Red Sox minor league affiliates Double-A Portland, High-A Greenville and Low-A Salem all open their regular seasons Thursday. Below are rosters for each team and the top players to watch.
SALEM RED SOX ROSTER (LOW A)
Salem’s outfield will feature two top prospects in Miguel Bleis and Roman Anthony.
Baseball America ranks Bleis No. 88 on its Top 100 list. The 19-year-old right-handed hitter batted .301 (46-for-153) with a .353 on-base percentage, .542 slugging percentage, .895 OPS, five homers, 14 doubles, four triples, 28 runs, 27 RBIs, 10 walks and 45 strikeouts in 40 games in the Florida Complex League in 2022.
The Red Sox drafted Anthony, an 18-year-old left-handed hitter, 79th overall in 2022. Baseball America ranks him the No. 9 overall prospect in the system.
Mikey Romero, a shortstop/second baseman who Boston drafted 24th overall last July, will begin the season on the IL with low back stiffness that slowed him down during spring training. It kept him from ramping up as quickly as his teammates. Baseball America ranks the 19-year-old left-handed hitting shortstop/second baseman Boston’s No. 6 prospect.
Cutter Coffey, an 18-year-old shortstop/third baseman/second baseman, also will begin 2023 at Salem. The Red Sox selected him 41st overall in the 2022 Draft.
Keep an eye on 19-year-old righty Luis Perales, Boston’s No. 17 prospect. He posted a 1.77 ERA in 13 outings (11 starts) between the Florida Complex League and Salem last year. He reached 98 mph with his fastball.
Pitchers: RHP Brock Bell, RHP Caleb Bolden, RHP Felix Cepeda, RHP Luis De La Rosa, LHP Noah Dean, RHP Jhonny Felix, RHP Gabriel Jackson, RHP Marques Johnson, LHP Nathan Landry, RHP Jedixson Paez, RHP Luis Perales, RHP Railin Perez, RHP Jose Ramirez, RHP Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz, LHP Dalton Rogers, RHP Luis Talavera, RHP Michael Valera.
Catchers: Daniel McElveny, Yorberto Mejicano, Ronald Rosario (C/1B)
Infielders: Cutter Coffey, Lyonell James, Ahbram Liendo, Luis Ravelo, Karson Simas
Outfielders: Roman Anthony, Miguel Bleis, Allan Castro, Juan Chacon, Albert Feliz (OF/1B)
Development list: Juan Montero
IL: Hayden Mullins, Matt Litwicki, Sena Reidis, Mikey Romero
GREENVILLE DRIVE ROSTER (High A)
Baseball America ranks Marcelo Mayer, the fourth overall pick in the 2021 draft, No. 12 overall on its Top 100 list. Mayer is ranked Boston’s No. 1 prospect by BA. He finished last season at Greenville. Overall in 2022, he slashed .280/.399/.489/.888 with 13 homers, 30 doubles, two triples and 17 steals in 91 games between Salem and Greenville.
Blaze Jordan, Boston’s third-rounder in 2020, will join Mayer in Greenville. Baseball America ranks the corner infielder Boston’s No. 14 prospect. The 20-year-old right-handed slugger also finished last season with the Drive. He had 45 extra-base hits (12 homers, 30 doubles, three triples) in 120 games for Salem and Greenville.
Outfielder Eddinson Paulino plays all over the field (shortstop, second base, third base, center field). Baseball America ranks him Boston’s No. 11 prospect but he could make a significant jump this year. He gained weight and strength in the offseason after his 58 extra-base hits ranked second among Red Sox minor leaguers in 2022. Paulino, a 20-year-old left-handed hitter, played all his 114 games at Salem last year.
Last year could be called a breakout year for Paulino. But he has the chance to break out as a Baseball America Top 100 list prospect this season.
Chase Meidroth is another player to watch on this Greenville roster. Boston selected the 21-year-old second baseman in the fourth round out of San Diego in 2022. He slashed .309/.424/.559/.983 with four homers and five doubles in 19 games at Salem.
Grant Gambrell, who Boston acquired in the Andrew Benintendi trade, is healthy again after missing 2022 with an ankle injury.
Pitchers: RHP Angel Bastardo, RHP Maceo Campbell, RHP Casey Cobb, RHP Isaac Coffey, RHP Jordan DiValerio, RHP Juan Daniel Encarnacion, RHP Grant Gambrell, RHP Jaret Godman, RHP Wikelman Gonzalez, RHP Graham Hoffman, RHP Alex Hoppe, RHP Joe Jones, RHP Robert Kwiatkowski, RHP Aaron Perry, RHP Joey Stock, RHP Nate Tellier, RHP Christopher Troye
Catchers: Alex Erro, Nathan Hickey,
Infielders: Max Ferguson (IF/OF), Blaze Jordan, Marcelo Mayer, Chase Meidroth
Outfielders: Nick Decker, Bryan Gonzalez, Gilberto Jimenez, Eduardo Lopez, Kier Meredith, Eddinson Paulino (OF/IF, Miguel Ugueto
Development list: Diaz, Jonathan Diaz, Hunter Dobbins,
IL: Bradley Blalock, Jorge Rodriguez, Jeremy Wu-Yelland, Tyler Uberstine, Tyler Miller, Tyler Esplin
PORTLAND SEA DOGS ROSTER (Double A)
The Sea Dogs’ headliner is Ceddanne Rafaela, a five-tool talent who led the minor league system with 63 extra-base hits in 2022. The 22-year-old right-handed hitter is a plus defender at both shortstop and center field. He’s ranked No. 77 on Baseball America’s Top 100 list. it wouldn’t be a surprise if he make a quick jump to Triple-A Worcester.
Portland’s roster includes two players who could make a major jump in 2022. Lefty Shane Drohan, a 2020 fifth-round draft pick out of Florida State, saw his changeup become his best secondary pitch last year. He then added a cutter in the offseason. His velo was up to 95 mph in spring training. He was mostly at 93-94 mph with his four-seam fastball.
Phillip Sikes is the other breakout candidate. The Red Sox really like the 23-year-old outfielder, an 18th rounder in 2021.
Niko Kavadas will begin 2023 at Portland after winning the 2022 Red Sox minor league offensive player of the year award. He finished last season at Portland after beginning it at Salem. The 24-year-old had 26 homers, 25 doubles and one triple in 120 minor league games last year. He also was one of only five minor leaguers in all of affiliated ball in 2022 to finish with 100 or more walks. He walked 102 times.
Matthew Lugo and Nick Yorke are two infielders to watch.
Yorke was Boston’s first-round selection in 2020 and won Red Sox 2021 minor league offensive player of the year. The 20-year-old right-handed hitter had a down season in 2022 in part because of three different injuries. He entered 2022 ranked No. 31 on Baseball America’s Top 100 list. But he finished the season unranked after slashing .231/.303/.365/.668 in 80 games at Greenville.
Look for him to bounce back in 2023.
Lugo, a 21-year-old infielder who Boston selected in the second round in 2021, enjoyed a breakout season in 2022, belting 54 extra-base hits (18 homers, 26 doubles, 10 triples) with 20 stolen bases in 114 games for High-A Greenville and three games with Double-A Portland.
Pitchers: LHP Skylar Arias, LHP Brendan Cellucci, RHP Theo Denlinger, LHP Shane Drohan, LHP Rio Gomez, RHP Luis Guerrero, RHP Chih-Jung Liu, RHP Ryan Miller, LHP Brendan Nail, RHP Wyatt Olds, RHP Cody Scroggins, RHP Sterling Sharp, RHP Dylan Spacke, RHP Brian Van Belle, RHP Jacob Webb
Catchers: Elih Marrero, Stephen Scott
Infielders: Alex Binelas, Edwin Diaz, Niko Kavadas, Christian Koss, Matthew Lugo, Nick Yorke
Outfielders: Tyler Dearden, Tyler McDonough (IF/OF), Ceddanne Rafaela (IF/OF), Corey Rosier, Phillip Sikes,
Development list: Matthew Donlan,
IL: Ryan Fernandez, Dominic LoBrutto, Yusniel Padron-Artiles, Zach Bryant, Michael Gettys, Ryan Zeferjahn