Farm Report: Top-ranked Red Sox system living up to early hype

The Red Sox have baseball s No prospect in Roman Anthony It s only a matter of time before the -year-old outfielder gets the call Fresh off his first big-league spring training Anthony is tearing the cover off the ball in Triple-A Through games with the WooSox he s hitting with a OPS and hits including for extra bases He walks nearly as often as he strikes out and has reached base safely in of his last games But what about the rest of the farm Unlike the big-league club which can t seem to stay above for more than a inadequate games and hasn t played to a winning record since the Red Sox participant advance has improved by leaps and bounds over the last half-decade In February Baseball America awarded them the No spot for the first time since their organizational rankings began in A month later MLB deemed Boston s farm third-best behind the Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Rays and included Anthony Kristian Campbell Marcelo Mayer and Franklin Arias in their top prospects In other words the present may be frustrating but the future is brighter than ever Here s the Herald s first Farm Review your monthly rundown of the organization s brightest stars Red Sox prospect Marcelo Mayer was in the last few days honored as International League Athlete of the Week and at present has seven home runs and RBI on the season Courtesy of the Worcester Red Sox Triple-A Only a matter of time for Anthony and Mayer Anthony doesn t stand alone atop the rankings He and Mayer are the the bulk promising not to mention entertaining top prospect duo the Red Sox have had in a long time Mayer is hitting with a OPS and despite only playing games is leading the WooSox with seven homers and RBI one short of the International League lead and twice as a large number of as any of his teammates Anthony and fellow outfielder Nate Eaton have RBI apiece The shortstop has hit safely in of his last games and just earned International League Participant of the Week honors for April - a stretch in which he went for with three doubles three homers seven runs and RBI The Red Sox called up veteran utility man Abraham Toro in the immediate aftermath of Triston Casas season-ending injury but chief baseball officer Craig Breslow described the move as short-term on Saturday Perhaps they ll give Nathan Hickey a look at particular point He s spent the most of time at first base of anyone on the WooSox roster innings and has turned double plays and made seven assists He can also catch and has hit safely in of his last games On the pitching side left-hander Shane Drohan is enjoying a fresh start after a tumultuous injury-hampered in which the White Sox selected him in the Rule Draft only to return him to the Red Sox in June Through six games five starts this season he owns a ERA and has struck out batters in innings The same can t be disclosed about the organization s former top pitching prospect Bryan Mata who was designated for assignment non-tendered and re-signed to a minor league contract last fall after years of injuries Command continues to be an issue for the righty who was considered a anticipated starter years ago but has pitched exclusively out of the bullpen so far this season Though he s struck out batters in eight appearances innings he s allowed runs earned on hits issued walks and hit two batters Opponents have an eye-popping on-base percentage against him Before allowing four earned runs on six hits including three home runs in his majority newest start righty Brian Van Belle was on a roll he only allowed three runs two earned and struck out batters through his first five games The -year-old righty who began the season with a pair of relief appearances before moving to the rotation has been effective overall with strikeouts and just three walks in total innings The Red Sox optioned Luis Guerrero back to Triple-A on Saturday but he continues to impress Called up for his debut late last season the rookie right-hander made nine appearances without allowing an earned run He s now extended the streak to games making him just the fourth Red Sox pitcher since the start of the Expansion Era to begin his career with a ERA over as a great number of outings Though he s not a prospect veteran MLB reliever Nick Burdi has also earned a mention as the club s big-league bullpen continues to falter The -year-old righty who previously pitched for the Pirates Cubs and Yankees has yielded just one run earned in relief appearances with strikeouts and just three walks across innings Former first-round pick Mikey Romero has gotten off to a terrific start with the Portland Sea Dogs Tayla Bolduc Worcester Red Sox Double-A Promising plate discipline and pitching on the rise Portland may not have Anthony Mayer or Boston s thrilling new rookie infielder Kristian Campbell anymore but their Triple-A promotions last summer opened the door for a new wave of talent in Portland Infielders Mikey Romero and Tyler Miller have begun the season on a tear leading the Sea Dogs roster with five homers apiece Outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia also known as The Password is hitting with a on-base percentage He s leading the roster with walks to strikeouts with Romero hot on his heels Garcia isn t the only SeaDog with impressive plate discipline Corner infielder Blaze Jordan has walks to his strikeouts He s also driven in a team-leading Top pitching prospect Luis Perales is still working his way back from Tommy John surgery last June but several Portland pitchers are impressing early Tyler Uberstine owns a ERA over five starts and leads the roster with innings pitched His strikeouts are the the majority on the staff and tied for seventh in the Eastern League Yordanny Monegro and Connelly Early have punched out nearly as a great number of batters and in just and innings respectively Hard-throwing David Sandlin is having a tough go of it He s gone at least four innings in each of his five starts but he hasn t kept any of his opponents off the board He owns a ERA across innings and has allowed multiple earned runs on three occasions Walks have been an issue as well he s issued at least one free pass in four of his outings Unlike the big-league bullpen whose eight blown saves are tied with the Phillies for the preponderance in the majors the SeaDogs are getting a few shutdown performances from their relievers Neither Jonathan Brand six games nor Gabriel Jackson four games has allowed a run thus far In four appearances totaling innings Jack Anderson has struck out batters and allowed just one earned run He s also only yielded one walk in four relief appearances the best mark of any Sea Dogs pitcher who s thrown double-digit innings Yovanny Cruz owns a ERA across six games finished though command has been something of an issue he s issued eight walks and hit two batters Wyatt Olds owns a ERA over seven appearances tied with Reidis Sena and Zach Bryant for the bulk on the association and with innings pitched is proving he can succeed in a multi-inning role he s gone at least three innings in four of his outings Franklin Arias in the present Boston's No ranked prospect was lately promoted to High-A Greenville Courtesy of the Salem Red Sox High-A Tolle leading new crop of arms Payton Tolle the highest draft pick from last year s class still with the organization has gotten off to a tremendous start to his first full season of professional baseball While the -foot- -pound left-hander s ERA doesn t jump off the page he has struck out batters through just innings in his first four starts That s more than two strikeouts per inning on average Tolle had his best performance yet on Sunday when he struck out over five scoreless innings Overall he s now struck out in nine scoreless dating back to April Tolle isn t the only notable Red Sox pitching prospect who has shown out in Greenville Hayden Mullins struck out with a ERA in innings before he was called up to Double-A after just four outings and he was effectively replaced by Brandon Clarke a fifth-round pick from last year s draft who has lit up the radar gun ever since his arrival Clarke had strikeouts with a ERA in three starts in Low-A Salem and upon his promotion he struck out seven without allowing an earned run over innings in his High-A debut Juan Valera an -year-old whose fastball can already hit mph has gotten roughed up a bit so far but still leads Greenville in innings pitched As far as position players go Miguel Bleis has begun to recapture his impressive power leading the crew with four home runs Franklin Arias who ranks as Boston s No prospect and is widely regarded as a top- prospect in MLB was just now promoted to Greenville and already has two home runs in his first six games at High-A Prior to his promotion Arias was batting in games at Low-A Red Sox prospect Antonio Anderson left sits with fellow draft pick Nazzan Zanetello in the dugout at Fenway Park Mac Cerullo Boston Herald Low-A Anderson making the leap Antonio Anderson s first full season of professional baseball wasn t anything to write home about The third-round pick batted with a OPS over games at Low-A Salem and for long stretches the infielder looked overmatched at the plate That certainly hasn t been the episode so far this year Entering the week Anderson was Salem s top hitter batting with two home runs RBI runs scored and a OPS through his first games He has been one of the organization s largest part improved position players and if he keeps up his current pace he will majority of likely join Arias in Greenville before long Salem s other the bulk intriguing position players have been Freili Encarnacion and Yoeilin Cespedes both top modern international free agent signings Encarnacion is batting with a team-high four home runs through games and while Cespedes numbers haven t stood out through the first month he has seen regular playing time after seeing his season end prematurely last season due to a broken hamate bone Joe Vogatsky the pitching prospect acquired for Enmanuel Valdez last offseason right now leads Salem with strikeouts in innings Shea Sprague a Hanover native and a th round pick in last year s draft has strikeouts through his first innings Rookie Ball Watch out for Gonzales Justin Gonzales only just made his debut stateside in the Florida Complex League on Saturday but the hulking -year-old slugger has already made a strong impression with the Red Sox Signed as an international free agent in January Gonzales was Boston s top participant in the Dominican Summer League last season and was honored as the organization s Latin Activity Contestant of the Year He s continued making an impact in his second season as a professional playing in both the Spring Breakout contest and the Futures at Fenway South event in the spring while smashing a towering home run over the JetBlue Park Monster in the latter Gonzales was in recent days highlighted by Baseball America as a participant to watch in the Florida Complex League saying the teenager has regularly posted mph exit velocities while projecting he ll be among the top players in rookie ball this summer Though still years away from the majors Gonzales passes the eye test and will be one to keep an eye on in the coming seasons