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After Boston Red Sox’ early trade for prospect, they see ‘bunch of tools’
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- After Boston Red Sox’ early trade for prospect, they see ‘bunch of tools’
Yophery Rodriguez, the 19-year-old outfield prospect who the Red Sox acquired from the Brewers for pitcher Quinn Priester on April 7, has a .429 on-base percentage in 12 games for High-A Greenville.
The Red Sox are really intrigued with his potential as a hitter and want the Dominican Republic native to focus on adding weight and increasing bat speed.
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"He's a young, athletic outfielder that hits the ball hard and can run the bases," senior director of player development Brian Abraham said. "Has a bunch of tools that in some ways are raw but in some ways I think are probably somewhat mature for his age ... 19 in High A."
Rodriguez's plate discipline is mature for his age. He has more walks (15) than strikeouts (11) while posting a .435 on-base percentage overall in 15 games overall between High-A Wisconsin and Greenville.
"I think there are some different skills that we feel like we can continue to push and develop within our organization and within our hitting program," Abraham said.
MLB Pipeline ranks Rodriguez the No. 11 prospect in the Red Sox ' system between left-handed pitcher Connelly Early and shortstop Mikey Romero .
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Overall this year, he's batting .278 with a .435 on-base percentage, .481 slugging percentage, .916 OPS, one homer, three triples, two doubles, seven RBIs and 11 runs. He's been hitting out of the leadoff spot for Greenville.
"We've asked him to gain some good weight, asked him to gain some strength," Abraham said. "We have a pretty strong belief in bat speed."
The Red Sox have focused on increasing bat speed with their minor leaguers, including using overload and underload training bats.
"So getting him on that so he can swing the bat faster and continue to impact the baseball I think will be something that we'll really focus on," Abraham said.
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Abraham said the Red Sox are always looking to add dynamic players with different skill sets that they think they can continue to develop.
"So far, so good," Abraham said. "I think our acquisition group does an incredible job of finding hard working kids, good kids, kids that are willing to challenge themselves and get better. And that doesn't always happen in a trade because you're looking for talent. But we've been very, very pleased with the type of kid he is. And credit to Milwaukee for developing him for a couple years so far. And credit to us for going out and acquiring a player that we feel can help us in the long run.
"Really excited to add him to that mix of a really interesting Greenville outfield with Nelly (Taylor ), Miguel Bleis , Zach Ehrhard . Just a very intriguing group of outfielders all of a sudden down there. And excited to see what they'll be able to do moving forward."
Boston also received a Competitive Balance Round A pick (33rd overall) in the 2025 Draft and a player to be named later or cash considerations in the trade with the Brewers .
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Other Red Sox minor league notes from Thursday:
~Righty Zack Kelly, who the Red Sox optioned to Triple-A Worcester , pitched 2 scoreless innings against Syracuse. He allowed one hit and one walk while striking out two.
~Righty Hunter Dobbins — who has made two spot starts for Boston this year — allowed just one run, four hits and two walks while striking out three in 6 innings vs. Syracuse. He earned the win. He threw 27 four-seam fastballs, averaging 96.0 mph and topping out at 98.1 mph. He had 10 swings and misses, including five with the four-seamer.
~ Roman Anthony went 2-for-4 with a solo homer (106.8 mph exit velocity), three runs and one walk for the WooSox. He is batting .308 with a. 444 on-base percentage, .590 slugging percentage, 1.034 OPS, five homers, five doubles, one triple, 14 RBIs, 20 runs, 20 walks and 21 strikeouts in 22 games.
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~ Lefty Hayden Mullins , a Red Sox 12th round pick out of Auburn in 2022, allowed just one hit and no walks while striking out six in 4 scoreless innings for High-A Greenville. He has allowed just two runs in 17 innings (1.06 ERA).
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