Just ahead of the deadline to add players to the 40-man roster before the Rule 5 Draft, the Red Sox announced that they have selected the contracts of two right-handed pitchers: Wikelman Gonzalez and Luis Perales. The club’s 40-man roster now sits at 39.
Gonzalez, 21, is the No. 9 prospect in the Red Sox system and the top-ranked pitcher, per MLB Pipeline. The righty is coming off a strong 2023 campaign in which he pitched to a 3.96 ERA in 25 starts between High-A and Double-A. He looked particularly impressive after his midseason promotion, posting a 2.42 ERA with 63 strikeouts in 48 1/3 innings pitched. Gonzalez won’t turn 22 until March, so it seems unlikely he’ll contribute to the big league team in 2024. Still, given his performance last season, it’s not hard to understand why Boston chose to protect him.
MLB Pipeline has Perales, 20, ranked one spot below Gonzalez, making him the No. 10 prospect in the Red Sox organization. The hard-throwing righty had a strong season of his own in 2023, pitching to a 3.91 ERA with 115 strikeouts in 21 starts between Low-A Salem and High-A Greenville. Perales is even less likely to play for the MLB club this coming season, but it is equally clear to see why the Red Sox made sure to keep him around.
In a slightly more surprising move, Boston chose not to protect Shane Drohan following his disappointing performance in 2023. The southpaw ranks 18th among Red Sox prospects on MLB Pipeline, but the evaluators at FanGraphs (8th) and Baseball America (9th) were more optimistic about the 24-year-old starter on their latest prospect lists. What’s more, Drohan’s age and experience make him a much more likely target for other teams in the Rule 5 draft. He made 21 appearances (19 starts) at Triple-A last season, and although the results weren’t great (6.47 ERA, 6.55 FIP), his numbers from Double-A (2.17 ERA in 11 starts from 2022-23) are indicative of the pitcher he could someday become.
