Four Red Sox prospects land on MLB Pipeline’s top 100

With Opening Day just a few weeks away now, we are right around the end of prospect season around the league, but not entirely there yet. MLB Pipeline, the prospect arm of the MLB official site, is typically one of the last sites to get their rankings out, and Thursday night was the release of their top 100 prospects list. The Red Sox have had the same familiar names on there, and those three are indeed present for this one as well, with a fourth name making it for Pipeline as well. Marcelo Mayer, Triston Casas, Nick Yorke, and Jarren Duran all got nods here on this list.

The competition between Mayer and Casas on these lists has been interesting to watch, and for this one it’s the young guy who just barely got the nod. Mayer came in as the top Red Sox prospect on the list, being named the number 14 prospect overall. The shortstop prospect was the top ranked prospect from last year’s draft class, and he’s ranked between Giants shortstop Marco Luciano and Cubs outfielder Brennan Davis.

Meanwhile, you didn’t have to go far to find Casas after Mayer. He was ranked just two spots behind at number 16. The first base prospect maybe doesn’t have the same ceiling as Mayer just due to positional value, but he’s on the cusp of the majors, and Alex Cora talking about getting more versatility for Bobby Dalbec could be a precursor to an earlier-than-expected call-up for Casas. He was ranked between Davis and 2021 first rounder and pitcher Jack Leiter.

The number three prospect, as is to be expected, is Nick Yorke, who is coming off his breakout season in his professional debut last summer. The second baseman has some defensive questions and it’s a possibility he has to move to an outfield corner at some point, but A, that’s far from a sure thing, and B, if the bat keeps developing it’ll play. Yorke is ranked at number 55, sitting between Pirates pitcher Quinn Priester and Athletics catcher Tyler Soderstrom.

Finally, Jarren Duran was able to make the list as well. After his tough go at the major-league level late last summer, he fell off a lot of top 100 lists, but Pipeline is keeping a little bit of faith that he can bounce back strong in 2022. They have him at number 85 on this list between Guardians infielder Bryan Rocchio and Padres pitcher MacKenzie Gore.