Intriguing Red Sox Prospect Stolen With First Pick In Rule-Five Draft By Nationals

The Red Sox lost one of their top prospects on Wednesday night

The Boston Red Sox lost one of their top prospects Wednesday night and it wasn't even by trade.

Major League Baseball held its annual Rule-5 Draft on Wednesday and the Washington Nationals selected former Red Sox pitching prospect Thad Ward, according to MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo.

I've learned that the #Nationals will be taking Thad Ward, RHP, from the #redsox with the first pick of the Rule 5 Draft, starting in about 10 min. sinker 92-6 and a plus slider.

— Jonathan Mayo (@JonathanMayo) December 7, 2022

The Rule-5 Draft takes place each December and gives teams who don't have a full 40-man roster the opportunity to draft players from other clubs who aren't on their 40-man rosters if they have been with the organization for a certain amount of time. 

Ward was drafted by the Red Sox in the fifth round of the 2018 MLB June Amateur Draft and worked his way up the farm system to the Double-A Portland Seadogs. 

The 25-year-old has shown extreme promise but has dealt with injuries which likely is the reason why Boston didn't place him on the club's 40-man roster. Ward appeared in just two games in 2021 and 13 in 2022. Even with the injuries, Ward still was ranked as the Red Sox's 15th-best prospect before being snatched up by the Nationals. 

Boston isn't any stranger to the Rule-5 Draft and in recent years nabbed hurler Garrett Whitlock from the New York Yankees and he's since turned into one of the team's most consistent and impressive pitchers. Hopefully, Ward can follow a similar path with the Nationals. 

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