Red Sox Prospects: MLB’s Top 30 and Intriguing Players

Every year, MLB.com releases their top 100 prospects in all of baseball. This occurs around late-January, which is the perfect time right before pitchers and catchers report, and the spring training part of the season begins. This past Monday, MLB also started releasing the top 30 prospects by team. The Red Sox list was released on Monday, alongside all AL and NL East teams. Here are the top 30 for Boston (with MLB Top 100 rank if applicable).

Red Sox Prospects: MLB’s Top 30 and Intriguing Players

Top 30 Prospects 

1. 1. Payton Tolle (MLB Rank: #19)
   2. Franklin Arias (MLB Rank: #31) 
   3. Connelly Early (MLB Rank: 56) 
   4. Kyson Witherspoon (MLB Rank: 84) 
   5. Juan Valera
   6. Justin Gonzales 
   7. Jake Bennett
   8. Dorian Soto
   9. Marcus Phillips
   10. Anthony Eyanson
   11. Henry Godbout 
   12. Enddy Azocar
   13. Mikey Romero
   14. John Holobetz 
   15. Tyler Uberstine 
   16. Hayden Mullins
   17. Miguel Bleis
   18. Yoeilin Cespedes
   19. Sadbiel Delzine
   20. Harold RIvas
   21. Gage Ziehl 
   22. Nelly Taylor
   23. Hector Ramos
   24. Dawvris Brito
   25. Allan Castro
   26. Eduardo Rivera
   27. Gerardo Rodriguez
   28. Johanfran Garcia
   29. Yordanny Monegro 
   30. Conrad Cason

It’s an interesting group of prospects altogether, including some with slight major league experience. Here are seven names to keep an eye out for, whether it’s because they have a good chance of coming up this year, or because they’re an intriguing prospect. 

Dorian Soto, SS

Dorian Soto is a switch hitting infielder whose start to his professional career has been likened to the start of Xander Bogaerts’s career. Soto has a very good bat in terms of contact, batting .302 in his first year of rookie ball. He also walked 16 times and had an OBP of .366. His issues come with his fielding. He’s played at other areas of the infield, but his primary position has been shortstop. But at shortstop this past season, he had seven errors out of 117 chances, putting his fielding percentage at .940. He’s 18, and just starting professional ball, but it’s something to watch out for when developing him. 

Anthony Eyanson, RHP 

Anthony Eyanson broke onto the scene last college season, finishing third in all of D-1 with 152 strikeouts. The projected first round pick slipped to the third unexpectedly, and the Red Sox jumped at the chance to draft him. And with that 12.7 SO/9, it’s very easy to see why. His slider clocks in around 85 MPH and is a real swing and miss pitch. But sometimes he gets too carried away and tries to paint corners a little too often to get batters to miss. Of the four up and coming pitchers in Witherspoon, Valera, Phillips, and Eyanson, Eyanson is said to have the most potential. Time will only tell. 

Hayden Mullins, LHP

Hayden Mullins is a lefty in Portland currently, and he looks like one of the more promising lefties in the system. In Portland last year he went 7-2 with an ERA of 2.44. He had a 2-1 K-BB ratio as well. His slider and changeup are decent pitches, but he’s also working on a cutter in the low 80’s. He’s good at tricking batters, but his control is a little inconsistent. If he can harness that, he’ll be a good major leaguer in a couple years. 

Gerardo Rodriguez, C

Gerardo Rodriguez has a good eye at the plate, and that’s probably his best trait. In 228 at bats across rookie ball and Single-A, he only struck out 36 times. Despite a low strikeout rate, he does chase pitches. He’s got a bit of a smaller frame, at five foot ten, 177 pounds. But the catcher has decent speed as of now. Defensively, he can block and frame well. His arm strength is spectacular too, throwing out roughly 35% of batters in his career. 

Yoeilin Cespedes, 2B 

Yoeilin Cespedes signed as an international free agent in 2023. He is still only 19 years old, and scouts are already calling him one of the best pure hitters in the system. Despite him struggling in Salem this season, he has garnered comparisons to a former NLCS MVP in Howie Kendrick. This is mainly due to his bat and similar build to Kendrick. The comparison should really build the hype around him, but there needs to be more development at the upper levels. He started out hot, but his batting average dipped to .227 in Salem. In addition, his glove needs a lot of work. 15 errors at second base this season is pretty much all that needs to be said. 

John Holobetz, RHP

Sent to Boston as the player to be named later from the Quinn Priester trade, John Holobetz stood out in Portland this past season. In six appearances, he held a 2.39 ERA while only walking 5 out of 138 batters. This season in general, he only allowed 20 of 499 batters, equaling a walk rate of about 4%. His arm extension made hitters struggle against his fastball, with only a .514 OPS against that pitch.

Dawvris Brito, SS

Brito’s the newest prospect on this list, being signed to the organization in January. His best  skillset is his bat. Scouts are unsure whether he should be a hit for average or a hit for power guy, that prospect’s in a good spot.  At 18, this debate could go either way, and there’s the argument that choosing one over the other could fall flat. But for now, he possesses a good bat. The one issue with him is his arm. It’s just average strength for a guy playing shortstop, and there could be talks of moving him to second or even the outfield. But Brito could be an intriguing name to follow just off of potential alone. 

Now just like any player, there’s always a chance that these prospects flame out before getting to the majors. There’s also a chance that some of these players are traded in a deal that helps the Red Sox. But this looks like a good farm system on paper, and hopefully these players (and all of the prospects) can grow and get a chance over the next few years or so.