2015 Red Sox top prospect voting #19: Stankiewicz and the second-round swingmen

For the Red Sox, the second round has been awfully productive over the last 12 years. The first round is responsible for a good portion of our list--particularly the higher ranks--but the second round has produced Brandon Workman, Justin Masterson, and two other lesser-known players who real devoted fans may have heard of in Dustin Pedroia and Jon Lester.

I feel safe in saying that Teddy Stankiewicz probably fits in more with the first couple names on the list than the second. That's going to be true of just about every major leaguer the second round produces from here on in given that we're talking about two of the best players in the league at their given positions. But for #18 on our list, Justin Masterson and Brandon Workman aren't exactly bad aspirations.

And really, Workman and Masterson do represent two sides of the same swingman coin that covers Stankiewicz as well. Are they back-end starters, or late-inning relievers? Granted, Masterson has changed the script somewhat with a couple top-quality years in an up-and-down career, but that's kind of the dream scenario for players like Stankiewicz, Masterson, and Workman. Red Sox fans will remember that Workman dream gaining hold in 2013 before being brought back to earth last year.

It's going to be a while before we really figure out which side Stankiewicz lands on. He may be the elder statesman of that draft surrounded by Trey Ball and Jon Denney, but Stankiewicz is just 21, and coming off his first full season of professional baseball with Single-A Greenville. He took his reputation as a strike-thrower to heart, producing a 1.86 BB/9 that stands out as impressive even in the free-swinging lower levels. Stretching back to his 2013 season with Seminole State, Stankiewicz has now allowed 41 free passes in his last 220 innings of work.

If that keeps up for the next few years, Stankiewicz will find a place, and probably as that back-end starter. There's not much physically limiting him from starting, and so long as he can avoid getting completely hammered (a couple decent off-speed offerings will help in that), Stankiewicz' ability to force batters to put the ball in play will make him a valuable innings eater. He might be more reliant on that plan working out than other guys of his variety since he might not really gain all that much out of a switch to the bullpen, but long relief isn't so ugly a future, either.

2015 should see Stankiewicz start in Salem, but it's Portland that will provide the really interesting challenge. If his all-strikes approach can survive Double-A without getting hammered, he'll start looking a lot more like Brian Johnson--just potentially a year or two quicker in getting there.

1. Blake Swihart, C
2. Yoan Moncada, IF
3. Henry Owens, LHP
4. Eduardo Rodriguez, LHP
5. Rafael Devers, 3B
6. Manuel Margot, OF
7. Brian Johnson, LHP
8. Garin Cecchini, 3B
9. Matt Barnes, RHP
10. Deven Marrero, SS
11. Michael Chavis, SS
12. Trey Ball, LHP
13. Sean Coyle, 2B
14. Michael Kopech, RHP
15. Edwin Escobar, LHP
16. Sam Travis, 1B
17. Steven Wright, RHP
18. Teddy Stankiewicz, RHP