The 2020 MLB season is suspended right now because of the coronavirus outbreak. So let’s look beyond 2020 and try to identify the Red Sox’s next longterm center fielder.
Gold Glove center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. is eligible for free agency after this season. He will earn $11 million in his final year of arbitration. He said in January he’s not focused on his pending free agency.
Jarren Duran — who impressed so much during spring training — is one of the leading candidates to replace Bradley longterm, the way Bradley replaced Jacoby Ellsbury after 2013.
The two top candidates
Baseball America ranked the 2018 seventh-round draft pick Boston’s No. 5 prospect entering 2020. It listed him the system’s best hitter for average and described his speed as “game-changing" (70 steals, 19 triples in 199 minor league games).
The Red Sox moved him from second base to center field to take advantage of his speed. He still is learning jumps and routes to fly balls, but Red Sox interim manager Ron Roenicke said Duran’s speed should make him “a tremendous defensive outfielder.”
The 23-year-old left-handed hitter has batted .322 with a .376 on-base percentage, .446 slugging percentage and .823 OPS in 880 minor league plate appearances.
Baseball America noted, “There’s still some debate as to whether Duran’s offensive profile is that of an everyday or fourth outfielder. Even with his speed, he must either hit for a high average or show more power to emerge as an everyday player. Still, he has the potential to be a catalyst.”
We heard so much about Duran’s elite speed during spring training. But the Baseball America 2020 Prospect Handbook listed Jimenez, a switch-hitter, as being the fastest base runner in the Red Sox system. It also named him the best athlete.
The 19-year-old Dominican Republic native batted .359 with a .393 on-base percentage, .470 slugging percentage, .863 OPS, 11 doubles, three triples, three homers, 19 RBIs and 14 steals in 59 games (253 plate appearances) for Short Season Lowell in 2019.
Baseball America ranked him Boston’s No. 8 prospect. MLB Pipeline, which ranked him No. 5, noted “Jimenez has game-changing speed that earns top-of-the-scale grades from some evaluators. He uses it to turn routine grounders into hits, should be a dynamic basestealer once he improves his technique and covers plenty of ground in center field, where he also displays a plus arm.”
He has four- or five-tool potential, assistant GM Eddie Romero said. Whether he can add power remains to be seen.
Don’t expect him in Boston anytime soon though. Baseball America wrote, “He’s raw and thus unlikely to fast track, but if everything clicks, he could sit near the top of the Red Sox prospect lists in coming years.”
Red Sox could move Andrew Benintendi center field
The Red Sox could move Benintendi to center field in 2021 and convert one of their several infield prospects, such as Bobby Dalbec and C.J. Chatham, to left field.
Earlier this week, MassLive.com mentioned both Dalbec and Chatham among the nine internal options to take over at second base longterm.
Chatham, a second baseman/shortstop, started one game in left field during the Arizona Fall League.
Dalbec has played first and third base but never outfield in the pros. That said, the Baseball America 2019 Prospect Handbook projected him as Boston’s 2022 starting left fielder. The 2020 handbook listed him as Boston’s 2023 DH.
The Red Sox discussed Michael Chavis receiving outfield reps in winter ball, but he never played because of an oblique injury.
Other Red Sox outfield prospects
Nick Decker: The 20-year-old left-handed hitter, a 2018 second-round draft pick, batted .247 with a .328 on-base percentage, .471 slugging percentage, .799 OPS, six homers, 10 doubles, five triples and 25 RBIs in 53 games (195 plate appearances) for Short Season Lowell in 2019. He started 50 games in right field and two games in center field.
Baseball America ranked him No. 19 in the system entering 2020, noting, “Decker showed enough flashes of explosiveness — in tandem with a solid arm and defense in right field — to suggest a player with the upside of an everyday contributor.”
Tyler Esplin: The 2017 seventh-round pick out of IMG Academy batted .253 with a .326 on-base percentage, .375 slugging percentage, .701 OPS, five homers, 26 doubles, three triples and 43 RBIs in 100 games (436 plate appearances) a Low-A Greenville. The 20-year-old is a left-handed hitter.
Baseball America ranked him Boston’s No. 26 entering 2020 and wrote, “team officials ... believe he has enough run production potential with the ability to offer average outfield defense, a formula that gives him a solid chance at a platoon future.”
Eduardo Lopez: Boston signed the 17-year-old switch-hitter to a $1.15 million signing bonus out of the Dominican Republic.
He batted .255 with a .372 on-base percentage, .363 slugging percentage, .735 OPS, seven doubles, eight triples, 25 RBIs and 18 stolen bases in 60 games (253 plate appearances) in the Dominican Summer League 1 during 2019. He made all 48 of his starts in center field.
Bryan Gonzalez: The 18-year-old Dominican Republic native batted .251 with a .341 on-base percentage, .435 slugging percentage, .777 OPS, nine homers, 12 doubles, four triples, 41 RBIs and seven steals in the Dominican Summer League 2. The right-handed hitter started 37 games in right field and three games in center field.
Darel Belen: The 19-year-old Dominican Republic native batted .281 with a .370 on-base percentage, .430 slugging percentage, .800 OPS, five homers, 11 doubles, five triples, 39 RBIs and 14 steals in 64 games (281 plate appearances) in the Dominican Summer League 1 during 2019. The right-handed hitter started 24 games in right field, seven games in left field and 14 games at first base. He also played seven innings in center field.