Minor Notes: Montgomery taken with top pick; Duran wins All-Star Game MVP

To say that this is one of the busiest times on the baseball calendar would be an understatement. Between the MLB Draft, the Futures Game, the All-Star Game, and the upcoming trade deadline, there is a lot happening around the sport right now. As it pertains to the Red Sox, the club has been well represented at all the festivities in Arlington, Texas. They are also in the thick of the American League Wild Card race, so the trade rumors have been flowing as well.

The Red Sox landed Texas A&M outfielder Braden Montgomery with the 12th overall pick in the 2024 MLB First-Year Player Draft on Sunday. The athletic 21-year-old was viewed as a consensus top-10 prospect heading into the draft, but his stock fell after he fractured his right ankle in a Super Regionals game on June 8. It remains to be seen if Montgomery will be able to make his professional debut this season, but he told reporters that he is progressing well and somewhat ahead of schedule.

After nabbing Montgomery, the Red Sox went on a pitching binge of sorts by taking 13 college arms between Days 2 and 3 of the draft. With their fourth-round pick, the club took Oklahoma State outfielder Zach Ehrhard, who they drafted out of high school in 2021 but did not sign. With their eighth-round pick, they took right-hander/shortstop Conrad Cason out of Greater Atlanta Christian School in Georgia. He is committed to play collegiately at Mississippi State, but amateur scouting director Devin Pearson said the Sox will develop him as a two-way player if he signs.

To close out the draft on Tuesday, Boston most notably selected D'Angelo Ortiz with their 19th-round pick. D'Angelo is, of course, the son of Red Sox legend and Hall of Famer David Ortiz. Unlike his father, the 20-year-old third baseman hits from the right side of the plate. He played collegiately at Miami Dade Community College in Kendall, Florida, and has spent two of his last three summers with the Brockton Rox of the Futures Collegiate League.

For more SoxProspects.com draft coverage, click this link. To listen to our own Chris Hatfield and Ian Cundall instantly react to the selections of Montgomery and second-rounder Payton Tolle, check out Episode No. 324 of the SoxProspects.com Podcast by clicking this link. 

Saturday was a day for The Big Three to remember. Marcelo Mayer and Kyle Teel both suited up for the American League in the 25th-annual All-Star Futures Game while Roman Anthony took part in the inaugural Future Skills Showcase that followed. Mayer and Teel entered the game as defensive replacements in the fifth inning. The former went 0 for 2 with two groundouts and the latter went 2 for 2 with a pair of doubles, making him the only player on either side to record multiple hits.

Anthony, meanwhile, came from behind to win the first-ever Future Skills Showcase. The 20-year-old outfielder found himself in last place among eight participants heading into the third and final round. In the "Swing for the Fences" challenge, Anthony homered six times on eight swings to bring his point total from six to 66 and win the competition outright.

Two additional homegrown talents -- Tanner Houck and Jarren Duran (pictured, above) -- represented the Red Sox as first-time All-Stars at Globe Life Field on Tuesday night. Rafael Devers was selected as an All-Star for the third time in his career but elected to sit this one out so that he could continue to rest his sore left shoulder.

Houck worked the third inning for the American League and gave up a three-run home run to Shohei Ohtani. Duran replaced starting center fielder Aaron Judge in the top of the fifth and crushed a tiebreaking two-run homer off Hunter Greene in his first at-bat a half-inning later. The 413-foot blast propelled the AL to a 5-3 victory.

Duran, who finished the night having gone 1 for 2, was deservedly recognized as the game's Most Valuable Player. The 27-year-old outfielder became the fifth player in Red Sox history to be named All-Star Game MVP, joining Carl Yastrzemski (1970), Roger Clemens (1986), Pedro Martinez (1999), and JD Drew (2008) in that regard.

Before breaking for All-Star festivities over the weekend, the Red Sox kept busy by making plenty of roster moves. Last Friday, Cooper Criswell and Cam Booser were called from Worcester while Trey Wingenter was optioned and Justin Slaten was placed on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to July 9) with right elbow inflammation. On Saturday, Sal Romano was granted his release from the WooSox while Naoyuki Uwasawa was outrighted off the 40-man roster after clearing waivers.

Elsewhere, Greenville's Cade Feeney and Salem's Yoeilin Cespedes were transferred from the 7-day to 60-day injured lists on Tuesday. Eddinson Paulino and Juan Encarnacion were also retroactively placed on Portland's 7-day injured list on Saturday. In disciplinary news, Dominican Summer League right-hander Charlie Zink was handed down a 56-game suspension after testing positive for Stanozolol.

Castro has been swinging a hot bat as of late for Greenville. The switch-hitting 21-year-old homered four times in last week's series against Rome and three of those homers came in a doubleheader on Thursday. After a slow start, this recent stretch has brought Castro's slash line on the season up to .239/.365/.434 with 11 home runs and 35 RBIs through 76 games (329 plate appearances). He is currently ranked as the No. 17 prospect in the organization. 

2 G, 1-0, 8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K, 

Dobbins made two starts in Portland's series against Hartford last week. To open the six-game set on Tuesday, the 24-year-old righty scattered three hits and one walk while striking out six over six scoreless innings. He racked up a pair of additional strikeouts across two more scoreless frames as part of a bullpen game on Sunday to lower his ERA on the season to 3.54. He is currently ranked as the No. 21 prospect in the organization.