With a bevy of top prospects in the upper levels, the Boston Red Sox farm system is as healthy as it’s been in several years. We recently took an opportunity to speak with director of player development Brian Abraham about some of the organization’s top prospects, areas they need to improve in, timelines for certain prospects to receive promotions and how chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has impacted the organization’s player development structure.

(These questions and answers have been lightly edited for clarity.)

What does shortstop Marcelo Mayer have left to prove at the Double-A level?

Abraham: I definitely think he’s had a really strong first part of the season. No matter where most players are, they’re going to be challenged in pro ball. There are some rare circumstances when someone’s just absolutely dominating a level. But it is pro ball and there are a lot of really good players. So, as soon as a guy can have a 4-for-4 night with four hard-hit balls, they can have an 0-for-4 night with four strikeouts pretty fast. So I think just kind of balancing that with the real information we have whether it be consistency with ball contact, ball flight or defense.

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For Marcelo, there still are development opportunities in Double A for him. I think seeing more left-handed pitching, I think increasing his walk rate and narrowing that strike zone. His K percentage has decreased, his walk rate has continued to slowly increase, probably not to the exact point where we want, but that consistency is something that’s so important, especially against left-handed pitching, which is generally harder to evaluate just because there are not as many (left-handed pitchers). Defensively, range to his arm-side, going to his right is something we’re focused on, working toward the baseball and those plays in the hole. So while it might be smaller areas of improvement, I think those areas are going to allow him to be great, not just good. Those things don’t happen overnight. The coaching staff there, the competition there, allows him to improve and get better every day. So, when that is not the case, that’s the conversation we have where it’s like, “Is it time for movement?” But from our perspective, the environment that he’s currently in, the people that he’s working with, still allows him to continue his improvement and development on a day-to-day basis.

When you’re looking at center fielder Roman Anthony, who’s among the youngest players in Double A this season, what has he improved on the most?

That’s a really good question. His ability to handle failure is very impressive. That’s obviously a little bit more subjective. But he’s had a couple points in the season where, especially at the start of the year, his chase rate and his K rate were a little bit higher than I think he would have liked and we would have liked. He has been really at the top of our system in terms of swing decisions and bat-to-ball ability and at the start of the year that was lower than expected.

Over time the extra work he’s put in the cage and the specific training that he’s worked on that has improved. And with that he’s been able to focus on pulling the ball in the air a little more consistently. He still drives the ball to all fields, we love that he does that. But the ability to impact the baseball pull-side in the air is something that is going to really allow him to do damage and make an impact at the next level. That allows for him to hit the ball harder and get extra base hits. Sometimes I think training for that is probably underestimated. So we’ve had a really heavy focus on that and it’s improved throughout the season. Some of his recent performances and pull-side balls in the air have been exciting to see.

Catcher Kyle Teel seems to have an advanced bat, but the catching position is so complex. How big is that jump defensively from level to level and then to the majors for any top catching prospect? How do you evaluate that?

Obviously there’s an objective side that we can look at pretty easily. We can distill how he’s improving, where he was last year, where he is this year and the progress. I do think the position itself is unique in the sense that you are calling a game based on pitchers’ strengths, you are having to adjust pitcher to pitcher, level to level, having to get to know pitchers. Really, it’s such a selfless position, focusing on others’ success versus your own. And the hope is that when you do that, the skills that you were working on and improving on will kind of gradually improve with it. There’s a focus on working in the lower part of the zone glove-side, especially. Catcher coordinator Tyson Blaser has focused with him in drills on that and forcing him into movement patterns where he’s going to have more success in that part of the zone.

Then to consistently work, he has a ton of athleticism and ability to move behind the plate, just making sure those movements are consistent and precise and working positively, whether it be blocking balls or catching balls on the outer half to make sure they’re strikes. It starts with training and works into having a routine every day, understanding the big rocks he’s focusing on for success as a pitching group. Catching is incredibly unique in the sense that you are relying a lot on the people you’re catching to allow yourself to continue to improve. There’s certainly been some inconsistencies in our pitching staff in Double A and it has not been easy. But I also think that in the long run that will allow for him a very successful future when he does have arms that are a little more consistent in the zone and consistent with their secondary stuff. He’ll be receiving pitchers that are more consistent strike-throwers and know where they are to put the ball so it’ll be easier. Overall having a routine and a plan and being very clear with the direction of what he’s improving on and that’s on us and our staff to work toward.

Did you project this kind of power from second baseman/center fielder Kristian Campbell when you drafted him last year? What surprised you about his game at High-A Greenville and now in Double A?

I wouldn’t say expected but a ton of credit to (director of amateur scouting) Devin Pearson and scout Kirk Fredricksson for identifying a player they felt had some skills that could translate to pro ball and a good ability to impact the baseball and I think really strong swing decisions out of college. He’s a kid, who from the conversations the scouts had with him, his willingness to make adjustments, his willingness to listen, his willingness to buy into programming when he came to pro ball is something that was really exciting for us.

When we first got to Fort Myers we saw that he was very open minded, one of our top guys in terms of buying into the program and the things he needed to improve and just the willingness. There were a couple of mechanical adjustments he made with his swing and then just training his butt off. I can’t overstate that enough. His willingness to challenge himself with the training, pre-game, in the offseason, his willingness to continue to get stronger, his willingness to fail in those environments so he can improve, it’s just everything you’d want for a younger player.

We’re very lucky a lot of our top players are like that and Kristian has a lot of natural talent and natural strength that supports all those other areas. It’s a credit to Kristian certainly, but a ton of credit to our hitting staff and the group. I would say the defensive staff as well, continuing to push him and continuing to understand there is a player here that can take on information, make adjustments and that can do it really quick. It’s hard to expect anything but you place bets on people and on the work they put in and their skills and I think that’s happened with Kristian.

How to do you evaluate left fielder Matthew Lugo and second baseman/left fielder Nick Yorke, who were promoted to a hitter friendly Triple-A park around the same time, but have had different levels of success there thus far?

Matthew has always been a hard worker. He’s always shown flashes of the ability to impact the baseball very hard. I think moving him to more of a permanent outfield role has allowed him to relax a little bit more defensively and focus really at the plate. I would say while the surface numbers aren’t as strong as they were in Double A, he’s still impacting the baseball really hard. Maybe not at as high of a pace as he was in Double A, but he also was — you talk about dominating a level, that’s the type of performance that we’re talking about. Someone leading all of Double A in hard hit balls, barrels, any type of surface-level number or underlying number that you can think of, he was toward the top in Double A. So I think for him, it’s just adjusting to Triple A, the opposing teams, more advanced reports, better understanding and it’s taken more time for him to adjust but again when he does hit the baseball we’re still seeing the transferable numbers and that impact we saw in Double A, which to me is really exciting.

For Yorkey, similar to Matthew, had a lot of time in Double A, has made some adjustments throughout the last couple of years, battled injuries the last couple years. This is probably a little bit more subjective, but a change of scenery has been really good for him. He was forced to change his routine, forced to change the way he goes about his business with some of the older players in the clubhouse and dugout, different coaching staff so from the time we drafted him to now there’s been incredible support for him to improve. Like any of us, it can be a little monotonous at certain levels despite some improvements that he made throughout the year.

While his numbers weren’t superb in Double A there were some underlying metrics and numbers that we saw that showed us that it was time for that change and hopefully it would allow for him to really hit the ground running in Triple A and that’s what’s happened offensively. And also he has made incredible improvements on the defensive side year to year. I know we always tend to talk about the bat, which is a driver a lot of times, but his defensive ability has improved and now he’s become a pretty good left fielder or outfielder, that adds another tool to his tool belt to continue to be a potential impact major leaguer for us in the long run.

When you look at right-hander Richard Fitts, who was one of the prospects acquired in the Alex Verdugo trade, what would you like him to continue to improve on at Triple A and what’s stood out so far about him?

He’s bought in really well to the programming and to the staff and is willing to make adjustments and push himself. That’s been great to have a kid that works that hard. He’s built a lot of relationships and trust here already. It’s pretty simple. When he sits 95-plus, he’s a really good pitcher that can be a rotation piece for a major-league club and for the Boston Red Sox. When he’s operating at 95 and below, he tends to get hit a little harder and becomes someone who is not as impactful in the long term. So the velocity consistency, the velocity gains, the velocity improvement, which has happened, has been the focus and will continue to be the focus.

We’ve seen gains already, it’s just maintaining it throughout his starts, maintaining it through 70-, 80-, 90-plus pitches. That’s not to say that he doesn’t have the pitch-ability or the ability to get outs when he’s below or around 95, it’s just he’s a lot more dominant and a lot more successful and has the ability to miss bats in the zone when his stuff is at a higher velo. We’re excited about the progress he’s made and his willingness to push himself has been great.

On a more general note, how has player development changed under chief baseball officer Craig Breslow?

Just a unique perspective as someone who has played and had success at the major-league level has been in conversations and experiences from a player’s perspective. Also has run a pitching department and a performance department with another club. I think one, his experience and breadth of knowledge through so many different areas and so many different perspectives has been incredibly valuable not only to improve what we’re currently doing, but to provide insight, answer questions, provide feedback and question different things we’re doing. A new set of eyes is always valuable, a new set of eyes that is incredibly intelligent and has a strong awareness and understanding how development should look is also very valuable as well.

The other thing is empowering the staff, empowering myself, and our player development group to focus on what needs to be done for particular players. Making sure we’re very clear with the communication, very clear with our players about what their goals are has been a major focus. I will say one thing, specifically, that has been a really big addition is adding minor-league performance teams. We do player plans every year with every player and they gradually happen. One thing that Bres, a specific idea that he brought to the table was having those daily with a different player every day at each affiliate. Being a little more intentional with the conversations, being very clear on those goals, and making sure the player has ownership, and awareness of what they are. And then having a process to get those goals, not just talking about them, but making them actionable and achievable so they can improve.

(Photo of Marcelo Mayer: Rusty Jones / Four Seam Images via Associated Press)



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