Which two Red Sox prospects should you keep an eye on next season
Potential stars and possible contributors in the future
Once a month during this offseason, I will be taking two Red Sox prospects and doing breakdowns based on my observations. I select these players based on how they did this past season and how I think they could be breakout candidates in future seasons.
The first player I am breaking down, probably the most exciting of the three, is Miguel Bleis. He was signed in 2021 out of the Dominican Republic by the Red Sox and received the largest bonus pool that year. He is from the town of San Pedro De Macoris, which has produced some great baseball players in Johnny Cueto, Domingo German, Miguel Sano, and the Tatis family.
MLB.com ranks Miguel as the 5th rated prospect, and he’s rated 3rd over at soxprospects.com, and he’s only 18 years old. This past season, he showed up in the FCL slashing .301/.353/.542 with a .896 OPS.
He has a very “large” batting stance with his hands starting high, then moving back to wind up with his hips, then exploding with the rest of his swing. A two-handed, hands-back type is personally my favorite type of swing. With his agility, he can stretch singles to doubles and can steal bases, as he stole 18 this season. I can’t find any videos of his fielding, but from what I am reading he has a plus arm with good range and projects to stay in centerfield where he seems to play good defense. I am incredibly excited for Bleis as Boston needs that big tank in the lineup who’s got all five tools.
The second player I will be talking about is Eddinson Paulino. He signed in 2018 out of Santiago, DR for $205,000 and played for A-Ball Salem this season. Soxprospects.com has him ranked at No. 9 right now. He slashed .266/.359/.469 with a .827 OPS, 35 doubles, 13 home runs, and 66 RBIs. He doesn’t have much power, not like Bleis at least, but he does have line drive pop.
He is definitely a contact guy who keeps his hand back and finishes one-handed. He isn’t the fastest in the system but he can get around. For Salem, he stole 27 bases. I think he needs to keep his strikeouts low and walks high, focus on his contact and fielding, then I think he can be a top platoon maybe even an option at second base.
From the video I have seen, he’s got good footwork on the field but maybe not a long-term option in the infield just based on the depth there already is. He could be one of those guys who turn into an outfielder in a couple of seasons.
Other notes:
The Bruins are back and they are GOOD. Can’t wait to see what they put together this season.
Follow Jaxon on Twitter @JaxonLahner
For additional Red Sox, Bruins, Patriots, MLB and NFL content follow Beyond the Monster on Twitter @BeyondtheMnstr.
Feature image courtesy of Kelly O’Connor