Bryce Brentz

Brentz suffered an injury for the third straight year in 2015, with late-June thumb surgery ending his season after 59 games. He hit .232/.308/.382 with eight homers while striking out 74 times in 250 plate appearances (29.6%) for Triple-A Pawtucket. The soon-to-be 27-year-old outfielder is past his prime as a prospect. His power potential and strong outfield arm have some value, but he’s never developed a quality approach. He’s overly aggressive on first pitches, swings at breaking balls outside the zone and has poor pitch recognition. Until he improves in those areas, he’ll be a fringe outfielder whose power potential will be the most attractive thing about his game. Look for him to once again spend the bulk of 2016 at Pawtucket.

For the second year in a row, Brentz suffered an injury that delayed his development and cost him an opportunity for promotion. The Red Sox had one of the major league's worst outfields in 2014 and were desperate for the kind of right-handed power he offers. A hamstring injury in May lingered until early August. At the time of his injury, Brentz was hitting a miserable .163, but had showed improved patience, an area in which the organization was hoping to see development. He made much more consistent contact down the stretch and had some nice moments in a nine-game callup in September. Boston's outfield changed a lot late in the season with acquisitions from outside the organization -- Allen Craig, Yoenis Cespedes and Rusney Castillo -- as well as some in-house position switches for Mookie Betts and Brock Holt. Brentz appears ticketed to open the season at Triple-A Pawtucket for the third straight season. He'll be a depth option for Boston, but is a good candidate to be traded considering the depth already in place at the major league level.

Brentz took a step back in 2013, though his power numbers remained strong, and he still projects as an everyday starter in the majors. He was set to be a part of major league camp last spring but suffered a leg injury (while cleaning a gun) in early February and didn't get rolling until late in spring training. He later suffered a knee injury in July, which ended his season, and rehabbed with the organization's rookie-level club in the Gulf Coast League in October. It's all about power for Brentz, who uses all fields, but he continues to be an aggressive swinger, so we may have to live with high-strikeout and low-walk totals.

Brentz overcame a slow start at Double-A Portland, a new level for him, to hit .296/.355/.478 with 17 homers before a late-season promotion to Triple-A Pawtucket. It took a little more than a month for Brentz, but he eventually adjusted to the advanced off-speed stuff he saw at the higher level, and he remains the organization's top power prospect. The team would like to see him become more selective at the plate and to continue to hone the mechanics of his swing. Defensively, Brentz is still working on his routes to flyballs and instincts. After a productive stint in the Arizona Fall League, Brentz should open the season at Triple-A Pawtucket.

When Brentz first debuted after signing with the Red Sox in 2010, he had to adjust to wearing contacts. That accomplished, his next goal was to start hitting for power in 2011. That goal was achieved - he hit a combined 30 homers between Low-A and High-A last season. Next on the agenda for Brentz is to improve his defense (he committed 17 errors and took numerous bad routes on fly balls) and improve his batting eye - once he got promoted to High-A Salem, his contact rate dropped to 72 percent. All-in-all though it was a successful season for the 2010 first-round supplemental pick. He eventually could be a part of the Red Sox corner outfield picture, perhaps as a September call-up in 2013.

Brentz started slowly at Short-Season Lowell, adjusting to the wooden bat as well as wearing contact lenses for the first time. He finished off the season with a nice August run, which indicated better pitch recognition and a smoothing of the mechanics in his swing. He's expected to open the year at Low-A Greenville, where we'll get to see how last year's late-season improvement translates to the advanced level of pitching he'll see in the Sally League. As he develops a better approach at the plate, we should start to see some of the power that's been predicted.