The future looks bright for the Boston Red Sox.
Even after trading a heap of prospects to the San Diego Padres for Craig Kimbrel over the winter, Boston entered the season with one of baseball’s best farm systems.
The club’s top prospects have lived up to their potential through the first half of 2016, and they’re well-represented in Baseball America’s midseason list of top 100 prospects.
All told, five Red Sox prospects made the list, including four in the top 41 and three in the top 15. Oh, and a Sox prospect landed on the top spot, with Yoan Moncada checking in at No. 1.
Here are the five prospects who made the list:
1. Yoan Moncada, 2B
9. Andrew Benintendi, OF
15. Anderson Espinoza, P
41. Rafael Devers, 3B
93. Michael Kopech, P
Moncada taking the top spot is no surprise. He’s been considered a top prospect since signing with the Red Sox from Cuba in early 2015. He’s moving quickly up the ranks, having been promoted twice since the start of the 2015 season. Moncada currently is tearing up Double-A Portland, where he’s hitting .317 with four home runs and 14 RBIs in 15 games.
Benintendi, the Red Sox’s first-round draft pick in 2015, also is quickly rising. The club promoted him to Portland earlier this season, and after a slow start, he’s starting to figure things out. Benintendi is batting .283 with six home runs, 28 RBIs and 22 extra-base hits at Double-A.
Espinoza is a 19-year-old right-hander with an explosive fastball who obviously still needs time, but projections are very high. He has just 129 1/3 professional innings under his belt, but he’s struck out 130 batters over that time and walked just 39.
Devers, like Espinoza, is just 19 and playing at High-A Salem. He hit 11 home runs at Single-A Greenville last season and continues to find his swing at the next level, hitting .389 in his last 10 games.
Kopech is an interesting case. Injuries have prevented him from pitching more than 87 innings since being selected in the first round of the 2014 draft, but his incredible right arm is undeniable. Kopech routinely sits in the upper 90s, and he’s displayed swing-and-miss stuff, as evidenced by his 96 strikeouts in 87 innings.
Thumbnail photo via Jonathan Dyer/USA TODAY Sports Images
