The Boston Red Sox Rookie Development Program kicks off next week. There are expected to be 10 participants at this year’s event.
Rusney Castillo, Mookie Betts, Blake Swihart, Eduardo Rodriguez, Heath Hembree, Edwin Escobar, Brian Johnson, Zeke Spruill, Sean Coyle and Henry Ramos are scheduled to participate, according to WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford and The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.
The annual, week-long program is designed to help ease the transition for players expected to reach the majors within the next 18 or so months. It features drills geared toward conditioning and fundamentals, as well as seminars featuring guest speakers.
This year’s event is rather interesting in that Castillo, Betts, Hembree, Escobar and Spruill already have big league experience. In fact, Castillo and Betts — two first-time participants — are expected to play significant roles on the Red Sox in 2015.
Swihart, who is Boston’s No. 1 prospect, also participated in the program last offseason.
Thumbnail photo via Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports Images
