Pink Sox
Teel batted .407 with 13 homers, 69 RBIs and a 1.130 OPS final season with the Virginia Cavaliers.
After focusing on high-school infielders within the first spherical throughout Chaim Bloom’s first three years on the job, the Pink Sox opted for a highly-touted collegiate catcher with the 14th general decide within the 2023 MLB Draft.
Boston chosen catcher Kyle Teel out of the College of Virginia with its first-round choice, with the Sox including the consensus top-rated backstop on this draft class into their farm system.
Listed below are six issues to know in regards to the newest addition to Boston’s prospect pipeline.
Teel was seen as a top-10 decide within the 2023 Draft
Given each his lofty collegiate resume and the worth discovered at his place, it wasn’t a lot of a shock that Teel was tabbed by many draft consultants as a top-10 decide on this draft.
Ranked the No. 7 general prospect by MLB.com, Teel was named ACC Participant of the 12 months in 2023 with the Cavaliers. In 65 video games with Virginia in 2023, the 21-year-old catcher batted .407 with 13 homers, 69 RBIs, and a 1.130 OPS.
Over his three seasons as Virginia’s beginning catcher, Teel batted .343 with 28 homers, 155 RBIs, and a .979 OPS in 177 video games. A pure athlete with a robust arm, sound defensive instincts, and excessive marks for baseball IQ, Teel was anticipated to be off the board by the point Boston landed on the clock.
The Athletic’s Keith Regulation believes that Pink Sox followers ought to “be ecstatic” {that a} poised catching prospect like Teel fell to Boston.
“He has some areas to work on, needing particularly to enhance his manufacturing towards left-handed pitching, however he’s an incredible athlete for a catcher and it reveals up in his operating, his motion behind the plate, and even within the bat pace from his fast wrists,” Regulation wrote. “He won’t have the upside of a number of the bats who went earlier than him however I believe he may nonetheless find yourself an All-Star in some unspecified time in the future, and has a excessive flooring as a result of he can catch.”
Hit software raises some questions on his ceiling
Regardless of Teel’s spectacular stat traces throughout his junior season at Charlottesville, his slight slide within the first spherical is likely to be attributable to questions relating to his hit potential, particularly on the subsequent degree.
MLB.com’s scouting report on Teel famous:
“A left-handed-hitting backstop, Teel has the possibility to hit for common and energy, although he’s gotten caught a bit in between attempting to be a hitter with some pop or an influence man.”
With a Hit Grade of 55 and a Energy Grade of 45, Teel is thought to be a sophisticated hitter at this stage of his improvement. His swing produces loads of line-drive contact, and he struck out solely 36 instances (with 32 walks) in 258 at-bats in 2023.
Teel’s battle attempting to carve out a job as a power-hitting backstop may need led to his dip in manufacturing halfway by means of his tenure at Virginia.
After batting .335 and incomes freshman All-America honors in 2021, Teel’s batting common dipped to .276 as a sophomore earlier than he orchestrated a bounce-back marketing campaign.
At present measured at 6-foot-1 and 190 kilos, Teel will doubtless tack on some extra muscle as he continues to develop, particularly if he stays a catcher on the professional degree. As he fills out his body, Teel may develop extra constant pop on the plate.
However even when Teel ultimately develops into extra of a contact-based, disciplined hitter on the MLB degree, that skillset — coupled with stout defensive play — holds loads of worth on the subsequent degree.
“I’ve in contrast his ceiling earlier than to a left-handed-hitting Jason Kendall, a man who places the ball in play a ton, runs very nicely for a catcher, and is an asset on protection,” Regulation wrote in his newest report on Teel.
Teel’s athleticism affords a excessive ceiling on protection
Teel’s slim, athletic body might not precisely paint the image of a regular catcher on the professional degree. However that very same athleticism has performed a serious function in his sturdy defensive grades.
Regardless of spending most of his reps behind the plate as a sophomore and junior with the Cavaliers, Teel additionally noticed loads of time as an outfielder as a freshman. His arm energy (65 Grade) interprets at each positions, with Teel catching 15 runners stealing on 24 makes an attempt this previous season.
Teel’s athleticism and flexibility may provide a path to the large leagues if his trajectory as a catcher does stall in some unspecified time in the future within the subsequent few years.
Nonetheless, there’s loads to love with Teel’s defensive upside behind the plate. Regardless of lacking simply 23 complete innings all season lengthy, Teel solely dedicated three errors in 2023 as Virginia’s catcher. His framing potential and knack for getting strikes referred to as additionally drew rave critiques, particularly when projected towards different D1 catchers.
Teel’s arrival fills an organizational want
The Pink Sox have a tantalizing pool of expertise within the infield with Double-A prospects like Marcelo Mayer (shortstop) and Nick Yorke (second base) making strides in Portland.
Heart fielder Ceddanne Rafaela could possibly be combating for reps in Boston later this summer time, whereas teenage outfielders like Miguel Bleis and Roman Anthony provide loads of hope for the longer term.
However earlier than Teel’s arrival, Boston’s pipeline of catching expertise was largely barren.
Despite the fact that the Pink Sox have seen 27-year-old Connor Wong develop right into a strong professional this season, Boston had little additional down on the road for years forward.
In keeping with SoxProspects.com, Boston’s high catching prospect coming into Sunday night was 18-year-old Johanfran Garcia with the Sixteenth-ranked spot inside the system. Sea Canines backstop Nathan Hickey is subsequent in line at No. 21.
With Teel now in place, the Pink Sox have a longtime catching prospect who — barring extreme setbacks to his improvement path — may be part of different lineup stalwarts like Mayer and Rafaela up on the MLB degree in due time.
As long as he makes the anticipated strides in his sport, Teel ought to have a transparent path as much as the large leagues inside the subsequent few years.
Teel had a cup of espresso within the Cape League final summer time
Teel has spent most of his previous couple of seasons down in Virginia, however he does have some familiarity with Massachusetts already.
After Virginia’s 2022 marketing campaign wrapped, Teel had a brief stint with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League. He solely appeared in eight video games, batting .125 (3-for-24) with a double, one RBI, and 4 walks.
Teel adopted within the footsteps of his father, Garett, who performed for the Cotuit Kettleers in the summertime of 1988. Garett Teel, additionally a catcher, was drafted within the twelfth spherical of the 1989 MLB Draft by the Dodgers.
Teel grew up a Yankees fan
Rising up in Mahwah, New Jersey, Teel acknowledged that he was raised as an enormous Yankees fan.
Nevertheless, he doesn’t view his childhood allegiances as being a serious hurdle transferring ahead.
“I bleed Pink now,” Teel mentioned, per MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.
No person’s good.
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