The Boston Red Sox made their first round of cuts Tuesday amid spring training at Ft. Myers, Fla., and power-hitting prospect Michael Chavis was among those optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket for the beginning of the season.
Chavis made quite an impression at big-league camp this spring, clubbing four home runs for the Sox in Grapefruit League games while batting .273 with 10 RBI’s. There’s a lot for Red Sox fans to be excited about when it comes to the infielder’s power, which impressed Alex Cora. But the Red Sox manager said Chavis will benefit from some time down in the minors as he rounds out his game.
“Just keep improving, use that right-side gap – he can do that, that’s something we talk about and keep the ball going defensively, that’s something we’ll make sure we take care of that,” Cora said via the Boston Herald’s Michael Silverman. “He knows it. It’s not easy when you’re moving around but we’ll find ways and have some structure for him so he can get better.”
Cora expects Chavis to spend some time at first and second base in the minors, but mainly the Boston bench boss was happy with his first real look at the 23-year-old.
“He can hit, I think everybody knew that except for me,” Cora said. “I didn’t see him last year, he was hurt, so you see the numbers and videos whatever but you see a game and, yeah, he can swing the bat. He didn’t play too much second but the last time he played in West Palm Beach he made two routine plays and he looked very relaxed and turned a double play. That’s something he’ll do wherever he goes. We’ll move him around and make sure he gets his reps at second base, too.”
Chavis is among Boston’s top prospects and given the state of the Red Sox’s lineup, which returns nearly everyone from last year’s World Series title run, it doesn’t come as too much of a surprise that the club optioned Chavis to get daily reps in the minors. Should he continue to flash plus-power in Triple-A, it will be interesting to see how the Red Sox decide to handle a potential call up.
