Five Red Sox prospects land Baseball America’s latest top 100

We have now completed our first calendar month of the minor-league season, and while you certainly can not make sweeping judgements based on what has happened in that relatively small sample, it did give scouts a chance to get eyes on players in competitive games for the first time since the previous fall. That doesn’t generally lead to massive changes in opinions, but it can shift the landscape a bit. And so with that in mind, Baseball America has made their latest update to their top 100 list, with some movement among Red Sox prospects including one new face on the list. As always, we encourage you to head to that link to check out the full scouting reports, but below we’ll detail who lands where.

Heading the list among Red Sox prospects is 2021 first round pick Marcelo Mayer, who comes in as the number 14 prospect in baseball, up one spot from the preseason list. The shortstop is ranked between Pirates infielder Oneil Cruz and Cubs outfielder Brennen Davis, and also remains the top ranked prospect from last summer’s draft class. The Red Sox are watching Mayer’s workload this year, and he’s dealing with a minor injury, but in 13 games he’s hit .333/.397/.491 to start this season at Low-A Salem.

Not too far behind the young shortstop is Triston Casas, who comes in at number 18 on this list, also up one spot from the previous iteration. The first baseman, for whom calls are coming to bring him up to the bigs, is ranked between Mariners infielder Noelvi Marte and Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll. Playing in 23 games so far for Triple-A Worcester, Casas is hitting .262/.388/.500 with five homers. We can expect to see him in the majors at some point this summer, if not sooner.

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The only prospect among the five Red Sox players on this list who moved down in this latest update is Nick Yorke, who falls four spots to number 33. The second baseman is ranked between Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki and Reds shortstop Jose Barrero. Yorke had a tough month of April, but as we talked about this morning he’s off to a hot start in May, albeit through just two games. On the young season he is hitting .262/.351/.354 for High-A Greenville.

Coming in as the fourth ranked prospect among Red Sox prospects is Jarren Duran, who makes up for Yorke’s drop by rising four spots to number 84 on the list. The outfielder is between Twins infielder Jose Miranda and Mets shortstop Ronny Mauricio. After his tough second half in 2021 that served to drop his stock significantly in prospect circles, Duran is off to a nice start at Triple-A Worcester, hitting .360/.458/.560 in 13 games. Like Casas, we should see Duran in the majors this summer, though unlike Casas it will not be his first taste of the level.

Finally, we have a new name on the list as the Red Sox only had four prospects on Baseball America’s list to start the season. Brayan Bello had been mentioned on their just missed list, and now he’s on the real one. The right-handed pitcher, the only pitcher for the Red Sox here, comes in at number 97, ranked between Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter and Twins pitcher Jordan Balazovic. Through four starts this season at Double-A Portland, Bello has thrown 20 ²⁄₃ innings, pitching to a 2.61 ERA with 32 strikeouts to eight walks.

For those keeping track at home, the Red Sox now have a top 100 player, by Baseball America’s rankings at least, at all four of their full-season affiliates. If nothing else, that’s fun for those who like to get out and see the minor-league teams when they get the chance.