Did the Boston Red Sox point-blank rob the Chicago White Sox in their Major League Baseball trade deadline deal involving catcher Reese McGuire and left-handed pitcher Jake Diekman?
The two teams completed the final term of the deal Tuesday night when the White Sox sent pitcher Taylor Broadway to the Boston Red Sox as the player to be named later.
On the surface, Broadway’s numbers do not pop off the page nor are they indicative of a top prospect, but there are plenty of encouraging metrics that tweak the narrative.
The 25-year-old right-hander posted a 4.74 ERA with a 74-to-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio with a .289 batting average against in 49 1/3 innings for the Double-A Birmingham Barons this season.
Those numbers aren’t enough to break into a top 100 prospect list but Broadway’s got plenty of positives buried in his stats. For starters, his 33.9% strikeout rate paired with a 6.4% walk rate not only is elite but highlights the incredible control he’s shown since being drafted out of the University of Mississippi in the sixth round of the 2021 MLB Draft.
The most promising aspect of Broadway’s numbers is that his greatest weakness this season appears to be a fluke. The former college closer is being hit at an aforementioned .289 clip with a .834 OPS against. He’s allowed for more hits (58) than innings pitched at the Double-A level.
That said, those stats are a result of a heavily inflated .413 batting average on balls in play, which indicates a highly unsustainable level of offense against him. That number is over 100 points higher than the MLB average BABIP and usually means a couple things could be happening, likely both.
The first issue Broadway could be having is with his teammates. If the Barons’ defense does not convert balls in play into outs at a normal rate, Broadway takes the hit on the stat sheet. The Red Sox should have no issue converting balls in play into outs for the righty should he ascend to the MLB level.
The other issue could just be a matter of luck. Sometimes it feels like any ball put in play just happens to find a hole, and that’s how it’s been all season.
Both issues appear to be fixable with a fresh start in Double-A Portland. It remains to be seen whether Broadway starts to reduce the damage against him or not, but he features a high-90s fastball with a decent breaking ball and has a fantastic strikeout-to-walk ratio, making him a perfect fit for the bullpen.
