It’s that time of year where the various media entities who cover Major League Baseball and the minors leagues put out of their top prospects of each organization and also a list of the top prospects from all of the organizations.
Earlier this year, MLB.com released their top 100 MLB prospects and that list included four members of the Boston Red Sox organization. This time around, it’s Keith Law of ESPN’s (ESPN Insider link) turn.
Included in his list of 100 top prospects are two Red Sox farmhands. They are shortstop Xander Bogaerts who comes in at No. 62 and catcher Blake Swihart who comes in at No. 100.
Here’s what Law has to say about Bogaerts:
The Red Sox were aggressive with the Aruban-born Bogaerts, promoting him from the Dominican Summer League right to full-season ball, where only Jurickson Profar and Bryce Harper were younger among regular position players. But Bogaerts held his own due to excellent bat speed and enough pitch recognition to keep himself afloat. He starts out very wide at the plate and closes slightly when he gets his front foot down. The ball really comes off his bat well, thanks to strong wrists and forearms and a very rotational swing with great extension through contact.
He spent the year at shortstop, making an error every three games, but isn’t likely to stay there with third base the probable destination. He has the arm and feet for it, assuming he does indeed outgrow shortstop. Boston’s system is thin right now, with several prospects who project as solid regulars but nothing more. Bogaerts is the Red Sox’s best chance right now to produce an All-Star.
Here’s what Law has to say about Swihart:
Swihart is raw on both sides of the ball but extremely athletic with the bat speed and arm strength to profile as a potential All-Star at a number of skill positions. As a hitter, he can get out on his front foot early and doesn’t finish rotating his hips to produce the power his swing should allow, but the bat speed is there and he has a decent feel for the strike zone. As a catcher, he can throw and has already improved his release time since signing with Boston.
Having played a number of positions in high school, Swihart needs to work on receiving and game-calling. Given time and regular reps behind the plate, he could be similar to Matt Wieters, a switch-hitting catcher (perhaps with less power) who can add value through catching and throwing. If he has to move to another position, such as third base, he could still end up an above-average big leaguer but would obviously lose a good bit of his value.
Will Middlebrooks and Ryan Lavarnway were among Law’s top 10 prospects who just missed out making the top 100.
Keith Law – Top 100 Prospects Index — 1-25 — 26-50 — 51-75 — 76-100 — Top 10 Prospects who just missed top 100 (these links are to PDF printout)
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