomery not fallen into their laps. All signs point to Montgomery being a stud but hopefully some of the starters Breslow drafted can develop as well. The Sox had a hole in their organization and Breslow filled it as best he could. Also notice how, apart from Brandon Neely, Breslow wasn't taking guys that sucked in college like Chaim Bloom did? Turner and Futrell had lousy junior years but good freshman & sophomore campaigns. Hopefully tomorrow the Sox can find some diamonds in the rough for rounds 11-20.

Off-Day News: 2023 Draft Revisited (7/8/24)

Its the final off-day before the All-Star break and its also the final day off before the 2024 MLB Draft coming up on July 14th. Let's take a look at last year's draft and how former Red Sox GM Chaim Bloom did in his final draft before being shot out of a cannon.

1st Round - C Kyle Teel

The only bright side of the Red Sox freefalling in 2022 was it landed them the 14th overall pick in the 2023 draft. Bloom looks to have got one right when he took Virginia University catcher Kyle Teel. Teel's scouting report said he had a major league ready bat but needed to improve defensively. They weren't kidding about his bat as he hit 2 home runs and drove in 20 runs total between the Complex, Greenville and Portland to end the season. This year he's apart of the Goldust Trio with Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony in Portland hitting .301 with 8 home runs and 49 rbis. Its just a question of when he's promoted to Worcester and the only reason he isn't in Boston already is Connor Wong somehow had a breakout year. Still, Teel himself is definitely majors bound, its only a question of when.

2nd Round - SS Nazzan Zanetello

Defying all logic, once again Chaim Bloom neglected to take the best college pitcher available just to take a high school shortstop in the second round. Nazzan Zanetello graduated from Christian Brothers High School and played 13 games for the Florida Complex and Salem Red Sox. This year he's only hitting .191 but has come on strong in the last few weeks, belting 4 home runs and driving in 14 runs. He's only 19 years old so he's got a long way to go. Still, a little improvement is better than none.


3rd Round - SS Antonio Anderson

Want to know why Chaim Bloom got fired and the Boston Red Sox organization has no starting pitching depth? For three years in a row, Bloom drafted nothing but position players in the early rounds. His third round pick was yet another high school shortstop in Antonio Anderson out of North Atlanta High School. He played just 12 games for the Complex and Salem but this year he's hitting just .162 with 4 home runs and 22 rbis. Just like Zanetello, he's got a long way to go. Nothing against Anderson, but Bloom should have been drafting pitchers here. For example, Jake Bloss from Georgetown University was picked in the third round by the Houston Astros and he just made his MLB debut 3 weeks ago. That could have been with Boston if Bloom was smarter.

4th Round - RHP Matt Duffy

Boston's first pitcher taken wasn't until the fourth round just like in 2021 and once again Bloom needs his head examined. Matt Duffy posted a 4.32 ERA for Canisius University when he was drafted and he allowed 5 runs in 4 innings between the Complex and Salem to end the season. This season he's 1-4 with a 3.86 ERA in 13 starts for Salem. Just like Wyatt Olds and Jaret Godman before, once again Bloom drafted a guy who wasn't even that good in college and he's performed as expected. That's not a knock on Duffy, he's doing his best, but the guy who drafted him to begin with.

4th Round Compensation - SS Kristian Campbell

Define irony. This fourth round compensation selection is the pick the Red Sox were awarded when Xander Bogaerts signed with the San Diego Padres, and this just may be the replacement. Kristian Campbell was a redshirt freshman for Georgia Tech when the Sox drafted him and it looks like a steal when he tore up the Complex and Greenville to end the season last year. This year he hit .306 with 8 homers and 25 rbis in Grenville to earn a promotion to Portland and he's been arguably their best player since. He's hitting .406 with 4 home runs and 18 rbis in just 26 games for the Sea Dogs. Because Worcester and Boston are so crowded, they've tried Campbell at second base and the outfield. Its just a matter of time before he and the Goldust Trio are in Worcester. He may not be Xander Bogaerts, but if he makes the majors, that's a hell of an accomplishment in itself.

4th Round Compensation - SS Justin Riemer

The Sox had another fourth round compensation pick they were awarded for letting Nathan Eovaldi walk to the Texas Rangers. They used it to select Wright State shortstop Justin Riemer. Unfortunately Riemer tore his ACL just 12 games into the season for Wright and missed the rest of the season. He's still rehabbing his knee injury this year but he could be back on the field by July or August. Jury is still out on this one.

5th Round - LHP Connelly Early

The Sox' fifth round pick was used to take left handed pitcher Connelly Early out of Virginia University. He was 12-3 in 18 starts for the Cavaliers but only pitched in one game with Salem to end the season. This year he's gone 1-5 but with a respectable 3.53 ERA. Wins and losses don't really matter in the minors as long as you're getting guys out. Hopefully he gets a late year promotion to Portland to see what he can do at the AA level. He's only 22 so he's got a few years to prove himself.

6th Round - RHP CJ Weins

In the sixth round the Sox took right handed pitcher CJ Weins out of Western Kentucky University. Stop me if you've heard this, he was mediocre in college going 1-2 with a 4.35 ERA for WKU before being drafted. He was 0-2 with a 4.81 ERA in Salem when he was traded on July 6th for veteran relief pitcher Trey Wingenter. The fact that Craig Breslow was able to get something for him is remarkable.

7th Round - OF Caden Rose

Usually its the pitchers that Chaim Bloom looked at and thought they were worth more than they were, but in the 7th round the Sox took the outfield equivalent. Caden Rose hit just .261 with 9 home runs and 26 rbis for Alabama before being picked. This year he was hitting .187 with 4 homers and 16 rbis in 25 games before he went on the 60 Day Injured List. If it comes out years later that on draft night, Red Sox draft personnel had never actually seen these guys play and just looked at the list of who hadn't been drafted yet on TV, it would be far more believable than the thought of Sox scouts seeing a guy barely hitting .260 in college and thought that would translate to the pros.

8th Round - RHP Trenner O'Donnell

In the 8th round, the Sox went with right handed pitcher Trenner O'Donnell out of Ball State University. At least he had good college stats, going 13-8 with a 2.95 ERA in 16 starts before being drafted. This year he's 3-3 with a 3.13 ERA in 12 games with Salem so far. Going to need to improve velocity if he wants to get to the big leagues but at least he's off to a good start.

9th Round - RHP Blake Wehunt

In the 9th round, the Sox chose Kennesaw State right handed pitcher Blake Wehunt. As usual, Bloom chose a pitcher with mediocre stats in college as Wehunt went 4-4 with a 4.83 ERA in 14 starts. Now this year he started well going 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA in 8 starts for Salem to earn a promotion to Greenville. Unfortunately he's struggling going 0-2 with a 3.86 ERA in 5 starts there. He'll be 24 in November and getting beat up in High A ball isn't a good sign. Still, he just got there, he may need time to adjust.

10th Round - LHP Ryan Ammons

Once again Chaim Bloom took a pitcher in college with mediocre stats when he took left handed pitcher Ryan Ammons in the 10th round out of Clemson University. He was 2-0 with a 4.05 ERA before being chosen in the draft. He didn't get to pitch in the Complex or for the organization period as he was traded in December to the New York Mets for Justin Slaten. Slaten has performed admirably out of the bullpen for Boston this season but what about Ammons? He went 1-4 with a 2.88 ERA out of the bullpen for the St. Lucie Mets and was promoted to the Brooklyn Cyclones on July 2nd. Things are looking up for him, but the Sox definitely are benefiting from the trade with Slaten's services. Good luck to Ammons in New York.

11th Round - OF Nelly Taylor

The Sox took on a potential feel-good story when they chose Polk State University outfielder Nelly Taylor in the 11th round. He was plagued with a horrible kidney problem that still affects him today but powered through it to bat .353 with 6 home runs and 48 rbis for Polk State in 2023. This year so far he's hitting .234 with 3 home runs and 33 rbis for Salem, but he's still only 21. If he can beat a kidney disorder, hopefully he can beat opposing pitchers and end up in Greenville sooner than later.

12th Round - RHP Max Carlson

Here we go again. Once again Bloom scraped the bottom of the barrel when he took right handed pitcher Max Carlson out of UNC in the 12th round. He was 5-2 with a 5.45 ERA for the Tar Heels before being drafted by the Sox. He started out great in Salem this year going 4-0 with a 2.35 ERA with 5 saves out of the bullpen to earn a promotion to Greenville. He's only pitched in one game for Greenville so far but at least he got there. Hopefully we'll see what he's made of in the next few months. He could be Greenville's closer in the second half of the season.

13th Round - RHP Cade Feeney

Mr. Feeney was drafted in the 13th round out of North Dakota State where he went 6-5 with a 4.57 ERA in 14 starts. This year he's 0-1 with a 3.66 ERA and 3 saves for the Greenville Drive. Maybe moving him to the bullpen was a good idea and he'll thrive there. Otherwise, posting a 4.57 ERA in college as a starter usually doesn't translate well to the pros. Wyatt Olds and Jaret Godman can tell him that.

14th Round - LHP Jojo Ingrassia

In the 14th round, the Sox took left handed pitcher Jojo Ingrassia out of Cal State-Fullerton. He was 5-2 with a 2.42 ERA and 7 saves in 2023 for Cal State and so far this year he's 3-1 with a 2.17 ERA with 1 save for Salem. He might be headed to Greenville soon and he turns 22 on July 24th. Still, rather him put up good stats for Salem than bad.

15th Round - OF Phoenix Call

The Sox took a risk when they drafted high school phenom Phoenix Call out of Calabasas High School in the 15th round because he was almost guaranteed to go to UCLA. Well, he did. Unfortunately for him he hit .222 with no home runs, 2 rbis and a HIDEOUS slugging percentage of .259 his freshman year. He's got at least two more years to go so he has plenty of time to improve, but so far the Sox might have gotten lucky that he chose UCLA over them. Check back on this one next year.

16th Round - RHP Isaac Stebens

In the 16th round, the Sox took Oklahoma State closer and right handed pitcher Isaac Stebens. Stebens was 4-1 with a 2.24 ERA and 6 saves in 2023 and was unhittable in Salem to start the year. He allowed just 1 earned run in 11 innings for a 0.82 ERA to earn a promotion to Greenville. Unfortunately he's 2-2 with a 5.13 ERA and just 2 saves for the Drive out of the bullpen. Still, he may need time to adjust and might come back stronger next year. At least he's gotten this far.

17th Round - OF Dylan Schlaegel

In the 17th round, the Sox took Mansfield Legacy High School outfielder Dylan Schlaegel as a risk because he was committed to little known Dallas Baptist University. He ended up going to DBU and sat out the 2024 season. His life, his choice. His favorite bible verse is Psalm 23, maybe Connor Butler will be proud.

18th Round - LHP Zach Fogell

In the 18th round, the Sox took left handed pitcher Zach Fogell out of UConn. Fogell actually spent his freshman year back in 2019 for Brown University but Covid wiped out 2020 and the whole entire Ivy League refused to play the 2021 season. After 2022, Fogell transferred to UConn where he was unhittable in 2023 going 8-1 with a 1.89 ERA out of the bullpen. The kicker was he was already 22 by then so he had an advantage over the other students. He pitched 4.2 innings between the Complex and Salem to end the season and didn't allow an earned run. He started this year in Salem allowing no runs in 5 innings before being promoted to Greenville. So far with the Drive he's 3-2 with a 3.52 ERA out of the bullpen. On the bright side, he hasn't really hit a wall yet but the downside is he turns 24 on July 23rd. Him hanging around Single A when a lot of guys his age are in AAA or the majors is not a good look. Still, would rather him get guys out than suck completely.

19th Round - OF Stanley Tucker

Instead of taking a bum pitcher in the 19th round for the third year in a row, Bloom switched it up and took Texas Tech outfielder Stanley Tucker. Tucker has been god awful at the plate, batting .195 for the Complex and .077 for Salem to end 2023. This year he's hitting just .181 with one home run for Salem. Most 19th round picks are cucka anyway so no big loss if he doesn't pan out. Still, would have been nice if he could at least get out of Salem.

20th Round - RHP Robert Orloski

With their 20th and final pick, the Sox took Middleton High School right handed pitcher Robert Orloski. Orloski ended up not signing with the Red Sox and instead chose to go to University of Texas San Antonio. His freshman year he was 3-5 with a 5.94 ERA in 11 starts....not exactly setting the world on fire. The Sox may have dodged a bullet since he didn't sign with them, time will tell on this one.

URFA - C Drew Ehrhard

After the draft was over, the Sox signed two rookie free agents. The first was Zach Ehrhard's OLDER brother Drew. Drew has the designation of being one of the oldest "draft picks" in franchise history after spending six years at Tampa University. After signing with the Sox, he has just 16 at-bats in 11 games between the Complex and Greenville. Somehow he got promoted to Portland and is on their Development List. Technically he made AA faster than a lot of guys drafted. Zach Ehrhard is still at Oklahoma State.

URFA - RHP Cooper Adams

The other undrafted free agent the Sox signed was right handed pitcher Cooper Adams out of Mt. St Mary's University. He was 8-3 with a 5.03 ERA in 14 starts before starting this season in Greenville. Not surprising he is 0-4 with a 5.94 ERA for Greenville. Once again, he had a lousy ERA for a small college, what was Bloom expecting him to do when he signed?

All in all we got a lot of guys on this list who show potential with two of them on the fast track to Worcrester. Kyle Teel and Kristian Campbell are the two biggest prospects but guys like Connelly Early and Trenner O'Donnell are sneaky picks that might make it some day. Its only been one year so judging any of them on the same level as the 2020 and 2021 draftees would be unfair and even 2022 to a degree. Still....with four drafts under his belt, Chaim Bloom has exactly ZERO major leaguers. Now he's got the Goldust Trio in Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony and Kyle Teel along with Chase Meidroth, Luis Guerrero, Nick Yorke and Niko Kavadas knocking at the door....but otherwise everyone else is a longshot, bust or already gone. How many other major league teams have exactly ZERO draft picks make the majors in the last four years? That's why Chaim Bloom is gone, folks. Hopefully Craig Breslow has more successful coming up next week. It would be wise to take the best starting pitcher available at pick 12 when the time comes. Bloom neglected the rotation in favor of position players, maybe Craig will fix that.