Shane Drohan a candidate to be added to the 40-man roster this winter
Red Sox pitching prospect Shane Drohan will be an interesting name to watch this winter as to whether the club will add him to the 40-man roster.
Drohan is eligible for the Rule-5 draft and based off the need for young starting pitching within the organization, he makes sense to be added to the 40-man roster.
The 24-year-old dazzled for the Sea Dogs this season posting a 1.32 ERA with 36 strikeouts, nine walks over his first six starts. Boston named Drohan the organization’s starting pitcher of the month for April.
His performance earned him a promotion to Triple-A Worcester where he did not see the same success as he had with Double-A Portland. Drohan made 19 starts (21 games) going 5-7 with a 6.47 ERA with a 1.87 WHIP over 89 innings.
Despite his elevated ERA, Drohan flashed on the mound at times for the WooSox. One of his better starts for Worcester came at the end of May when he surrendered just one hit and no runs over six frames with three strikeouts against the Louisville Bats.
“I think this year for Dro was a really good development year in a to of different ways,” said Red Sox Scout Dante Riccardi to Beyond the Monster.
Riccardi is very familiar with the Drohan, he was the left-hander’s signing scout in Florida.
“I think he got to learn what it was like to have success, I think he learned what it was like to have to work to maintain success. I think he also learned what it was like to have success at a high level. He had a couple of games where he punched out more guys than innings pitched,” added Riccardi.
Drohan’s promotion initially caught him off guard, but he continued to focus on being the pitcher he was at the Double-A level with the WooSox.
“It’s so early in the year, it did catch me off guard a little bit when the pitching coach [Shawn] came over and said ‘hey the you get dressed, come into Eppey’s office [Chad Epperson]. It’s usually one where you kind of have to feel it out,” said Drohan.
A calf injury caused the southpaw to miss some time during the summer. The injury caused him to miss the MLB Futures Game in Seattle.
Fatigue seemed to be an issue at times during Drohan’s starts this season. The lefty still possessed strong command of his fastball while working on attacking the strike zone, which is something WooSox skipper preached all season long not only to Drohan but to all of his young hurlers.
Drohan sits between 92-94 mph and tops out at 96 mph with his fastball. In addition to his heater, the lefty offers a cutter, changeup and curveball.
Boston selected Drohan in the fifth round during the 2020 MLB Draft. This past offseason, Drohan added 14 pounds to his frame by lifting and eating more during the day. He entered camp at 190 pounds and his development helped him elevate within the Sox system this year.
“When you kind of look at Dro’s history, he always does better when he tastes the level and gets to do it again. I don’t know if he just figures it out, something clicks, but he just does really well.
“He got to Double-A last year and he was really good there. Then he got there this year and he really just blew the doors down. I think he got to Triple-A, I think he navigated very well for a guy that had to face big league hitters. He developed really quick and I think he learned a lot from those guys that at Worcester. It was a benefit for him to be there,” said Riccardi.
The Red Sox will have decisions to make with their 40-man roster ahead of the deadline to set their roster in November.
Drohan seems like a sure lock as the Red Sox continue to develop him into a starter and he could be a candidate to help the 2024 club similar to fellow left-handers Chris Murphy and Brandon Walter.
Boston has numerous left-handers within the system, Walter, Murphy, Drohan are three pitchers who candidates for Cora’s bullpen next season. Brennan Bernardino who had an impressive first campaign with the Red Sox is likely a lock for next season and Joe Jacques will get an opportunity to win a job this coming spring.
“Once he gets back to spring training and he’s around those guys and he’s in that group again, I think you're going to see this kid take off,” said Riccardi.
Drohan likely projects as a potential back-end starter at the big league level with the potential ceiling of a mid-rotation starter, per SoxProspects.
Follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisHenrique
For additional Red Sox, Bruins, Patriots, MLB and NFL content follow Beyond the Monster on Twitter @BeyondtheMnstr.
