Fort Report: Spring has sprung, Big 3 among those seeing early playing time
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In the first full week of spring training in action, several of the Red Sox's top prospects saw plenty of time in big league camp, while several players in the SoxProspects.com top 60 look to make their mark as baseball returns.
Anthony, Mayer, Campbell see plenty of action
With the spotlight on the “Big 3” entering the spring with storylines of possibly breaking camp with Boston, each of the young prospects saw their fair shares of at bats and time in the field while some of the major league talent ramps up activity. All three prospects were slated to start the opening game against Northeastern before Roman Anthony was scratched late. Since then, Anthony has played in each of the first two Grapefruit League games, registering a pair of hits and an RBI.
Marcelo Mayer has seen the most action out of the Red Sox top three prospects, appearing in all three spring training games to date. Mayer has gone 3-for-10 with a walk and an RBI added in while solely playing shortstop. Alex Cora has mentioned early in camp that Mayer will see time at second base and third base along with his natural shortstop position.
Entering spring training with the most buzz of the three to potentially make the Opening Day roster, Kristian Campbell has seen the least amount of time among the prospects. After going 0-for-3 in the game against Northeastern, Campbell saw just a pair of plate appearances.
Abreu recovering from viral illness
As spring training games kicked off and everyday players begin to ramp up in game action, Gold Glover Wilyer Abreu was absent from games and workouts as he works his way back from a GI Virus that has kept him sidelined. According to Alex Cora, the team continues to test him and are waiting for things to look normal before getting back to baseball activities. Abreu's absence for the time being could open up possible playing time for Anthony and Jhostynxon Garcia in big league games.
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After rising through three levels in 2024 before ending the season in Portland, Jhostynxon Garcia, the 12th ranked prospect, gained plenty of attention on day one of spring games. Starting the Red Sox yearly game against Northeastern, Garcia drove in a pair of runs with a single to left in the fourth inning as part of a four-run inning to help the Red Sox remain undefeated in its college game tradition. Garcia has seen a few at bats in the Grapefruit league, going hitless through three at-bats. Garcia also talked with MassLive about his goals for the 2025 season among other things.
Penrod avoids surgery, Guerrero impresses in spring debut
As spring training games kicked off, news came out that pitcher Zach Penrod, the 20th-ranked prospect in the system, noted discomfort in his elbow throwing which ended in some concern from the organization. The MRI on the lefty revealed no structural damage and appears to have avoided surgery. Instead, Penrod will be “out for a while” according to Alex Cora.
In the Red Sox’s Grapefruit league opener, Luis Guerrero, the 17th-ranked prospect, took the mound following Quinn Priester’s start and continued to show flashes of excellence that Red Sox fans saw last September. The right-hander tossed a scoreless inning, striking out the side while allowing a walk. After tossing 10 scoreless innings last September, Guerrero will likely be in the mix for bullpen spot come late-March.
Murphy on the mend
Chris Murphy first made his mark in Boston in 2023 as an important long relief option, pitching to a 4.91 ERA in 47.2 innings. The left-hander spent all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery after revealing elbow damage last March, but is back throwing bullpens as he makes his way back to the mound.
According to Chris Cotillo of MassLive, Murphy has thrown a pair of bullpen sessions consisting of 10 and 15 pitches respectively while aiming for an April 10 date for live bullpens.
Fitts looking to stick
After impressing in his short stint in Boston last year, Richard Fitts is entering camp with an eye on one of the rotation spots when spring training concludes. MassLive’s Christopher Smith details that in his effort to break camp with the Red Sox, Fitts has added to his pitching repertoire. In his spring debut, Fitts pitched a pair of scoreless innings while striking out two.
Where are they now
- After being part of the blockbuster Garrett Crochet trade, Chase Meidroth saw some time in the White Sox big league camp. Bobby Dalbec, who signed with Chicago on a minor league deal, started the White Sox’s spring opener as the DH.
- Cutter Coffey get revenge against his old organization. As a member of the Blue Jays after landing there in the Danny Jansen trade last summer, Coffey roped a go-ahead RBI single in the ninth inning against Boston on Sunday.
Minor leaguers in major league games
As the first week of games continues, we track the players who are not in major-league camp that see action in the big-league games. The numbers in parentheses denote the player's current SoxProspects ranking.
Pitchers: Zach Bryant, Grant Gambrell (47) , Hobie Harris, Jose Adames, Shane Drohan, Gabriel Jackson (49), Zach Fogell, Jack Anderson
Position Players: Juan Chacon, Justin Riemer (31), Max Ferguson, Blaze Jordan (27), Tyler Miller, Tyler McDonough, Phillip Sikes, Ahbram Liendo
Photo Credit: Luis Guerrero by Kelly O'Connor