After two years in rookie ball, Red Sox pitching prospect Luis Cohen has been assigned to Low-A Salem for the start of the 2024 minor-league season.
Cohen originally signed with the Red Sox for just $10,000 as an international free agent coming out of Venezuela in January 2022. The Tucacas native made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League shortly thereafter, pitching to a 2.89 ERA with 42 strikeouts to 14 walks over 13 appearances (12 starts) spanning 46 2/3 innings of work.
Last summer, Cohen made the jump to the Florida Complex League. The 20-year-old right-hander made a strong first impression in his stateside debut by earning July’s FCL Pitcher of the Month honors. Altogether, he posted a 3.46 ERA with 39 strikeouts to 14 walks in 10 outings (seven starts, 39 innings) for Boston’s Fort Myers-based affiliate.
Among the 48 FCL pitchers who eclipsed the 30-inning threshold in 2023, Cohen ranked 24th in strikeouts per nine innings (9.00), 12th in walks per nine innings (3.23), 16th in strikeout rate (25.3 percent), 15th in walk rate (9.1 percent), 11th in batting average against (.206), sixth in WHIP (1.08), eighth in line-drive rate (15.6 percent), 12th in ERA, eighth in FIP (3.85), and 17th in xFIP (4.56), per FanGraphs.
Listed at 6-foot and 172 pounds, Cohen throws from a three-quarters arm slot and has a high leg kick. As noted in his SoxProspects.com scouting report, the righty operates with a four-pitch mix that consists of a 91-93 mph fastball that tops out at 94 mph, a 74-78 mph curveball that has depth, an 80-82 mph slider that has a horizontal break, and an 80-82 mph changeup that shows late fade.
According to that same scouting report, Cohen “has several traits teams look for in young pitchers and has gained velocity and improved each year.” He could also “see his velocity tick up even more and break out in 2024 if he shows consistency with his command and secondary pitches.”
Cohen, who turns 21 late next month, is currently regarded by SoxProspects.com as the No. 38 prospect in Boston’s farm system. That now ranks 16th among pitchers in the organization after the site updated its top 60 list on Thursday.
A projected starter, Cohen is not the lone member of Boston’s 2022 international signing class to make Salem’s Opening Day roster. He is joined by the likes of Denis Reguillo, Johanfran Garcia, Marvin Alcantara, and Natanael Yuten. The Red Sox open their season at home against the Carolina Mudcats on Friday night.
With that being said, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reported on Monday that from Double-A down, Red Sox minor-league affiliates will employ six-man rotations with multi-inning relievers behind them this season. In Cohen’s case, Salem has virtually every Monday off this year, so he would be in line to make one start per week and then spend time between his outings conducting “goal-oriented side work” for the sake of his own development.
It is an interesting strategy that stems from the Red Sox overhauling their pitching infrastructure under chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and director of pitching Justin Willard, but it is one that could benefit younger arms such as Cohen in the long run.
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