{"id":536133,"date":"2026-01-24T13:24:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T13:24:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/536133\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T13:24:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T13:24:26","slug":"mlb-notebook-ranger-suarez-represents-a-change-for-red-sox-shortstop-prospect-a-throwback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/536133\/","title":{"rendered":"MLB Notebook: Ranger Su\u00e1rez represents a change for Red Sox; Shortstop prospect a throwback"},"content":{"rendered":"

Until very recently, the Red Sox<\/a> had a \u201ctype.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it came to pitching, and starting pitching in particular, the Red Sox were, far more often than not, in search of a big-bodied physique, upper-end velocity and someone with great extension off the mound.<\/p>\n

That description fit Garrett Crochet, who cost the Red Sox four Top 10 prospects and in whom they invested $170 million. It applied to Johan Oviedo,<\/a> whose big frame, lively fastball and 98th percentile in extension all attracted the Red Sox. The same variables held for Payton Tolle, the organization\u2019s top starting pitching prospect.<\/p>\n

Even the back end of the bullpen \u2013 setup man Garrett Whitlock and closer Aroldis Chapman \u2014 has the same allure: big, hard-throwing pitchers who finish their deliveries near the bottom of the mound slope.<\/p>\n

Ranger Su\u00e1rez, however, is different. Though solidly built (6-foot-1, 217 pounds), he\u2019s hardly imposing. Meanwhile, his fastball velocity is in the seventh percentile and his extension is just 29 percent.<\/p>\n

So why was it that the Red Sox swooped in a week ago and bestowed upon Su\u00e1rez a five-year, $140 million dollar contract?<\/p>\n

The most obvious answer is that Su\u00e1rez has been an effective big league starter over the last four seasons. Pitching in a hitter\u2019s ballpark in Philadelphia, Su\u00e1rez didn\u2019t give up a lot of homers (14 on average). Nor did he allow a lot of hard-hit balls, with an average exit velocity of 86.5 mph, one of the lowest figures among major league starters.<\/p>\n

Su\u00e1rez doesn\u2019t overpower hitters. He just gets them out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if you have really good command of your pitches, and are able to mix them well, you really don\u2019t need 100 (mph),\u201d offered Su\u00e1rez earlier this week. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of what I do. In my case, that\u2019s what\u2019s given me the most success.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at the pitch usage,\u201d added Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, \u201ceven last year sinker and changeup were the predominant pitches. But after that, I think the next three pitches in the repertoire all had equal use of about 16 percent per pitch. Which means that if you are trying to predict the incoming pitch, you\u2019re probably going to get it wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo if you think about velocity, sure it gives pitchers more room for error. There\u2019s some tradeoff between velocity and command and the less command you have, the more velocity and vice versa. Ranger is a guy who\u2019s been on the other side of that equation, where the ability to locate five or six pitches and keep hitters off balance has been the recipe for success for him and it\u2019s one that we believe will have real staying power.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cstaying power\u201d component would seem especially important here, since the Red Sox have made a five-year commitment to a pitcher who is already 30 and whose final year of the deal will be his age-35 season. Pitchers who rely on velocity are more apt to either break physically, or suffer regression as they age. With Su\u00e1rez, who relies more on precision and guile, he\u2019s likely to age better.<\/p>\n

It also helps that Su\u00e1rez has the potential to give the Boston rotation a different look.<\/p>\n

Depending on how the Red Sox set up their rotation, they could arrange for a contrasting look to opposing teams. Crochet will be No. 1, of course, and if he\u2019s followed, in order, by Su\u00e1rez and then Gray, the Sox could bookend two flamethrowers with fastballs in the upper 90s around a more finesse approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn some ways, the parallel is we talk about times through the order within a game, but then you also start to think about the number of times a lineup would be exposed to the same reliever in a series,\u201d said Breslow. \u201cSo I think this idea of contrasting Garrett and Ranger and two very different styles of pitching could make for a really difficult time for a hitter.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the growing emphasis on velocity across the game, the number of soft-tossing lefties has been reduced. More than decade ago, Mark Buehrle, Barry Zito, Ted Lilly and others flourished.<\/p>\n

No more. Now, the number has dwindled further. The Red Sox have reason to believe that ones like Suarez can still succeed. They\u2019ve backed their belief with a $140 million bet over the next five seasons.<\/p>\n

________________<\/p>\n

For a time, the Red Sox seemed to have an obsession with stockpiling young shortstops.<\/p>\n

There was \u2014 deep breath \u2014 Marcelo Mayer, Mikey Romero, and Nazzan Zanetello, each taken in either the first or second round over a period of three years from 2021 through 2023.<\/p>\n

Mayer is on the threshold of becoming a major league regular, albeit not at short (for now, at least). Romero, who has moved around some, will start the year at Triple A while Zanetello has stalled out in the lower minors.<\/p>\n

After Mayer, the most highly regarded shortstop prospect in the organization is Franklin Arias<\/a>. He\u2019s ranked as the Red Sox\u2019 second-best prospect overall and in Baseball America\u2019s recent Top 100 list, he was the second-highest ranked Sox prospect, coming in at No. 49.<\/p>\n

Arias will start the year at Double A Portland, where he finished last season, but could work himself up to the Worcester by mid-season.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s intriguing about Arias is that he\u2019s something of a throwback \u2014 a defense-first shortstop. That alone makes him something of an anomaly.<\/p>\n

The shortstop position has evolved in the last quarter century, to the point where teams now expect offensive production from middle infielders. We may be past the days when shortstops like Alex Rodriguez could hit 40 homers, but there are several in the modern game \u2014 Francisco Lindor, Bobby Witt Jr., Corey Seager \u2014 who are capable of regularly hitting 30.<\/p>\n

Arias is not that type of player. Slight of build and from Venezuela, Arias looks like he emerged from countryman\u2019s Luis Aparicio\u2019s era.<\/p>\n

He displays smooth fielding action and sports above-average arm strength to go along with good baseball instincts. What he doesn\u2019t offer is much slug \u2014 in three stops along the minor league ladder covering 116 games last season, he managed just eight homers in 2025.<\/p>\n

But the Red Sox believe that as Arias builds up physically, more offense could be part of his game. If he doesn\u2019t develop more home run potential, he could certainly be capable of displaying extra-base power to the gaps.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d say with Franklin, he\u2019s young (20), he\u2019s still growing, he\u2019s still adding strength, still adding size,\u201d said Brian Abraham, the Red Sox VP of player development. \u201cHis profile as a hitter is one that makes really good swing decisions, makes contact. It\u2019s a matter of turning that contact into more consistent power.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve definitely seen it through stretches in his career. But I definitely think with the added weight he\u2019s put on this offseason and that he continues to add, making sure those swing decisions are good, he\u2019s hitting the ball hard in the air \u2014 that will allow for more impact. I think there\u2019s definitely more in the tank. Would we like to (add more pop)? Certainly.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I also think the defense plus the bat-to-ball skills, plus the swing decisions allow him to have a pretty high floor in terms of an overall profile. We\u2019d love to see more impact consistently and I think, in today\u2019s game, that is an important part of being a premier player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abraham said Arias has added 10 or so pounds this winter, and the Red Sox are working closely with him to focus on nutrition to help him add muscle.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the hardest things for young players is to maintain (weight) so you\u2019re not losing strength,\u201d said Abraham. \u201cIt\u2019s a long year with a high work load and we want to make sure that guys are eating consistently. And there are some techniques and things that players learn as they progress through the system – \u2018Hey, I need to have a pregame meal,\u2019 or \u2018I need to eat postgame…\u2019 I think he\u2019s at a point where he\u2019s very well aware of that and has learned it. I think all of that will allow him to stack those pounds as he gets older.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, Arias will stay at short, despite the logjam of others at the position ahead of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more reps he gets at short, the better,\u201d said Abraham. \u201cOne of the things we like about shortstops is that they\u2019re athletic and can generally play other positions. But we\u2019re definitely at a point where we want him to continue to play shortstop. We feel like he\u2019s an above-average defender there and can impact defensively at Double A, Triple A and eventually the big leagues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we get to a point where we have to make a decision, we will. In a good way, we\u2019re not there. We definitely see him as an everyday shortstop.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Until very recently, the Red Sox had a \u201ctype.\u201d When it came to pitching, and starting pitching in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2375],"tags":[152,5,141,48,2542,4,10457,7931,89,2543],"class_list":["post-536133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boston-red-sox","tag-american-league","tag-baseball","tag-boston","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-bostonredsox","tag-mlb","tag-press","tag-ranger","tag-red-sox","tag-redsox"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115950299755626681","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}