The Boston Red Sox most exciting minor league affiliate: The Greenville Drive
The amount of young talent that is overflowing on the Drive's roster is impressive. They are a must watch for all Red Sox fans.
It’s safe to say just about everyone could use a distraction from the struggles of the Red Sox in recent weeks. Look no further than a team down on the farm. The Greenville Drive have quite the starting lineup at the moment. With the recent promotion of Marcelo Mayer and Blaze Jordan, the starting lineup has the most exciting names in the system to keep an eye on.
Marcelo Mayer finally getting the call up just this past week gives this group the biggest jolt, as he comes into August as the number one prospect in the entire Red Sox system. Joining Mayer in the recent promotion, is fellow 19 year old and 18th ranked prospect in the Red Sox system, Blaze Jordan. Jordan, who was ranked in the top ten just a month ago, fell behind a couple high draft picks and a trade acquisition so not much stock should be put into the slip in the rankings.
Lets not forget about the guys who were already in Greenville. Nick Yorke is currently ranked 4th in the organization, Matthew Lugo at 21, Nathan Hickey at 22, Niko Kavadas at 25, and Gilberto Jimenez at 29. Six of the nine spots in the lineup belong to guys who are in the top 30 prospects in the organization. That is a lot of talent and high draft picks that have been looking up to the challenge in High A ball so far.
It doesn’t matter about wins or losses for this Greenville team. It matters about these guys growing closer together and forming into a great group of core prospects to guide through the system together. I always think about just a few years back to that Kansas City Royals team that won a championship together. They had Eric Hosmer, Alex Gordon, Salvador Perez, and Mike Moustakas all reach the majors around the same time.
Those guys were able to progress through the minors together and bond along the way. They certainly weren’t the most powerful team by any means, but those Royals teams all played for each other each and every night that core was together. Lets not forget that they almost had won a second World Series if not for that insane run by the Giants.
It is still too early to tell if all of these guys will end up contributing on the big league club one day, but it’s safe to say that they are off to a good start. In the meantime, tuning into any Greenville Drive game you can is ideal to not have to watch the downfalls of the big league club down the stretch.
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