Unknown Pitching Prospect With 98 MPH Fastball Rising Up Red Sox's System
The lower levels of the Boston Red Sox's farm system continues to produce intriguing talent this season.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom is closing out his third season at the helm of the organization and is starting to show his prowess when it comes to building up an endless well of young talent.
The latest rising star, however, was one of the last moves in the Dave Dombrowski era and could soon become a top 100 prospect in all of baseball if he can continue his current trajectory.
Luis Perales, the No. 19 Red Sox prospect on Sox Prospects after entering the season unranked, has put on a show since coming over to the United States in June.
The 19-year-old flamethrower made nine appearances (seven starts) in the Florida Complex League and posted a 1.08 ERA, allowing just three earned runs on 10 hits with a 34-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a .120 batting average against in 25 innings of work.
He was named the FCL Pitcher of the Month in July and quickly made Baseball America's list of top 10 prospects from this year's rookie league, one of three Red Sox prospects to do so. A large reason for his rising status is his fastball, which can reach 98 mph with movement, though it sits in the mid-90s. He also features a curveball beyond his years and a developmental changeup with flashes of being a plus pitch.
When the FCL season ended, the Red Sox were not ready for his fantastic season to end, so they sent him to Single-A Salem to make four more starts.
While Perales was not quite as dominant in a short sample size, he certainly was not overwhelmed by the promotion. The 6-foot-1, 160-pound right-hander posted a 3.38 ERA with Salem (four earned runs in 10 2/3 innings) with a more erratic 16-to-11 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a .250 batting average against.
The average Single-A pitcher was 21.9 years old according to Baseball America's J.J. Cooper, essentially three years older than Perales, and he was still quite effective.
The Red Sox's brass are well aware of how impressive Perales season has been and showed a ton of confidence in the budding star to move him up the ladder so quickly.
“For us to push somebody at his age, who started off in the Dominican this year at the academy working out, to make his way to Salem is something we don’t see often,” Red Sox assistant GM Eddie Romero told MassLive's Christopher Smith. “So it’s pretty special.”
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