In no particular order, here are some up-and-coming guys in the Red Sox organization who have been drawing notice lately.

Jacoby Ellsbury, 23 CF AAA: No longer a secret, even to the Pink Hat faction of Red Sox Nation, after the speedster hit .375 over a 16 at-bat cup of coffee at Fenway.  Prospectphiles everywhere cried out in agony as Terry Francona sent the kid back down to AAA after his 2-2 performance last night.  Hopefully, Jacoby will work on adding some pop to his bat, because infield hits and bloopers will not be suffecient to carry him to stardom at this level.  Gotta love the glove and speed, though.

Craig Breslow, 26 RP AAA: Not really a prospect, in the sense that he’s turning 27 next month, but certainly a guy that could be a useful bullpen arm on almost any team in the majors right now.  At this point, the numbers game is victimizing the CT native, as he’s dominated AAA hitters for 2 years now.  The lefty is particularly tough on left-handed hitters, but has also made quick work of righties at this level.  Probably an improvement over 2 or 3 pitchers in the Red Sox bullpen right now.

Oscar Tejeda, 17 SS R: A caveat: always take Rookie Ball stats with a grain of salt.  The quality of competition, the fields, the weather, they create variables that can skew things in either direction.  With that said, this teenager is tearing the league a new asshole.  At an age where I was mastering Final Fantasy III and still trying to get laid for the first time, Oscar Tejeda is hitting .340/.426/.553 in his professional debut.  Still a long way from the bigs (5 years at least), he has a nice glove to go along with his bat, and might be able to stick at SS.

Clay Buchholz, 22 SP AA: Could be sent to AAA soon.  It’s all been said before, plus-plus-changeup, plus fastball and curve, yadda yadda.  Not much more I can say, I’ll just post his current stats: 86.2 IP, 55 hits, 22 walks, 116 strikeouts, 1.77 ERA.  In my last prospect report, I said “he could be” the best pitching prospect in the minors.  I’ll just update that statement slightly: he is the best pitching prospect in the minors. 

Jed Lowrie, 23 SS AA: Jed possesses tools the Red Sox organization loves to see: terrific plate discipline and a steady middle-infield glove.  Now hitting .296/.405/.485, Lowrie could become a Pedroia-type hitter at the big league level, perhaps without Dustin’s extreme contact abilities.  He’s actually tall and lanky (unlike #15), has a decent arm, and might be able to stick at SS.

And now, a sleeper…

Josh Reddick, 20 RF A:  After being drafted in the 17th round last year, The Chronicles of Reddick are off to an inspiring beginning, as Josh is mashing in the Sally League (.338/.386/.529).  The one hole in his game right now is plate discipline, as Josh’s bat does not meet many pitches it doesn’t like.  What is encouraging is that he still manages to hit everything, only striking out 15 times in 169 plate appearances.  Keep an eye on this one…