Will We See The Kids in 2024?

Even with the postseason somehow in play, does Breslow give those healthy in the Fab Four a chance to shine?

As of Wednesday morning, there are 11 games left in the 2024 regular season. With Matt’s well-penned piece yesterday about the Red Sox living in a freaky version of purgatory, it’s not like there’s nothing Craig Breslow can do to change up the roster in either scenario. If Breslow truly believes these prospects can make any sort of difference to win as many games left as possible, why not call them up and give them a shot? If, on the other hand, CB thinks the season is well and truly screwed, why not excite fans and give these guys a pressure-less taste of The Show? With that in mind, who would be the guys to be called up?

Roman Anthony

Ah yes, the new no. 1 prospect in all of baseball. Anthony has had a very consistent climb with the “Big Three” from Portland to Worcester. Since his call-up to AAA on August 12th, Anthony is batting .327 with 3 dingers, 15 RBI, 13 total extra base hits, and 22 walks. That’s in just 29 games. Baseball America’s Geoff Pontes even called his hitting development as spectacular as Mookie Betts on Tuesday afternoon, which is very lofty praise.

How does that translate to a roster spot in the last week and a half of the season? There’s already a logjam in the outfield between Tyler O’Neill, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Rob Refsnyder (if he’s healthy), and if they ever felt like it, Masataka Yoshida. Why would you sacrifice any of those guys right now? Because of left handed splits. In 2024, Anthony is batting .320/.417/.495/.912 against southpaws.

Could he slide in as a DH leaving your outfield intact? That’s a nice scenario. Do you play him in center field with Duran in left and Abreu in right, leaving O’Neill to DH and keep mashing? That’s tantalizing. Do I hope we see Anthony before the season is done? Absolutely yes. If there’s one prospect deserving, it’s Anthony.

Kyle Teel

The next vaunted member of the “Big Three” took a little time to settle into Worcester, but he’s been a firework in September. With a line of .375/.545/.594/1.139 in the ninth month of the calendar, he’s been on a crazy timeline in just a year to go from being drafted to tearing up AAA.

Does that mean he actually fits on the Major League roster at the moment? Connor Wong is far and away catcher A behind the dish, and Danny Jansen isn’t cutting it as the Sox sole position player trade deadline acquisition. But do we really think Breslow would bail on Jansen right now or go with a three-catcher tandem? Unlikely, in this writer’s opinion. It’s a sad no but invariably the right call.

Kristian Campbell

If anyone’s hotter than a bowl of chili, it’s Campbell. To not only make the jump from High A ball to AAA but to do it as successfully as he is has to be the story of the Minor Leagues. In fact, it was Keith Law’s, as he ended up being his Prospect of the Year. His rise has simply been meteoric.

Where Campbell becomes a really interesting part of the big league roster is his positional versatility. Over 200 innings each at second, short, and center, the first being inarguably one of Boston’s biggest positions of need and consistency, Campbell could be just the flash in the pan Boston needs to keep a spark alive, whether that be in the standings or on the field. Still, it feels like they have more trusted pieces in Enmanuel Valdez, Romy Gonzalez and Nick Sogard to platoon the infield for now, and Roman Anthony is the first outfield call-up. It’s a really interesting maybe. Would I be surprised and excited to see him down the stretch? For sure. Could it be too much too soon for a guy in his first full year of pro ball? Very probably, and the recent news that he’s dealing with a lat strain makes his promotion less likely.

Of course we have to note that none of these players are currently on the 40-man roster. Any promotion would necessitate cutting someone else loose, and would potentially tie-up a 40-man roster spot that could be otherwise used on offseason acquisitions. But the 40-man currently features plenty of names that aren’t going to be on the team next year, from Jansen and Mickey Gasper to free agents Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen. It’s not hard to make room, especially if you think there’s value in giving these guys a taste of the big leagues.

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What do you think? Do you want to see any of the big prospects come up from Worcester?