The Boston Red Sox boast a farm system that is the envy of most MLB teams, due primarily to the top-end talent among its position players.
With a trio of budding superstars in outfielder Roman Anthony, second baseman Kristian Campbell, and shortstop Marcelo Mayer – who are ranked in the top 12 among all prospects and ready to join other recent graduates of the system at Fenway Park such as outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela and first baseman Triston Casas – Boston is on its way toward fielding a lineup teeming with homegrown players.
But what about the pitching staff?
Fear not, as early indications point to Boston potentially having unearthed a gem on the mound as well.
“I think the Red Sox look like they may have done it again,” Ben Badler said on the Baseball America podcast.
Talking to colleague Chris Collazo, Badler raved about left-hander Brandon Clarke, who recently made his professional debut with the Single-A Salem Red Sox. Facing the Fredericksburg Nationals on April 10, his 22nd birthday, the 2024 fifth-round draft pick set down all 12 batters he faced, striking out five. Clarke would follow that up on April 16 against the Lynchburg Hillcats with 2.1 innings, allowing 1 run on 2 hits and a walk, while striking out 6.
“Cool for the Red Sox fans to see it on the pitching side, because I know that’s something they’ve sort of lamented in their system,” Collazo said. “They want more arms. Well, maybe Clarke is a guy they can get excited about.”
Fifth-Round Pick Brandon Clarke Shows First-Round Skills
Badler certainly was excited about Clarke, given the skills that look to be well above fifth-round level.
“If you just saw him in that first start, and he was good in his second start, too. But I watched that first start, and you would have thought he was a first-round pick,” Badler said.
“Every fastball out of his hand was 95 to 99 mph in that first start. It was 12 up, 12 down, four perfect innings, struck out five batters, and the slider was a wipeout pitch. It was upper 80s, so he’s throwing it with power. It had a ton of movement on it, too. Can kind of manipulate it in different ways to get two-plane depth, to get that sweepier action to it. That looks like it’s going to continue to be a big-time swing-and-miss pitch for him. Everything looked just phenomenal.”
Collazo said, compared to what Clarke showed during the pre-draft combine last year, he is also impressed with the new breaking pitch.
“I’m not exactly sure what the development timeline was for the slider, but that pitch alone makes me a lot more excited about what he can do,” Collazo said.
“He located the fastball and changeup nicely [at the combine], he threw a curveball that had 2700 to 2900 RPM spin. So the fact that he’s kind of taken those ingredients and added this hellish looking slider, hard upper 80s pitch that really generated some ugly, back-foot swings from right-handed batters, it looks like a pitch that’s going to be really effective against both righties and lefties.”
Brandon Clarke Has Made Impressive Strides Since 2024 Draft
Both analysts noted that coming out of State College of Florida, Clarke was not a complete unknown, as Baseball America had him among its top 300 prospects entering the draft. And there were legitimate reasons for Clarke slipping to Boston at the 148 spot, as scouts were concerned about control issues and injuries, including Tommy John surgery during high school.
But Collazo said Clarke’s control only seems to have improved since the combine.
“His throwing strikes is super encouraging,” he said.
As for the injury concerns? Only time will tell.
“But boy, if he can continue to throw strikes and if he can hold up as a starter, I mean, even if he can’t, that stuff is still going to be really electric out of a bullpen,” Badler said. “But if he can be a starter, it’s not just, ‘Oh well, maybe he’s a four or five starter.’ This is somebody who looks like they could pitch … toward the front end of a rotation.”
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