Red Sox promote pitching prospect Austin Ehrlicher to High-A Greenville

The Red Sox have promoted pitching prospect Austin Ehrlicher from Low-A Salem to High-A Greenville, according to the club’s MiLB.com transactions log.

Ehrlicher enjoyed a strong start to his 2025 season in Salem. The 22-year-old right-hander posted a 3.22 ERA (2.96 FIP) with 53 strikeouts to 25 walks over 15 outings (eight starts) spanning 44 2/3 innings in which he held opponents to a .195 batting average. He struck out seven across four scoreless, two-hit frames against Augusta in his last appearance before the All-Star break on July 11.

Among the 87 pitchers who came into play Tuesday having thrown at least 40 innings in the Carolina League this year, Ehrlicher ranked seventh in strikeout rate (28.8 percent), ninth in strikeouts per nine innings (10.68) and FIP, 15th in batting average against (.195), 19th in swinging-strike rate (13.6 percent), 24th in ERA, 27th in WHIP (1.23), and 29th in xFIP (3.56), per FanGraphs.

Ehrlicher was originally selected by the Red Sox in the 18th round (549th overall) of the 2022 draft out of Santa Rosa Junior College. As a draft-and-follow pick, the California native remained in school for another year and then forwent his commitment to transfer to Arizona State by signing with Boston for $200,000 in June 2023. At that time, he was working his way back from an elbow injury, which delayed his professional debut until last April. He appeared in two games out of the bullpen for Salem before ultimately being shut down for the remainder of the 2024 campaign due to shoulder inflammation.

Now healthy, Ehrlicher has been rewarded with a new challenge in the form of a promotion to Greenville. A former two-sport athlete who also played basketball at Santa Rosa, the 6-foot-5, 185-pound hurler throws from a three-quarters arm slot and operates with a three-pitch mix that consists of a 92-94 mph fastball, an 83-86 mph sweeper, and an 89-90 mph changeup, as noted in his SoxProspects.com scouting report.

Ehrlicher, who just turned 22 last month, is not currently ranked among Boston’s top prospects by publications such as SoxProspects.com, which describes him as a “high variance arm with several key traits including standout athleticism, projectability, and feel for spin.” He is slated to join a Greenville pitching staff that already includes fellow righties Blake Aita, Jonathan Brand, Darvin Garcia, John Holobetz, Danny Kirwin, Matt McShane, Adam Smith, and Isaac Stebens.