Boston Red Sox

TRACK RECORD: Seabold came to the Red Sox from the Phillies as a pitcher with a solid three-pitch mix. After Seabold finished 2018 in Double-A, an oblique injury at the start of 2019 limited him to 56.1 innings and prevented him from advancing. Nonetheless, he looked like a potential big league starter at Reading and then in the Arizona Fall League, where he recorded a 1.06 ERA with 22 strikeouts and three walks in 17 innings. That led Boston to target him in an August 2020 trade as part of the return for relievers Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree.

SCOUTING REPORT: Seabold's three-pitch mix includes a 90-93 mph fastball that sometimes ticks up slightly higher, an excellent changeup with sink and fade and a below-average slider that plays up because of command and deception. Toward the end of his month at the alternate training site, Seabold started to incorporate a fringy curveball. Though Seabold's stuff lacks a wow factor, his feel for pitching, sequencing, strike-throwing and competitiveness gives him a strong chance to emerge as a back-end starter.

THE FUTURE: Seabold will likely open 2021 in Triple-A. He has a chance to serve as a big league depth starter during the year.

TRACK RECORD: Song came to the Red Sox with a first-round college pedigree and arsenal but uncertainty given his service obligation as a Naval Academy graduate. The Red Sox hoped that Song might be able to fulfill his service obligation while also pitching in pro ball, a notion that seemed to gain steam when he was allowed to pitch for Team USA at the 2019 Premier12 tournament. His request to pursue a dual track languished for more than a year after he graduated, and he reported to flight school last summer.

SCOUTING REPORT: Song arrived in Annapolis with a mid-80s fastball, but gained considerable strength that translated into easy mid-90s velocity with a putaway slider from a repeatable delivery as a senior. He seldom used his curveball or changeup in college, but both pitches impressed in short-season Lowell and the Premier12 in 2019.

THE FUTURE: Song can petition for a military service waiver in May 2021 -- two years after he graduated -- but no one knows when, or if, such a request might be granted. If he's given permission to return to baseball, it's hard to forecast what kind of pitcher he'll be after at least a year and a half away from competition.

TRACK RECORD: Signed for $225,000 in the same 2014 international class that produced righthander Diego Castillo, Hernandez was an infielder the Rays immediately converted to catcher. His bat has always outpaced his glove, but he mainly focused on his defense in 2020. He spent much of the year traveling with the Rays as a taxi squad member, catching bullpens and side sessions.

SCOUTING REPORT: Hernandez's stints on the taxi squad gave him experience catching premium stuff, but fewer opportunities to work on his hitting. Hernandez has the plus power to hit 20-25 home runs, but he has to do a better job selecting which pitches to hit. He makes frequent contact with his solid hand-eye coordination but often swings at pitches that are tough to drive. Hernandez's approach is very pull-heavy. Every home run of his pro career has been hit to left or left-center field. Hernandez has a plus arm behind the plate and moves well for a big catcher, but his receiving is fringe-average and needs to continue to improve.

THE FUTURE: The Rays added Hernandez to the 40-man roster after the 2019 season knowing he still needed time to develop. He is likely to open the 2021 season in Double-A.

TRACK RECORD: Whitlock's draft-eligible sophomore season at Alabama-Birmingham in 2017 was thrown off by food poisoning and a back strain. His strong turn in the Cape Cod League in 2016 was enough to convince the Yankees to sign him as an 18th-rounder for nearly $250,000, a total that counted against the Yankees' bonus pool He had Tommy John surgery in the middle of the 2019 season but was recovered by December 2020, when the Red Sox selected him in the major league Rule 5 draft.

SCOUTING REPORT: Whitlock's main weapons are a low-to-mid-90s fastball and a hard-darting slider. His lower arm slot gives his fastball excellent sinking life and has made him a reliable groundball pitcher. Whitlock also throws a changeup in the low-to-mid 80s, but the pitch lags behind his fastball and slider. The 2019 season was Whitlock's first long look at Double-A, but his injury limited him to 70.1 innings.

THE FUTURE: Boston's pitching was not good in 2020 and was exacerbated by losses of Chris Sale to Tommy John surgery and Eduardo Rodriguez to Covid-19. Whitlock has a chance to stick in either the rotation or bullpen, giving him a chance to stick on the major league roster as a Rule 5 pick.

TRACK RECORD: In college, Murphy displayed a swing-and-miss fastball as the anchor of a mix that as a junior produced 12.2 strikeouts per nine innings, which ranked 23rd in Division I, but control issues pushed him to the sixth round. The walks, however, were partly a product of an effort to force chases out of the zone in two-strike counts. In Murphy's pro debut in short-season Lowell in 2019, he excelled with a more aggressive approach and he continued to impress at instructional league in 2020.

SCOUTING REPORT: Despite some effort in his delivery, Murphy still has harnessed his mechanics in pro ball in a fashion that has allowed him to work in the zone with a four-pitch mix. His fastball -- which averaged 93 mph and topped at 95 in instructional league -- has deception and life at the top of the zone, and his changeup is a plus pitch that plays off of it. Murphy complements those two pitches with both a below-average slider and curveball that have been sufficient to keep both lefties and righties honest. In pro ball, he's proven capable of applying data to identify where his stuff is most effective.

THE FUTURE: So long as he throws enough strikes, Murphy's four-pitch mix gives him a chance to move relatively quickly through the system as a potential No. 5 starter.

TRACK RECORD: The nephew of Carlos Beltran, Lugo emerged as an earlyround draftee in 2019 thanks to potential plus power along with the athleticism to stay on the middle infield. Drafted in the second round, he got off to a sizzling start in his pro debut in 2019 before fading down the stretch. Minor wrist soreness prevented him from playing games at instructional league in 2020

SCOUTING REPORT: Scout Edgar Perez saw a number of traits in Lugo that led the Red Sox to sign him for $1.1 million. Among those traits were athleticism, projectability, strength to create above-average power potential, maturity and baseball acumen to create confidence in his ability to advance through the minors. Lugo is described as strikingly mature in his routines and work, including strength work that led one evaluator to describe him as, pound for pound, the strongest prospect in the system. While many expected him to move to second base in pro ball, he has made significant strides at shortstop and many with the Red Sox now believe he can stick at the position.

THE FUTURE: Lugo should start 2021 in full-season ball, with the potential to emerge eventually as a bat-first middle infielder.

TRACK RECORD: Wong started college as a shortstop but broadened his resume as a sophomore, when he spent time behind the plate for Houston and moved around the infield and outfield. His versatility, power, and athleticism—he had 12 homers and 26 steals as a junior—led the Dodgers to draft him in the third round in 2017. His defensive versatility and power potential made him attractive to the Red Sox, who acquired him as the third player in the deal that sent Mookie Betts and David Price to the Dodgers.

SCOUTING REPORT: Wong is deceivingly wiry, a physically unimposing presence who nonetheless has the athleticism and strength to make an impact in a number of areas. He typically sells out on his swing, resulting in a pull-heavy approach that emphasizes launch but renders him vulnerable to offspeed pitches and has yielded a strikeout rate of nearly 31%. Still, his hard contact has translated to both power and high batting averages on balls in play over three minor league seasons. Wong is still developing his technical skills behind the plate, but he's considered a solid receiver with the intelligence and body control to handle the position and the athleticism to play other infield spots.

THE FUTURE: Wong's swing-and-miss issues likely cap his ceiling as a reserve, but his versatility could make him more valuable than the typical backup catcher. He'll likely open 2021 in Triple-A as a depth option.

TRACK RECORD: Jordan's power as an amateur bordered on legendary after videos of him blasting 500- foot homers started circulating when he was 13. Yet questions about his all-around game and the consensus view of his likely future at first base left him on the board until the third round of the 2020 draft, when the Red Sox signed him away from a Mississippi State commitment with a $1.75 million bonus.

SCOUTING REPORT: Jordan generates his tremendous power with size and a well-synced kinetic chain that seems to transfer every drop of his frame into contact. One evaluator noted some similarities with Matt Holliday. He's a show-stopper in batting practice and has shown in games that his power can play against both velocity and breaking pitches. As might be expected of a high school draftee, his approach is immature and he's prone to chase pitches. Jordan is somewhat stiff at third base, and the general expectation is that he'll end up at first base. The Red Sox felt that he responded well to coaching at third during instructional league.

THE FUTURE: Jordan will be 18 for the entire 2021 season because he reclassified to become draft eligible a year earlier than his peers. He has always looked comfortable against older competition, creating the likelihood that he'll open at a full-season affiliate. Whether he defies doubts and sticks at third or moves to first, he has a chance to emerge as a middle-of-the-order bat if his pitch and strike-zone recognition develop.

TRACK RECORD: Bonaci's balanced skill set impressed the Red Sox when they signed him for $290,000 as a 16-year-old, and his early performance as a professional has added to the sense of his potential. He hit .279/.356/.397 in the Dominican Summer League in 2019, and he continued to hold his own against older competition at instructional league in 2020.

SCOUTING REPORT: The switch-hitting Bonaci has gotten stronger by adding about 35 pounds since signing, strength that generates steady, hard contact with some power. That power is amplified by his advanced approach, strike-zone management from both sides of the plate and good bat-to-ball skills. He shows the hands, range, and above-average arm to stick at shortstop, with speed to have further impact on the bases.

THE FUTURE: Bonaci is advanced for his age, with a chance to move quickly through the lower levels. His well-rounded game gives him an unusually solid floor for a player who's never played full-season ball, with a chance to emerge as an average to above-average everyday shortstop.

TRACK RECORD: Bello built on a dominant pro debut in the Dominican Summer League in 2018 with a strong spring in 2019, convincing the Red Sox to push him to low Class A Greenville in his age-20 season. He struggled through the first three months of 2019 before a breakthrough fueled by both a greater willingness to attack the strike zone and improved command over his last 10 starts.

SCOUTING REPORT: Bello's fastball sat at 94-95 mph and topped at 98 at instructional league in 2020, but a long arm path creates problems with deception and command. His continually improving velocity gives his fastball a chance to reach above-average if his command improves. His changeup is average with the potential to be better than that, while his mid-80s slider—a pitch he honed at instructs—could go from average to plus. He's prone to being tentative, but he's a good athlete with a quick arm and pitches that suggest enough starter potential to make him a popular ask in trade proposals.

THE FUTURE: Bello should start in high Class A. He has the absolute ceiling of a No. 4 starter.

TRACK RECORD: One of the top prospects in the 2016-17 international signing class, Rosario signed for $1.85 million with the Padres based on his athleticism, speed and a projectable frame. The Padres' 40-man crunch led them to deal Rosario to the Red Sox in 2020 as part of a two-prospect package for Mitch Moreland.

SCOUTING REPORT: Rosario is an electrifying athlete who can do standing backflips and throw with both hands, but his in-game contributions have been modest. His patience has created an extraordinary walk rate of nearly 15% for his career and a .376 on-base percentage but also results in late swing decisions that lead to grounders and weak, opposite-field contact. Evaluators are routinely frustrated by the infrequency with which he swings. He glides in center field with efficient routes and a solid arm, but his speed has ticked down from plus when he signed and now projects as average or slightly above. His above-average arm would fit in a corner spot, too.

THE FUTURE: Rosario's most likely future is as a backup outfielder, but his youth still gives him time to reach a regular's ceiling. The Red Sox added him to their 40-man roster in November.

TRACK RECORD: The Red Sox landed one of the best athletes in the class when they signed Bleis at the start of the 2020-21 international signing period on Jan. 15.

SCOUTING REPORT: Bleis has a lean, lively frame that's sleek and athletic with high physical upside. His tools have trended up over the past year as projected, with plus speed and a plus arm now. He has long, gliding strides with an easy gait, covering a lot of ground in center field with the physical projection for his arm to potentially develop into a 70-grade tool. Bleis has fast bat speed and his power has jumped up from a little below-average to now showing above-average raw power, driving the ball fairly easily with backspin from center field over to his pull side. With room to put on another 25-30 pounds of good weight, there could be more power in the tank. Bleis isn't an advanced pure hitter, but he isn't raw either, so if he can develop into an average hitter, he has the secondary tools to be a dynamic center fielder.

THE FUTURE: Bleis is one of the most athletic, tooled-up players the Red Sox have at the lower levels of the system, though he’s still several years away. He will likely make his pro debut in 2021 in the Dominican Summer League.

TRACK RECORD: Arauz signed with the Phillies in 2014 and was traded to the Astros after the 2015 season as a low-level throw-in in the deal that sent Ken Giles to Houston. He was suspended for a drug of abuse in his second season with the Astros, then was selected by Boston in the 2019 Rule 5 draft. He made his big league debut on July 24 and got into 25 games with the Red Sox.

SCOUTING REPORT: In 2020, Arauz lived up to his reputation as a light-hitting infielder who can play on both sides of the keystone. His average exit velocity was 85.3 mph, which would have ranked among the lowest figures in the game if he had garnered more at-bats. He saw action at shortstop, second base, third base and DH over the course of the season. Arauz is not particularly fleet of foot, and his sprint speed of 25.9 feet per second ranked in the 28th percentile of qualified big leaguers.

THE FUTURE: Arauz's role in 2020 was roughly the same as what he'll play in 2021 barring an injury to a Red Sox regular infielder. The key difference is that with his Rule 5 restrictions lifted he may be optioned to the minor leagues.

TRACK RECORD: Drafted in the 15th round out of high school by the Blue Jays, Winckowski spent three years in short-season ball and one more at Class A. He would have spent 2020 at Double-A had there been a minor league season. Winckowski was left unprotected in a deep Toronto system for the Rule 5 draft but went unselected.

SCOUTING REPORT: Winckowski logged a career high 127.1 innings in 2019, peaking at high Class A Dunedin. He logged a 2.69 ERA, struck out 108 and walked 43. Winckowski is a solid strike-thrower who did not go to Toronto's alternate training site last year but went to instructional league, where he ran his fastball up to 96 mph toward the end of camp and was in the process of learning a splitter.

THE FUTURE: Winckowski will serve as rotation depth for the Mets, probably at Double-A at the outset of 2021.

TRACK RECORD: Ramirez was advanced enough to pitch in the Mexican League as a 16-year-old in 2018 before the Red Sox purchased him from Aguascalientes for $550,000. His maturity and understanding of his three-pitch mix allowed him to dominate in his 2018 pro debut in the Dominican Summer League. He held his own as an 18-year-old in the New York-Penn League in 2019, when he struck out 9.2 per nine innings in the college-heavy league.

SCOUTING REPORT: Ramirez typically worked in the low 90s with his fastball in Lowell but arrived at instructional league in 2020 having added strength. His fastball took a corresponding velocity bump and now sits at 93 mph and tops out at 96. His fastball doesn't have a lot of deception, though he does spot it well, and his feel for his curveball and changeup help them play above their grades.

THE FUTURE: Ramirez currently has the stuff of a swingman or back-of-the-rotation starter, but his feel for pitching and command give him a chance to exceed that projection. Those traits also give him a chance to be given aggressive assignments relative to his age.

TRACK RECORD: Liu was a two-way player in high school, went to college as a shortstop, then dominated when committing full-time to the mound in 2019, when he was the Asian Baseball Championship's MVP. The Red Sox signed Liu for $750,000 after seeing him throw high-90s fastballs with a slider, curve and splitter in multi-inning relief stints in 2019.

SCOUTING REPORT: Liu lacked access to full training facilities during the coronavirus shutdown, so his fastball was down to averaging 91 mph and topping out at 94 in instructional league. His fastball still had impressive riding life at the front of an array of five pitches—which now includes a changeup—that showed potential to grade anywhere from fringe-average to above-average. It's still too early in Liu's development for the Red Sox to pinpoint which of his five pitches work best when grouped with one another.

THE FUTURE: Liu's future has more variance than most, but his athletic delivery, varied repertoire and past success could help find a spot in a rotation.

TRACK RECORD: Potts was a surprise first-round selection and under-slot signing by the Padres in 2016, but his early professional performance, including 39 homers in his first two full seasons, seemed to validate the selection. He went backward as a 20-year-old in Double-A in 2019, but his plus power remained and he was young for the level. The Red Sox acquired him in the 2020 deadline trade that sent Mitch Moreland to San Diego.

SCOUTING REPORT: Though Potts has plus to double-plus raw power, he has increasingly struggled to get to it in games thanks to concerning swing-and-miss issues on pitches both in and out of the zone. Though he's shown the ability to drill balls to the opposite field, he's also had issues rushing to his front side and becoming more pull-oriented, with rising groundball rates over two years in Double-A. He has shown adequate tools at third base but has started incorporating other positions, and should see time at second base and first base in addition to third base in 2021.

THE FUTURE: Despite Potts' steps back, he still has time to reach his ceiling. The Red Sox added him to their 40-man roster in November.

TRACK RECORD: Wallace's selection by the Rockies in 2019 continued a trend—Colorado had also selected Connecticut relievers in 2012 and 2018. With the Rockies trading Wallace to the Red Sox at midseason for outfielder Kevin Pillar, Wallace will now try to join another UConn product, Matt Barnes, in Boston's bullpen.

SCOUTING REPORT: Wallace is a pure reliever prospect, but his pitch mix should allow him to move through the system rather quickly. His fastball sits in the mid 90s and can touch a few ticks higher. He pairs it with a snappy mid-80s slider with a spin rate of 2,800 revolutions per minute that hitters in the short-season Northwest League struggled to identify and put in play. Wallace was working on a changeup in 2019 as well. NWL hitters swung and missed at Wallace's pitches nearly 17% of the time, ranking him 12th among league pitchers with at least 20 innings. Wallace is twitchy and athletic and has the uptempo, aggressive delivery befitting of a late-inning stopper.

THE FUTURE: Wallace's power arsenal should allow him to start 2021 at least at high Class A and get him to Double-A rather quickly.

TRACK RECORD: Though Rafaela didn't look much bigger when he signed for $10,000 as a 16-year-old than he did when playing for Curacao in the Little League World Series as an 11-year-old, he's shown not only plus running speed but also surprisingly loud contact in the lower minors. His track record includes a .244/.319/.409 batting line with six home runs and nine stolen bases in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and short-season Lowell in 2019.

SCOUTING REPORT: Rafaela is hard to miss. His high-energy style of play is evident in every aspect of the game and he turns heads with his unexpected bat speed and ability to put a charge in pitches in the zone, particularly against lefthanders. However, his bat-to-ball skills can work against him given that he's a free-swinger who is prone to weak contact against pitches outside the zone. Still, he has a chance to offer relatively solid impact as a versatile up-the-middle player, at least at second base and shortstop with the possibility of future work in center field.

THE FUTURE: Rafaela's ability to hone his aggressiveness will dictate his future. His most likely role is as a versatile reserve.

TRACK RECORD: The Red Sox took Politi as an unheralded 15th-round selection in 2018 after a redshirt junior year in which he had a 5.44 ERA but struck out 12.6 batters per nine innings, mostly out of the bullpen.

SCOUTING REPORT: Politi entered pro ball with a mid-90s four-seam fastball that features elite spin and movement, as well as a mid-80s curveball that gave him the basis of a north-south attack. The addition of an 89-93 mph cutter in 2019 set the stage for a dominant performance at high Class A Salem over his final 50 innings of 2019, a run in which he posted a 1.42 ERA and struck out 63 batters. He moved from the bullpen to the rotation during that stretch, making five starts. Politi is also working on a changeup. The effort in his delivery leads to skepticism about his ability to start, but based on what he showed in late 2019 and then in 2020 at instructional league, the Red Sox will give him a chance in the rotation.

THE FUTURE: Politi has the solid floor of a big league reliever with a chance that his cutter and changeup could open additional doors as an opener, bulk reliever or even starter.