Unheralded Red Sox Pitching Prospect Appears To be Star In The Making

Boston has a promising hurler coming up the pipeline

Scott Neville | Apr 27, 2023

Unheralded Red Sox Pitching Prospect Appears To be Star In The Making /

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Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox farm system has struggled to produce quality starting pitchers this century but appears to have a budding star on the rise.

Left-handed pitcher Shane Drohan -- Boston's No. 29 prospect according to MLB Pipeline -- has made mincemeat of his Double-A opposition thus far after retooling his game in the offseason.

Drohan is 4-0 with a 0.78 ERA (two total runs allowed), 26-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .163 batting average against and 0.74 WHIP in 23 innings across four starts for the Portland Sea Dogs.

The young hurler went 7-8 with a 3.89 ERA, 157-to-51 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .227 batting average against and 1.26 WHIP in 129 2/3 innings between High-A Salem and Double-A Portland last season. He's since put in the work to look like a whole new pitcher.

The 24-year-old gained 14 pounds in the offseason by eating a lot of eggs and "almost a steak or two a day." His commitment to lifting and being in a caloric surplus resulted in a spike in velocity. After sitting in the low 90s last season, the southpaw can run it up to 95 mph and sits in the 93-94 mph range.

He's also improved his changeup and added an effective cutter. It's incredible how much he accomplished in just one offseason, which bodes very well for his future.

Drohan will almost undoubtedly shoot up the farm system rankings throughout the season in a similar fashion as Ceddanne Rafaela a season ago.

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Published Apr 27, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu