Three years ago, the highly touted prospect trio of Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell called High-A Greenville home. Last season, No. 2 prospect Franklin Arias impressed during his spin there.
Who’s going to be the name to watch for the Drive in 2026? Yoeilin Cespedes made his case in resounding fashion Thursday, crushing his first two home runs of the year in Greenville's 9-8 loss to Bowling Green at Fluor Field.
The physical distance from Greenville, S.C., to Boston and the talent gap between High-A and the Majors are both considerable. But they’ve got one thing in common: a big green wall looming in left field.
Cespedes, the Red Sox No. 18 prospect, pummeled his first homer in the second inning, a three-run shot far beyond the seats atop the Green Monster approximation, sending the ball careening off the adjacent building. He got another crack at right-hander Gary Gill Hill (TB No. 26) in the fifth and launched a two-run shot to right-center, giving Cespedes a career-high five RBIs and his first two-homer game in pro ball.
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Things started out promisingly for Greenville with Red Sox No. 5 prospect Juan Valera on the hill. The 19-year-old has quickly established himself as one of the South Atlantic League’s premier pitching prospects, but his night was cut short after just an inning-plus of work due to an apparent injury.
Cespedes, the jewel of Boston’s 2023 international signing class, was among those who quickly attended to a clearly pained Valera behind the mound.
After consecutive years of bludgeoning Rookie-level pitching in both the Dominican Summer League and Florida Complex League in 2023 and ‘24, Cespedes hit a speed bump last year in his first taste of full-season ball with Single-A Salem. He was slated to join the club in the latter part of ‘24 before a broken left hamate sidetracked those plans, following up with a .227/.292/.376 slash line across 110 games in '25.
Cespedes has a right-handed swing geared for loft, as evidenced by the fact that he’s run a flyball rate of at least 40 percent in each of his first three pro campaigns. He has put more than half his balls in play to his pull side every year as well, peaking in 2025 at 59.8 percent, highest in the Single-A Carolina League among all qualifiers.
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The 20-year-old entered the night mired in a 1-for-16 rut. While he had at least one strikeout in each of his first 10 games, he also reached base in every contest save one. In addition to his offensive contributions, he’s seen more time at shortstop, already having made four starts at the premium spot after playing second base almost exclusively in 2025.
Greenville will run out a stout lineup on a nightly basis to open the year, including Justin Gonzales (No. 6), Henry Godbout (No. 11), Cespedes and others. Like the young current Red Sox contributors before them, the path to Fenway starts with finding success under the shadow of the little Green Monster.