BOSTON — The Red Sox will play their 81st game this Wednesday, marking their midway point of the regular season.
In the Minor League branches they have also reached approximately their halfway points.
The Boston organization’s minor league system hasn’t drawn this kind of attention in more than a decade, when figures like Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Andrew Benintendi and Jackie Bradley Jr. were paving their way as bright prospects for an eventual team that won the World Series.
There are also others who have shined this season, and here we present a review of individual performances in the system in the first half.
Best overall player
It’s not always the case that the best player in the Minor Leagues is the one who performed the best, but that has been the case over the last three months with Mayer.
The shortstop has been able to avoid the wave of injuries that robbed him of good time in the last two seasons and is putting his abilities on display daily.
Mayer has played 63 of 69 games with Portland, posting an offensive line of .309/.373/.482 with 50 runs scored, 25 doubles, six home runs, 34 RBIs and 12 steals (in 14 attempts). Lately, Mayer — the fourth pick in the 2021 MLB Draft — has been on fire, hitting .349 in the month of June.
At the same time, the 21-year-old shortstop has played impressive defense, showing off his excellent range and strong arm.
Considering that Portland is not the best environment to hit, especially with the cold of the first months, Mayer’s campaign generates optimism. His numbers could increase considerably when he moves up to Triple-A Worcester, as evidenced by his .890 OPS on the road vs. .826 at home.
For Mayer to make the difference the Red Sox anticipate at the major league level, the youngster will have to improve against left-handed pitching. In 55 at-bats against lefties this season, Mayer has hit .218/.290/.309. On the other hand, he has punished righties with a .335/.396/.531 offensive line.
Richard Fitts, the No. 10 prospect, has the potential to turn Alex Verdugo’s trade to the Yankees into a high-impact one for the Patirrojos.
In 13 appearances (12 starts) with Worcester, the right-hander is 5-2 with a 3.86 ERA. Fitts has pitched 60.2 innings, walking 24 and striking out 59. Fitts had his finest hour on May 29, when he pitched seven perfect innings.
Which prospect has made the biggest jump in Boston’s system so far this season? This is prospect No. 30 Kristian Campbell, who will rise several places in the next MLB Pipeline rankings.
In 40 games and 147 at-bats before joining Portland, Campbell hit .306/.418/.558 with eight homers and 25 RBIs. At this point, Double-A pitchers have also not been able to figure out the right-handed hitter, who has an excellent offensive line of .431/.526/.692 with three homers in his first 65 at-bats at that level.
Dominican Miguel Bleis, the club’s No. 4 prospect, is the prospect with the brightest tools in the Red Sox organization and is using them to get solid production after a slow start to the season. Bleis hit 10 doubles and four home runs and stole 16 bases with Salem before joining Greenville on June 11. On the field, he has above-average reach to complement his tremendous arm.
