Backfield Standouts: Red Sox and Twins

Chris breaks down six players that have stood out to him in Minor League Spring Training games the last two days.

The last several days I have spent time watching the Red Sox and Twins Single-A and High-A games. Unfortunately, arguably the three tops players in Walker Jenkins, Yoeilin Cespedes, and Nazzan Zanetello have not played due to injury. But, it has allowed eyes to be put on other players.

So, who has stood out over four games of looks?

MiLB Spring Training Standouts

Miguel Bleis, OF, BOS

Bleis has received a lot of buzz on social media the last few days due to the reports that he has added 30 pounds this offseason, most of it being muscle. While people question how this happened, its pretty simple.

Bleis last played in a game last year on May 30 due to a shoulder injury. He spent ten months working out, with seven of those being full-go after surgery. He also mentioned it was the first time he really focused on working in the weight room. In the process, he hired a nutritionist to help him get on a diet and gain weight. Finally, we are talking about a player who was 19 years old the entire offseason; it is normal for him to keep growing and add weight.

The performance has been really good at the plate. On Tuesday, Bleis smoked two balls to dead center that went for hits and nearly left the yard. He faced Bailey Ober twice on Wednesday and smoked one to left field to begin the game before Ober got him the next time up with a slider.

The plate discipline skills have looked good with Bleis as he has worked counts better than he has in the past and taken some good walks. Is he likely to run higher chase rates? Yes, because he is aggressive. But that does not mean he can’t make up for it with zone contact. The power and speed will be the carrying tools, and the upside here is immense.

Brandon Winokur, SS/OF, MIN

We have been big fans of Brandon Winokur dating back to last summers draft and he was on my list to draft everywhere in FYPDs. Winokur is a physically gifted 6’5”/210 athlete and has very loud tools. He hits the ball hard but also posts high-end run times for his size while having room to fill out.

Winokur has played shortstop in both games I have seen him but he likely outgrows the position if he does add weight onto his frame. He controls the barrel extremely well and keeps his weight back on breaking balls. The contact skills have been good and he has also hit plenty of balls hard.

On Tuesday, Winokur opened the game up with a hit off of MLB veteran reliever Chris Martin and has several other solid batted balls. He collected another hit on Wednesday and hit several balls hard. He could be a big riser up rankings this year.

Carlos Aguiar, OF, MIN

Aguiar has not put up big numbers to this point, but he was a $1 million bonus back in 2017. The listed height/weight of 6’2/175 is nowhere close to accurate, as I would bet on him being 6’4”/220.

There is massive power in the profile, and after a ground-rule double on Tuesday, Aguiar homered twice in Wednesday’s action. He is 22 years old and has spent the last two years in Single-A, where he has shown plenty of power but questionable contact.

Luis Cohen, RHP, BOS

Cohen is an arm the Red Sox like internally due to his solid pitch metrics, and it is easy to see why when watching him. After a solid performance at the complex level last season in which he posted a 3.46 ERA across 39 innings, he could take a step forward in 2024.

His fastball is up two ticks, and he was sitting 92-93 with a nice life on it at the start of Tuesday. The breaking ball showed nice depth and sweep while sitting 75-78 mph. He lacked feel for it early in the outing, but when he found his footing with it, it missed bats. Cohen’s changeup was extremely good as well the several times he threw it, showing nice fade and sitting 79-82 mph.

Cohen is an arm I would watch closely as he could pop off and move up the rankings in 2024.

Antonio Anderson, SS, BOS

Anderson was a third-rounder in the 2023 draft out of North Atlanta High School. A gifted athlete with a projectable 6’3”/205 lb frame, Anderson has a smooth swing from the left side but shows a good feel for power from both sides of the plate as a switch hitter. Anderson has posted high exit velocities and run times, making him an intriguing power and speed threat as he has posted above-average run times as a prep player.

The looks at him have been solid as Anderson has shown good plate skills and has made contact while showing a ton of athleticism. Anderson is one that I should see plenty of in Greenville by mid-season and he could fly up rankings.

Ricardo Olivar, C/OF, MIN

Olivar played in just one game between the two games but made an impression. He showed strong bat speed from a short and compact frame. He made strong contact against Chris Martin, hitting a single to right field and added a second hit in the game.

In 2023, Olivar showed off an impressive skillset this year, slashing .285/.403/.452 with ten home runs, 40 extra-base hits, and 12 stolen bases in 100 games. He posted a 76 percent contact rate, which jumped to an impressive 84 percent in the zone while chasing just 24 percent of pitches out of the zone. He hit the ball pretty hard, checking in with an 89.5 mph average exit velocity and a 90th percentile of 103.2, which was pretty close to the MLB average.