Boston Red Sox Developing Young Prospects in Majors

Photo Credit: AP

The Boston Red Sox are in last place in the American League East, 12 ½ games behind the New York Yankees.

This weekend, they scored 45 runs and had 60 base hits in three games against the disappointing Seattle Mariners, who were expected to contend for the Western Division Title this year. Instead they are mired in fourth place, nine games behind the Houston Astros.

After winning the first two games 15-1 and 22-10, the Sox lost the third game of the series, 10-8.  It is pretty obvious by now, with a record of 52-65, that the Red Sox are not going to be in the playoffs. The best that they can hope for is to rebuild their pitching staff in the offseason and develop the young talent that they have available to them.

With Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval out of the lineup with minor injuries, the Sox started Mookie Betts, Brock Holt, Xander Bogaerts, Rusney Castillo, Travis Shaw, Blake Swihart, Josh Rutledge, Jackie Bradley, and Henry Owens, who was the starting pitcher for the game. The only starter over 28-years-old was designated hitter David Ortiz.

The average age of these starters, not counting Ortiz, was 24.5 years. At this point, the Red Sox are giving the future valuable experience in the majors and could evaluate their potential for the future and perhaps even to enhance their value as trade bait for the future.

With 25-year-old Christian Vasquez coming back from elbow surgery next year and Dustin Pedroia returning to play second, the Red Sox will have some excess talent available that might help them trade for pitching.

It is assumed that Owens, Eduardo Rodriguez and Brian Johnson will be included in the starting rotation in the future; but finding two other exceptional starters will be key.

This may be a lost year for the Red Sox, but the future looks bright.