Boston's top pitching prospects start the season with Portland

Apr. 7—David Sandlin is eager for the 2025 season to unfold. A starting pitcher for the Portland Sea Dogs, Sandlin sees the talent around him in Portland's starting rotation and can't help but get excited.
"We've got a really deep organization. It's going to be a lot of fun. A lot of new names, too, that people are going to fall in love with," Sandlin said.
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After years of failing to develop starting pitchers, the Red Sox are on the upswing. Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, and Brayan Bello have contributed at the major league level over the last few seasons, and Hunter Dobbins, who spent much of 2024 in Portland, made his first big league start and earned the win Sunday night when Boston needed a starter for Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Cardinals.
As the 2025 season begins, Portland's rotation includes some of the top prospects in Boston's system. Sandlin sits at No. 9 in Boston's system, according to MLB Pipeline, one spot ahead of Connelly Early, a left-handed starter with the Sea Dogs. Two other Portland starters are ranked in the top 30, Yordanny Monegro (No. 24) and Blake Wehunt (No. 28). Tyler Uberstine, who started the Sea Dogs' season-opening 14-6 win Friday against the Reading Fightin Phils, is ranked No. 54 by soxprospects.com.
Luis Perales, Boston's No. 5 prospect, underwent Tommy John surgery to repair his right elbow after two starts with the Sea Dogs last season, and could rejoin the team midseason.
"Everybody has their own strengths, and we want to take advantage of those strengths. Really try to make sure we're putting them in a good position," said Sean Isaac, who along with Juan Rivera will serve as a pitching coach in Portland this season.
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Drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 11th round in 2022, Sandlin was traded to the Red Sox during spring training last year for John Schreiber. Sandlin began last season in High-A Greenville before a promotion to Portland in late July. He started eight games for the Sea Dogs last season, going 0-2 with a 5.61 ERA. He struck out 82 over 57 1/3 innings in Greenville and Portland last season.
Early was drafted in the fifth round out of the University of Virginia by the Red Sox in 2023. He also started eight games for the Sea Dogs last season, going 2-3 with a 4.50 ERA. In 103 2/3 innings between Greenville and Portland, Early fanned 138 hitters.
Sandlin pitched five innings Saturday at Reading to get the win, throwing 78 pitches. Early went 3 2/3 innings Sunday, also a Portland victory, throwing 62 pitches. Sea Dogs manager Chad Epperson said he thinks Sandlin and Early could have a leg up on the rest of the rotation to begin the season, because of the experience each gained in Double-A last year. Uberstine and Monegro will make their Double-A debuts this season, and Wehunt started one game for the Sea Dogs at the end of last season.
"I think in the beginning, pitchers hold the advantage in this kind of (cold) weather. But knowing that you've already pitched here kind of gives you a little bit more confidence and that experience. I'm not saying these guys are vets by any means, for the league, but they do have a few games under their belt and they know what to expect," Epperson said. "Early on, all of these guys are going to be monitored on a pitch count, like they always are. I'm super excited to watch these guys attack the zone. It's going to be a lot of fun to watch."
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What the Red Sox want to see from their starters in Double-A is consistency, especially when it comes to throwing everything in the arsenal for strikes. Because of the use of the automated ball-strike challenge system used in Triple-A, the strike zone there is tighter, said Brian Abraham, Boston's director of player development. Being able to work throughout the zone is crucial to making that jump.
"They (Sandlin and Early) have the stuff. They have different repertoires to get guys out," Abraham said. "They need to be able to get strike zone swings and miss."
To Isaac, everything has to start with the fastball.
"Velocity is still king, right? For major leaguers, the standard has continued to rise. For us, it's about creating their major league self in these minor league guys," Isaac said. "In terms of being over the plate with off-speed pitches, we've got to be consistent. Making sure we're dominating over the plate as much as we can, particularly early and late in counts."
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Both Sandlin and Early spent a large chunk of the offseason working to increase their velocity. Sandlin's fastball already consistently sits in the high-90s, occasionally hitting 100 miles per hour. Sandlin said he continued to work on developing his splitter and adding a cutter. For Early, adding weight was an additional goal, to help give him the strength to get through a long and rigorous season. He now carries 195 pounds on his 6-foot-3 frame, and has seen his fastball tick up from the low to mid 90s.
"David, he's a power pitcher, a high-velocity guy. We want to continue that and make sure that's in a great spot. That's going to be a huge contributor to his success at the major league level," Isaac said. "Early, we've seen gains in velocity as well. He's put on a ton of weight, good and healthy weight. Keeping those guys in the mid-to-upper 90s is a huge priority for us, and throwing over the plate consistency."
There's no Big Three prospects starting the season in Portland, like 2024 when Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, and Kyle Teel all opened the season on the Sea Dogs roster. Early sees an overall deep team, particularly in the starting rotation.
"We've got a bunch of good players this year," he said. "The group we have is pretty solid, so it should be a good year."
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