Red Sox Prospect Report: Shane Drohan Takes Massive Leap This Season

Even with the Boston Red Sox season in full swing, there is plenty going on down on the farm. NESN.com will take a look at several high-level prospects at the midway point of the season and see how they are faring. Next up: Shane Drohan.

Shane Drohan was a little-known left-handed pitching prospect at the end of last season. That’s certainly not the case anymore.

Drohan, who the Red Sox selected out of Florida State in the fifth round of the 2020 Major League Baseball Draft, arguably took the biggest leap out of any prospect in the organization this year. He’s now one of the top pitching prospects the Red Sox have in their farm system.

The 24-year-old’s quick ascent seemingly came out of nowhere, but he’s consistently shown it’s not an aberration.

Here’s what you need to know about Boston’s fast-rising pitching prospect at the midway point of the season.

2022 Season Stats: 7-8 record (25 starts/129 2/3 innings), 3.89 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 157 Ks
2023 Season Stats: 7-3 record (17 starts/84 innings), 3.86 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 86 Ks

Overview of Season
It didn’t take long this season for Drohan to convince the Red Sox that he deserved a promotion. In six starts to begin the campaign with Double-A Portland, Drohan allowed a mere five runs in 34 innings, posted a 1.32 ERA and 0.82 WHIP while also notching five wins. His tremendous efforts on the mound earned him Eastern League Pitcher of the Month honors.

The Red Sox called Drohan up to Triple-A Worcester in mid-May and he hasn’t duplicated the same success. He recorded a 2-3 record in 11 starts to go along with a 5.58 ERA and 1.76 WHIP. There’s a noticeable difference in his batting average against as well, with Triple-A hitters batting .265 off Drohan, which is over 100 points higher than how Double-A batters performed against him this season.

The 6-foot-3, 195-pound lefty certainly is going through an adjustment period at the higher level, but is still recording nearly a strikeout per inning. Drohan doesn’t have overpowering stuff — his fastball sits between 92 and 94 mph according to Soxprospects.com — but he has a four-pitch pix that features strong off-speed offerings.

Drohan initially was invited to the MLB Futures All-Star Game to compete among the best prospects in the game but ended up not attending the event due to a minor ailment.

Best Performance of Season
The best outing from Drohan came in late April with Portland. He held down the Erie SeaWolves over six innings, letting up just one run on two hits while striking out seven — one short of his season high — and walking one

One of his better starts with Worcester came at the end of May when he yielded one hit and no runs over six innings with three strikeouts against the Louisville Bats. Drohan was plagued by control issues in that outing, though, walking six.

Change In Prospect Ranking?
Drohan was ranked as Boston’s No. 26 prospect in December of 2022 by SoxProspects.com. He chopped that number in half by April and is now the sixth-ranked prospect in the organization. No other pitching prospect has a higher ranking than Drohan.

Expected Arrival To Boston?
Even with Drohan bursting onto the scene, it’s clear the Red Sox don’t think he’s ready for the big leagues yet. Boston has only three healthy starting pitchers at the moment and has elected to have Drohan keep developing at Triple-A instead of rushing him to the majors. SoxProspects.com has Drohan’s arrival estimated for the middle of next season if he stays on this upward trajectory.