With the draft in the books and the short seasons set to begin by the end of this week, we should start seeing some promotions in the near future. Here are a few under-the-radar candidates who appear to be on track to be tested by a new level.
Matt Cooper: He's setting minor league baseball ablaze with 92 strikeouts to just 18 walks over 72⅔ innings, earning him write-ups on FanGraphs and Minor League Ball. However, he's 24 years old and a college pitcher (Hawaii), and yet he's still in Winston-Salem. The Sox might be cautious because these are the first 12 starts of his pro career, but a jump seems imminent.
Jake Peter: He's hitting .307/.382/.417 at Double-A, and he's basically maintained that line all season. Unlike Cooper, he's age-appropriate for the level (he'll be 23 all season), and he was taken in the seventh round instead of the 16th. On top of that, he had a decent showing the Arizona Fall League. He's a left-handed hitter with good strike-zone control, and he's played all over the field:
- 1B: 23 starts
- LF: 16 starts
- 2B: 6 starts
- RF: 6 starts
- 3B: 4 starts
Now that Keon Barnum is playing first, Peter should be spending more time at other positions.
Brian Clark: This is cheating, as the 23-year-old lefty was recently promoted to Charlotte after posting an 0.96 ERA over 17 games (28 innings) at Birmingham, with just six walks to 25 strikeouts. He's a fastball-slider lefty picked out of Kent State in the ninth round of the 2014 draft, and this timetable puts him on a good track to be a left-handed option in the bullpen should the Sox tire of Dan Jennings or Matt Purke.
Sunday's box scores will appear below shortly.