Game Report: Anderson Espinoza

HICKORY, N.C.—At 18 years old, Greenville righthander Anderson Espinoza is the youngest player in the low Class A South Atlantic League. He’s also the No. 4 prospect in Boston’s system and ranked at No. 19 on this year’s Top 100 list.

On Monday against a Hickory team stacked with talent, Espinoza showed exactly why he’s deserving of such high accolades at such a young age.

Restricted to five innings or 80 pitches—whichever came first—Espinoza cut through the Crawdads with efficiency and ease. He used his traditional three-pitch mix of fastball, changeup and curveball to hold the opposition to one run on three hits. He whiffed seven and walked two.

The only run he allowed came in the fifth inning, when he spiked a curveball with the bases loaded that got past catcher Jhon Nunez. A few pitches later, he ended the threat with a 97 mph heater in on the hands of Hickory second baseman Andy Ibanez—a 23-year-old Cuban import who is off to a .439 start—that resulted in an easy grounder to second base.

Prior to that, Hickory couldn’t touch Espinoza.

After sitting at 91-94 mph with his fastball in the first inning, Espinoza warmed up as the outing progressed. He eventually sat in the mid-90s and used his changeup and curveball effectively. He got swings and misses with all three pitches.

His final strikeout, of Hickory center fielder Eric Jenkins, came on a 76 mph curve that dove down and in at the last moment. He showed the ability to both cut and run his fastball to both sides of the plate.

The outing marked the first professional win for Espinoza, who opened 2016 with five scoreless innings against Asheville before taking a loss in his second start to West Virginia, giving up four runs (three earned) in five innings.

About the only blemishes on his record Monday came from an inability to consistently hit the outside corner with his fastball against lefthanders and wavering command of his breaking ball.

Even at just 6 feet tall, Espinoza gets tremendous life on his fastball, and does so with a smooth, easy delivery from a traditional three-quarters slot.

The Red Sox signed Espinoza—who ranked No. 4 in the international class of 2014—for $1.8 million. He trained in Venezuela with Felix Luzon and dealt with a stress fracture in his right elbow. After spending last summer in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League, he was promoted to Greenville after the GCL season ended, making one final start.