The Boston Red Sox farm system received another vote of confidence this week.
Baseball America released its annual top 100 prospects list this week. Seven Red Sox farmhands appear on the 2015 list, tying Boston with the New York Mets for the most of any Major League Baseball team.
Catcher Blake Swihart is the top-ranked Red Sox prospect at No. 17 overall. He’s also the league’s top catching prospect, checking in two slots ahead of the Chicago Cubs’Â Kyle Schwarber, who placed 19th overall.
An interesting wrinkle in Baseball America’s rankings is that outfielder Rusney Castillo ranks No. 21. The Red Sox signed the 27-year-old to a seven-year, $72.5 million contract last August, and few would consider him a “prospect” despite the mystique that surrounds his arrival in MLB. But according to Baseball America’s criteria, Castillo fits the “prospect” label, and the publication thus ranked him among its top 100.
Left-handed pitcher Henry Owens, who is widely considered Boston’s second-best prospect behind Swihart, is No. 44 on Baseball America’s list. Opinions vary on Owens’ ceiling, but the young southpaw certainly has plenty of upside.
Lefties Eduardo Rodriguez (59) and Brian Johnson (82), outfielder Manuel Margot (72) and third baseman Rafael Devers (99) are the other Red Sox prospects on Baseball America’s 2015 list.
Thumbnail photo via Gene J. Puskar/The Associated Press
