Ranking the MLB readiness of the Red Sox top 5 prospects
Kyle Teel, catcher
Teel is a tad bit older than most of your prospects, as he will be 22 during spring training. However, he shows tremendous power behind the plate, and the Red Sox would like to see him fast tracked to the major leagues. There are rumors that he could be a late-season call up in 2024, but I do not see him as a major leaguer until 2025, barring injuries to the Red Sox big-league receivers.
The former Virginia Cavalier is readying himself for his first major league spring training, and has been crowned as the Red Sox catcher of the future. He was the 14th pick overall in the 2023 MLB Amateur Draft and was the reigning ACC Player of the Year and a consensus All American.
" “Obviously I want to make it up as fast as I can. And that’s my goal. But just controlling what I can and giving it my all every day and working hard is what’s really important to me.”"
- Kyle Teel, Red Sox C prospect
Teel's greatest attributes are the fact that he has a high contact rate and is very solid behind the plate. His time at Virginia was well spent and he probably developed more against ACC competition than he could have in the lower rungs of the bus leagues. He combined for only 26 games last season in the minors and hit a pair of bombs while batting .363 collectively.
Teel skipped Low-A Salem and landed with High-A Greenville after only three games in rookie ball in Florida. It only took him 14 games to earn yet another call-up — ending his abbreviated 2023 campaign with Double-A Portland, where he played with other prospects like Mayer and Anthony.
"“[He’s] unique in the sense that we don’t have too many rookies in the rookie program that haven’t had a spring training,” Farm Director Brian Abraham said of Teel. “So I think getting him acclimated to Fort Myers and we joked a little bit — he’s probably going to come to Fort Myers and [say] ‘Wow, we have a lot of players,’ because he’s only been around about 60 or 70 at one time."
- Brian Abraham, Red Sox Farm Director
The 21-year-old Teel was impressive in his first pro season, batting .363/.483/.495, but he'll likely need to garner much more real experience and prove himself at Triple-A Worcester before reaching Boston's major league roster, like I said, barring injury to the Red Sox catchers at the big league level.