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The Red Sox farm system came into this season still in the bottom half of the league by basically every public evaluator, and really the bottom third from most of them. That made sense, of course, because with the lack of minor-league baseball there was really no way for prospects to really make big leaps. Well, minor-league ball is back, and a couple of Red Sox prospects are making those kinds of big leaps. Baseball America updated their top 100 list on Monday, and we saw two risers in the Red Sox system, plus one slight faller.
We’ll start with the positive side here and go to the top-ranked Red Sox prospect, which is still Triston Casas. This is not a surprise, but it is nice to see how high he is climbing. After coming in at number 38 in their last ranking, the first baseman has moved up to the top 30, coming in at 27. He’s ranked between Indians infielder Tyler Freeman and Twins outfielder Trevor Larnach. Casas is just coming off a strong showing for Team USA at Olympic qualifying and he is hitting .328/.400/.552 in 75 plate appearances with Double-A Portland. The 21-year-old should return to the Sea Dogs this week.
Coming in right behind him is Casas’s Team USA teammate and the biggest Red Sox riser in Jarren Duran. As he continues to show his newfound power is indeed for real, it’s not surprising to see his stock rising in the way that it is. Duran comes in at number 29 after being 86th in the last iteration. He’s ranked between the aforementioned Larnach and Yankees phenom Jasson Dominguez. Duran also played well for Team USA, and he’s hitting .278/.366/.625 at Triple-A Worcester. Like Casas, he should be back playing affiliated ball this week.
On a more sour note, the Red Sox did have one guy fall a bit as well, with Jeter Downs falling from 59 to 69. He’s ranked between Cubs pitcher Brailyn Marquez and Cubs outfielder Brennen Davis. Downs was also away from the club playing for Colombia in Olympic qualifying, and he’s hitting .244/.337/.385 in Worcester so far this year.