2023 Red Sox 40-Man Roster Rundown: Part I (Rafael Devers, Triston Casas, Brayan Bello and more!)
A closer look at the strengths of each member of the Red Sox 40-man roster, and what they need to work on.
The 2023 Boston Red Sox season is near!
Today I’m starting to look at all members of the Red Sox 40-man roster, and examine where each player does well and where they can improve.
First, a couple notes: Trevor Story is currently the only player on the 60-day IL for the Red Sox. Even though he’s doing everything in his power to get back on the field at some point in 2023, I’ll leave him off this rundown.
Additionally, there seems to be a good chance one or both of Jorge Alfaro and Raimel Tapia have played themselves onto the roster. They aren’t on the 40-man for now, so I won’t include them either.
This will be in alphabetical order. We’ll cover 10 players in each of these posts.
Wilyer Abreu
What He Does Well: Abreu is an incredibly patient hitter, as covered by Ryan Medeiros on Beyond the Monster earlier this month. He was third in the entire minors in BB% for hitters with a minimum of 490 ABs at 19.7%, as Ryan notes. Abreu also has the glove to potentially be a plus OF defender and he showed pop in spring games.
What He Needs to Work On: Unfortunately, Abreu must first work his way back from what looked like a serious hamstring injury in a spring training game. Once he does that, he’ll need to focus on lowering his strikeouts (he had a high 26.4% K rate in 2022) and making more contact in the minors.
Christian Arroyo
What He Does Well: With the injury to Story, Arroyo is penciled in for a starting MLB role for the first time in his career in 2023. Since arriving in Boston in 2020, Arroyo has shown flashes of brilliance, defensive versatility, an ability to make contact, and a knack for clutch hits. He has the tools to be an everyday player, and how he’s getting the chance.
What He Needs to Work On: The constant knock on Arroyo has been health. His high watermark for MLB games played was 87 in 2022. He needs to show he can stay on the field before he can really be taken seriously as an everyday player. Arroyo may also be stretched defensively in an everyday 2B role, especially with new rules on shifting.
Brayan Bello
What He Does Well: How Bello looked in September 2022 should be reason enough to be excited about his future. He has the chance to be the franchise’s best homegrown starter since Jon Lester. With an electric pitch mix and true on-mound swagger, if he can reach his promise then Boston will have an appointment-viewing starter to light up Fenway.
What He Needs to Work On: The Sox correctly are moving Bello along slowly this spring after he experienced forearm soreness at the start of camp. Once he gets fully ramped up, Bello’s control and consistency need to be worked on, like all young pitchers. I’d also like to see Bello work on controlling his emotions better on the mound when things aren’t going well, which was an issue at times last year.
Richard Bleier
What He Does Well: The Sox bullpen walked way too many guys in 2022, and they needed a lefty after Josh Taylor was dealt. Bleier, a veteran with tons of AL East experience, was acquired to address both issues. Bleier doesn’t throw hard but his tiny 4.5% BB rate from 2022 will be a welcome addition.
What He Needs to Work On: Bleier’s sinker was his most effective pitch in 2021, resulting in a -12 run value according to Baseball Savant. The pitch regressed in 2022 and swung to +3. Improving the sinker may help him bring his K% up (he was in the bottom 4% of MLB pitchers in that area in 2022) and thus lessen the amount of contact he’s giving up.
Ryan Brasier
What He Does Well: There is a wide subset of the Red Sox fan base that won’t be excited about anything Brasier does. But, after getting rocked several times, Brasier made adjustments in his final 13 relief appearances of 2022, striking out 12 while walking one and giving up just one homer in 12 IP.
What He Needs to Work On: The flipside of Brasier having one good month in 2022 means he had five fairly lousy months before, and he could very easily revert back to being that guy. He was in the bottom 5% of pitchers in average exit velocity and hard hit percentage per Savant, so keeping his September mojo going is critical.
Triston Casas
What He Does Well: Casas is a character, that’s for sure. He also happens to be a top 1B prospect in all MLB, crushes the ball, has an advanced approach at the plate, plays solid defense, and has tons of confidence. Alex Cora trusts him enough to consider him as a leadoff possibility already, and that says a lot about him.
What He Needs to Work On: Health has been an issue for Casas and he missed a lot of development time in 2022 due to an ankle injury. His big body might make him more susceptible to breaking down, but he came into spring training in great shape. Casas also must get better at hitting lefties more consistently to reach his potential.
Yu Chang
What He Does Well: Is Chang the Taiwanese Babe Ruth? Or was Babe Ruth the American Yu Chang? Chang is coming off an incredible performance for his home country in the World Baseball Classic. Is that going to continue against MLB pitching? We’ll see. But Chang hits the ball hard and can play all four infield positions, and he’ll have value for those reasons.
What He Needs to Work On: Chang may not be long for the roster depending on how long Adalberto Mondesi’s knee rehab takes. He’s a utility guy, and is good but not great defensively at any position. He doesn’t have any minor league options left, so he’ll need to play at a very high level to justify keeping his roster spot.
Kutter Crawford
What He Does Well: Crawford recovered from a shoulder injury that cut his 2022 season short and has looked strong in spring training. This has been a critical development for the Red Sox with other potential starters slowed to date. His fastball spins really well and the curve is a good out pitch. We saw him pitch well enough in stretches in 2022 to think he can be a productive MLB pitcher.
What He Needs to Work On: When Crawford struggled last season, his command floundered and got hit hard. It’s unclear how long he might stay in the starting rotation, but his stuff is good enough to maintain a spot on the active roster as long as he focuses on what works (the fastball, curveball and an emerging cutter) and ditches what doesn’t.
Bobby Dalbec
What He Does Well: Dalbec came into 2023 spring training motivated to put a lousy 2022 behind him. He always plays well in spring training, and that’s no different this time. The Sox are utilizing his athleticism and versatility, giving him starts even at SS. Dalbec’s power remains undeniable, finishing in the top 6% of MLB hitters in exit velocity in 2022 per Savant.
What He Needs to Work On: Hitting the ball hard is one thing, but getting opportunities to hit it hard is another. Dalbec lost his starting 1B job because there’s simply way too much swing-and-miss in his game. Dalbec has likely run out of chances to be on the 26-man roster absent injuries. If he’s in Worcester he’ll need to cut down on Ks, but he may be in another organization by the time the season starts anyway.
Rafael Devers
What He Does Well: The Red Sox gave Devers the biggest contract in team history in the offseason. It’s his team, and they’re building around him. We don’t have to hear about the contract situation anymore, and that’s reason enough to be excited. But he also hits for power, gets on base, committed to improved 3B defense in 2022—and he’s still only 26.
What He Needs to Work On: Devers played through a nagging hamstring injury for most of the second half of 2022 and his play suffered across the board. Despite his defense improving in 2022 it’s something he will need to continue to work at to succeed this year and in the future. He came into 2023 in great shape and if he maintains his health, he’s easily an AL MVP candidate.
Ten more players next time!
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Outstanding write up.