Sox prospects Casas, Blaze at minicamp

January 24th, 2022

To help with the acclimation process for 28 of their prospects -- including a few of their most prominent -- the Red Sox opened their Winter Warm-Up program on Monday at the team’s Spring Training base of JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla.

The program, billed as a week-long minicamp, will run all week.

Perhaps the most notable attendees in the group? Triston Casas, the club’s No. 2 prospect as rated by MLB Pipeline. This could be a pivotal season for Casas, the one in which the first rounder from 2018 makes his MLB debut at some point.

The left-handed hitter, who has modeled his swing after Joey Votto, participated in the Olympics last summer and drew rave reviews from Team USA manager Mike Scioscia.

Nick Yorke, who made a near seamless adjustment to pro ball after being taken out of high school in the first round of the ’20 Draft, is another player the team’s player-development system looks forward to working more with over the coming days.

Blaze Jordan, who has plus-plus power that he has been displaying since his pre-teen years, is also on hand this week and will be taking aim at the inviting replica Green Monster at JetBlue Park.

“I think it's a chance for us to get guys out of whether it's colder climates or facilities where they might not have as much access to information or tech or just staff, and really get them down to Fort Myers and start them with their preparation for Spring Training,” said Red Sox director of player development Brian Abraham.

“There's strength and conditioning involvement, there's individual player meetings, there's larger group discussions and education, and obviously the biggest piece is the on-field work as players start to prep for the start of Minor League camp.”

Another side benefit of the camp is the opportunity for Abraham and his staff to get eyes on the two prospects the Red Sox acquired from the Brewers in a Dec. 1 trade – power-hitting corner infielder Alex Binelas and speedy outfielder David Hamilton.

“Today was the first time we were able to see them in person and also to just get them on the field,” said Abraham. “Just getting to know them as people is important. I think there’s a somewhat different dynamic between Hamilton, more of a speed guy, more of a middle infielder where Binelas is more of a power-oriented type corner bat.

“I think from the short time we’ve seen them, physicality that we've seen even out of both them has been exciting. They seem like great kids we’re very excited about coming here to camp. I talked to Binelas today and this is his first Spring Training. So obviously that’s a lot to handle for both these guys. But I think in a lot of ways having this camp with a smaller group of players, and a small group of staff is really a nice introduction into the organization where it doesn't feel like everything's thrown at them at once.”

The rest of the group working out this week in sunny – albeit chillier than normal Florida – is as follows:

Outfielders

Tyler Dearden
Nick Decker
Gilberto Jimenez

Catchers
Kole Cottam
Jaxx Groshans
Nathan Hickey
Stephen Scott

Infielders
Brainer Bonaci
David Hamilton
Christian Koss
Matthew Lugo
Ceddanne Rafaela

Pitchers
LHP Brendan Cellucci
RHP Michael Feliz
RHP Franklin German
RHP Brian Keller
RHP Zack Kelly
LHP Austin Lambright
LHP Chris Murphy
RHP A.J. Politi
RHP Chase Shugart
LHP Brandon Walter
RHP Thaddeus Ward
LHP Jeremy Wu-Yelland