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Red Sox have reliever with ‘heavy fastball’ up to 101.3 mph dominating (1.15 ERA) for Worcester
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- Red Sox have reliever with ‘heavy fastball’ up to 101.3 mph dominating (1.15 ERA) for Worcester
BOSTON — The Red Sox are the reason reliever Tayron Guerrero began playing baseball at 16 years old.
The Colombia native asked "What's that sport?" when his grandfather was watching Game 4 of the 2007 World Series between Boston and Colorado . Guerrero, who knew nothing about baseball, sat down to watch the final couple of innings at his grandparents' home, saw the Red Sox win the championship and began playing the game the next day.
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Nineteen years later, the 6-foot-8, 225-pounder is a strong candidate to receive a call-up to Boston. He's dominating at Triple-A Worcester , where he has allowed just two runs in 15 ⅔ innings (1.15 ERA) across 12 outings. Opponents are batting .200 against him. He has struck out 16 and walked five.
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The 35-year-old's fastball has averaged 98.4 mph and it looks 1.2 mph harder to hitters than in actuality. His 170 fastballs have had a 99.6 mph perceived velocity.
He reached a season-high 101.3 mph twice during his outing against Nashville on April 15. His nine fastballs that day averaged 100.2 mph.
He has reached triple digits in eight of his past nine outings, with the only exception being April 16, when he threw on back-to-back days.
| 12 outings at Worcester |
Max velocity |
|---|---|
| March 28 |
99.3 mph |
| March 31 |
99.1 mph |
| April 4 |
99.2 mph |
| April 11 |
101.2 mph |
| April 15 |
101.3 mph |
| April 16 |
99.1 mph |
| April 19 |
100.0 mph |
| April 23 |
100.1 mph |
| April 28 |
101.1 mph |
| May 3 |
100.6 mph |
| May 7 |
100.7 mph |
| May 10 |
100.8 mph |
"I saw him attacking," Red Sox catcher Mikey Gasper said about his time catching Guerrero in Worcester before being called up to Boston. "He's throwing a heavy fastball at 99 and he's attacking the zone with it."
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Guerrero struggled to throw strikes in the past, averaging 5.7 walks per nine innings in 113 major league outings and 5.6 walks per nine innings in 319 minor league outings. This year, he has an improved 2.9 walks per nine innings.
"And then he gets some chase on his slider," Gasper said. "He's landing a slider. He's mixing it up."
He has an elite 36.4% whiff percentage on his slider.
Gasper pointed out how he's throwing both a four-seam fastball and two-seam fastball. He began using a new two-seam fastball since spring training and his WooSox teammates are calling him "Two-Seam Tayron."
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"Maybe get a little bit more miss than he's already getting," Gasper said. "I think his stuff's electric and he's a real big guy that can absolutely throw the noise out of it. Really, really quality arm."
Gonzales breaks into BA's Top 100
Red Sox 19-year-old prospect Justin Gonzales made Baseball America's Top 100 prospect list for the first time this week.
BA ranks the 6-foot-6, 260-pound outfielder/first baseman No. 98.
He's batting .288 with a .391 on-base percentage, .483 slugging percentage, .874 OPS, five home runs, six doubles, one triple and 20 RBIs in 28 games (138 plate appearances) for High-A Greenville.
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"An Oneil Cruz-type tool set," Red Sox utility man Isiah Kiner-Falefa said.
Kahnle 's opt-out
Tommy Kahnle had an upward mobility clause in his contract May 1 , which allowed for another major league club to sign him to its major league roster if the Red Sox didn't match.
The 36-year-old righty exercised his assignment clause, but he remained with the WooSox where he has allowed just three earned runs in 12 ⅓ innings (2.19 ERA) across 11 relief outings. His command has been spotty though with eight walks compared to 11 strikeouts.
The next date to watch is June 1 when he has an opt-out clause in his contract. That allows him to elect free agency.
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His changeup has always been his go-to pitch. Opponents batted .157 against his changeup in 2024 and .217 in 2025.
"His changeup is still fantastic, but he's able to three-pitch mix it right now," Gasper said. "His slider I think plays really well. It's deceptive from how people scout him looking for that changeup — where it starts. A lot of people shut it down before they can pull the trigger on it.
"So I think his slider's really playing up," Gasper added. "And his fastball velo is still there. The other day he was 94, 95, touched a six. So he's really been throwing well. The changeup's always going to be the bread and butter, but if he's mixing two pitches in along with that changeup, then it just gets guys off-balance."
Kahnle has posted a 3.61 ERA in 436 ⅔ big league innings. He recorded a 4.43 ERA in 66 games for Detroit in 2025.
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Bennett 'very mentally strong'
Red Sox prospect Jake Bennett showed elite extension in his two starts with Boston, which optioned him back to Worcester after his start against the Rays last Thursday .
His extension of 7.2 feet ranks in the 96th percentile in the majors.
"His stuff's great. We know that. The extension's there," Gasper said. "But I think really the big separator of Jake Bennett is just how controlled he is between the ears. Very mentally strong. Doesn't let the game speed up on him. Some guys don't like to show a lot of emotion out there and he's a guy that whether you're up 10 or down 10, he's right here — he's level-headed. He's cool, calm, collected. I think that that always plays at this level."
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Elite extension
Bennett, Payton Tolle and Connelly Early all generate above-average extension down the mound. Tolle is in the 98th percentile (7.4) and Early is in the 82nd percentile (6.8).
Three prospects who should be nearing promotions
Franklin Arias : The 20-year-old shortstop entered Tuesday batting .366 with a .444 on-bas percentage, .699 slugging percentage, 1.143 OPS, eight homers, seven doubles and 22 RBIs in 26 games (108 plate appearances) for Double-A Portland.
Yoeilin Cespedes : The 20-year-old is batting .313 with a .366 on-base percentage, .570 slugging percentage, .936 OPS, seven home runs, 12 doubles and 23 RBIs in 30 games (142 plate appearances) for High-A Greenville.
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Henry Godbout : The 22-year-old is batting .277 with a .393 on-base percentage, .521 slugging percentage, .914 OPS, six home runs and five doubles in 24 games (112 plate appearances) for Greenville. The Red Sox selected him in the second round (75th overall) out of Virginia in July 2025.
Campbell 'fighting that battle'
Kristian Campbell has been better of late at Worcester after a slow start. The 23-year-old entered Tuesday batting .268 with a .373 on-base percentage, .366 slugging percentage and .739 OPS in 33 games (150 plate appearances).
"I'd say with KC, it's about getting good pitches to hit," Gasper said. "People know who he is, so they're tentative to get in-zone against him. He's an elite hitter and pitchers have that scouting report that you leave something over the middle, it's going to get smashed. So they're nitpicky. He's fighting that battle of wanting to be aggressive but at the same time not getting a whole lot of pitches over the heart."
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"I think he's just a special athlete, a special hitter that he can hit the ball from line to line," Gasper added. "And once he starts getting aggressive like he has over the last few weeks, you see the numbers just start skyrocketing. And the combination of aggressiveness with pitchers making some mistakes, good things start to happen."
More On Red Sox Prospects
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