Red Sox prioritize pitching assistance over all else in…

 

BOSTON — A first-time All-Star, Tanner Houck arrived in Arlington this week as a representative not only of the 2024 Red Sox, but as an example of the club’s most recent MLB Draft success story on the pitching front. Since they selected Houck with the 24th overall pick in 2017, the Red Sox had not taken a pitcher higher than No. 99 in the Draft. That is until this year, when they did it — twice.

After selecting TCU left-hander Payton Tolle with the 50th pick in the second round on Sunday night, the Red Sox rolled right into Day 2 of the Draft by taking Florida right-hander Brandon Neely at No. 86.

Highlighted by former first-rounders Marcelo Mayer (2021) and Kyle Teel (‘23), and second-rounder Roman Anthony (‘22), Boston’s farm system is rich in talent, but notably sparse on the pitching side.

Of the three pitching prospects in the Red Sox’s Top 10, none were drafted by the club. Wikelman Gonzalez (No. 5) and Luis Perales (No. 9) were both signed as international free agents, while Richard Fitts (No. 10) arrived in the December trade that sent Alex Verdugo to the Yankees. Though there’s no guarantee that any or all of the players selected on Day 1 on Sunday or Day 2 on Monday end up signing with or panning out for the Red Sox, their selections represented a departure from recent Draft strategy for Boston.

We certainly learned some things this year on how we could better value pitchers,” Red Sox amateur scouting director Devin Pearson said in a Zoom call with reporters on Sunday night. “We still went with the best player available, who turned out to be a pitcher. But as I’ve said before, we’re continuing to try and figure out ways to improve our process and with [chief baseball officer Craig Breslow’s] help and [director of pitching Justin Willard’s] help, we just feel more comfortable with what type of pitchers we can develop in our