Arizona native Mason White leads Red Sox participants in Fall League
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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Arizona is in Mason White's blood. He was born in Tucson, earned Arizona state 4-A high school player of the year honors at the city's Salpointe Catholic HS in 2022 and stayed home to hit 49 homers in three college seasons at the University of Arizona.
Now after his first full pro season in the Red Sox system, White is back in the Grand Canyon State. The middle infielder is playing for the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League, which doesn't have a team in Tucson but will play a doubleheader there on Saturday.
"It's been a goal of mine to get here at some point, but doing it after my first full season was the dream," White said. "So I'm super excited to get to playing and playing in these parks that I grew up in. I knew it was a thing and I knew the top prospects would go, and I came to a few games here and there."
A fourth-round pick in the 2025 Draft, White's first extended taste of pro ball was really a tale of two seasons. The Red Sox No. 26 prospect opened the year at High-A, where he slashed .270/.362/.525 with 14 homers in 68 games. Following his promotion to Double-A in mid-July, his numbers dipped to .208/.333/.377 with four homers in 33 contests.
At the plate, White features a big leg kick and an uphill left-handed stroke, not to mention an aggressive mindset designed to hammer balls in the air to his pull side. But he tends to chase breaking balls and changeups off the plate, and more advanced Eastern League pitchers were content to let him do just that. His primary goal in the Fall League is to develop a more selective approach.
"Swinging at better pitches more often and not swinging at the bad pitches, just having the most fun I possibly can," White said. "I really have no expectations for any sort of performance metric. I just want to enjoy it and just work on my plate discipline and just hit the ball hard."
Playing his Double-A ball in Portland, Maine, introduced White to New England and the passion that Red Sox fans have for their favorite team. He's looking forward to experiencing more of it as he moves from Double-A to Triple-A Worcester (Mass.) and eventually to Boston.
"They know who everyone is and they follow you all the way to Fenway," White said. "If you don't play well, I learned that they'll tell you about it because they'll boo and they'll do all those things you're not really used to in a Minor League park. When the game got close, they'd get loud. It sort of felt like a college game, so it was really, really fun."
Red Sox hitters in the Fall League
Antonio Anderson, 3B/1B: Signed for a well-over-slot $1.5 million as a 2023 third-rounder from a Georgia high school, Anderson is a switch-hitter who's more dangerous from the right side of the plate. He's coming off, by far, the most successful season of his pro career after hitting .273/.373/.453 with nine homers in 85 games at High-A.
Nazzan Zanetello, 2B: One of the better athletes in the 2023 high school class, Zanetello landed a $3 million bonus in the second round. While he still has 25-25 upside, he also carries a 39 percent strikeout rate in pro ball. He batted .234/.331/.468 in 31 games at High-A, missing three months with a core muscle injury.
Red Sox pitchers in the Fall League
Harry Blum, RHP: A nondrafted free agent from Augustana (S.D.) who signed in February, Blum compiled a 6.71 ERA with 71 strikeouts but also 60 walks in 63 Single-A innings. He has a lively 92-95 mph fastball that touches 97, but his most effective offerings are a fading low-80s changeup and a tight mid-80s slider.
Madinson Frias, RHP: Frias made his full-season debut this year, posting a 6.68 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 31 innings at Single-A and missing the final three months with lower back issues. Signed for $10,000 out of the Dominican Republic in 2024, he works with a 93-97 mph fastball and a mid-80s cutter.
Nicholas Judice, RHP: Part of the Alex Verdugo trade with the Yankees in 2023, Judice has worked just 24 1/3 innings in three pro seasons because of recurring elbow problems. He has a 6-foot-8 frame, good extension and a low release height. Though his running fastball has reached 100 mph in the past, his low-80s slider is his best pitch.
Trennor O'Donnell, RHP: Coming back from 2025 internal brace surgery, O'Donnell logged a 6.69 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 37 2/3 innings while climbing from Rookie ball to High-A. The 2023 eighth-rounder from Ball State favors his tight low-80s slider over his low-90s fastball with carry.
Caden Vire, LHP: Vire had Tommy John surgery while in the Brewers system last year before joining the Red Sox via the Minor League phase of the Rule 5 Draft in December. He recorded an 11.85 ERA with 18 strikeouts and 25 walks in 13 2/3 innings at Single-A, displaying a 93-95 mph fastball that hit 97 and a tight 83-85 mph slider.