BOSTON, MA - The 2015 season left the Red Sox with one present, the 12th overall pick in the draft, and by all accounts they made it count. Boston didn't come into the draft with too many pressing needs, their farm system is one of the best in baseball, but if they do need anything it's pitching.
1 (12) - RHP Yusniel Arias (Cuba)
Arias would be the first international prospect taken in the draft, and he represents a major boom-or-bust investment. The 6'-7" Cuban was projected to go slightly higher with the Tigers (#9) and the Mariners (#11) looking at taking a prep arm, but they passed on Arias in favor of more polished options. What he lacks in polish he makes up for with power, and it appears to come easily to him with a very loose 3/4 arm slot that can drift into an almost side-armed motion. He impressed scouts by throwing consistently in the high-90's with a number of 100MPH measurements, but he lacks a secondary offering that could be considered average at best. Arias will need some mechanical refinements and some serious work on his control, but scouts agree that he has Ace upside.
2 (42) - RHP Cristobal Rosario (Puerto Rico)
Boston stayed with the prep arms in the 2nd round by taking another power pitcher with some work ahead of him. Rosario has a similar profile to Yusniel Arias, but he doesn't show the control Arias does when it come to his heater. The high-90's offering has some movement to it, but his outings in the run up to the draft were concerning. Some scouts had him graded as high as a 1st round selection, some in the 4th. He throws a splitter that flashes plus potential, but much like Arias he needs to work on his secondary offerings.
3 (72) - SS Willy Sanchez (Dominican Republic)
Extremely projectable athlete, but currently just a plus defender who is a contact hitter at best. At 6'-0" 190 he should develop some level of power, if not line drive ability, but at the moment his aggressive plate approach combined with a messy swing produces infield singles and bloops to the outfield. If he could just take some walks he would boost his value, as he shows some serious speed on the base paths and could produce 30+ steals a year. He will get a chance based on his defense, but if he doesn't hit his ceiling is probably a utility infielder or a Quadruple-A player.
4 (102) - RHP Ernesto Cortez (Dominican Republic)
Drafting Cortez is a bit of a reach for Boston, with some needs elsewhere, but he's probably one of the more polished prep relief arms in this draft. With most of the highly rated relievers coming from the college ranks, most of them taken earlier, the Red Sox opted for a higher ceiling player. Cortez throws hard like all of the pitchers taken before him, but he does have some decent secondary offerings that make him a very solid relief option. His changeup is good, but paired with his high-90's fastball it plays up against guys looking for it. He also throws a wipe out slider that flashes plus potential, but at the moment he rarely uses it.
5 (132) - 3B Damien Villanueva (Cuba)
It isn't totally clear if it's good or bad yet, but Villanueva draws comparisons to Wily Mo Pena. At 6'-3" 250 he could certainly lose some weight and will likely be moved off the hot corner, but he shows a ton of raw power paired with a long swing that could use some work. He strikes out quite a bit, but shows decent plate discipline which helps offset his all-or-nothing swing. He is a decent defender but lacks range, which is why a move to 1B or LF is likely. Of all Boston's picks in the draft he could have the longest route to the majors, but if he doesn't improve at the plate he might never make it beyond AAA.
6 (162) - LHP Richard Escalona (Dominican Republic)
Yet another power arm, but one scouts have pegged for relief work long term. Escalona has worked out of the bullpen and shown a tendency to wear down quickly. His command is hit-or-miss on his fastball, but his circle change has flashed plus potential and is likely his best offering at this point. The frustrating point of Escalona's durability is his near dominance of right-handed batters, if he showed the ability to start he could have gone 4 rounds earlier.
7 (192) - LHP Julio Blanco (Dominican Republic)
Boston closed out the draft by taking their 7th international prep player, 6th if you count Puerto Rico as part of the US, and he fills a system need with relief pitching becoming a long term issue. Blanco has closed for the past two years and has the upside of a dominant setup man or closer if he can refine his mechanics and develop an out pitch. He works mainly with a 2-seam fastball that can reach the upper 90's and a nasty splitter, both generating heavy ground outs and keeping the ball in the park.
