Red Sox Catching Prospect Showing Off Power In 2023
Kyle Teel is the talk of the town among Boston Red Sox catching prospects as the club’s 2023 first-round draft pick. The 21-year-old recently made the jump to High-A Greenville and impressed in his debut with a pair of RBIs and throwing out a potential base stealer.
Teel is not the only catching prospect in the organization, however, showing encouraging signs in the final two months of the minor league season.
The Red Sox selected Nathan Hickey out of the University of Florida in 2021 as a fifth-round selection. The former Gator showed a promising bat in 2022 and still has plenty of power to show a year later.
On Thursday, Hickey smashed his 17th home run of 2023 and his 13th in just 57 games with Double-A Portland.
Overall, the 23-year-old entered play Thursday afternoon with an .882 OPS across two levels this season. The developing bat shows impressive growth as he moves through the Boston system.
Where Hickey fits into future plans remains unanswered. He is not projected as a high-level defender, especially in terms of throwing out potential base stealers, so an interesting path remains for the former SEC product.
Hickey is currently ranked as Boston’s No. 14 prospect by MLB Pipeline as he closes out his third year in the minors and his second full season.