Quick, who is the 2B of the future for the Red Sox? Now consider another name: Brainer Bonaci.
- Born: July 9, 2002
- B/T: Both/Right
- 5’10”, 164-lbs
- Signed by the Boston Red Sox in 2018 out of Venezuela
The Numbers
His raw numbers are listed above courtesy of baseball-reference.com. Let’s aggregate by year then focus on the important numbers for minor leaguers:
Two years ago he does well in Rookie ball, so they bumped him up to A ball. As a teenager, he does OK, but well for his age.
In 2022 he repeats A ball, and now his bat control really shines with exactly as many walks as strikeouts. Good OBP, good speed, shame about the power.
This year he moved up to High-A, and now the power is all that (31.7 Hard Hit% too, so it’s not luck, he really is hitting the ball harder). The strikeouts crept up, and the walks are only OK, and he’s not being asked to steal as many bases, but the overall production is now first rate. And I write this on the day he turns 21 (Happy Birthday, Brainer!)
Monthly Splits
The power was there in the beginning of the year, then got wildly productive in June before cooling off a bit in July. You can see how the strikeouts went high to get that extra power, and then he decides, naaaah, solid power is good enough, let’s not sell out with strikeouts.
Handedness K% and BB%
High-A (vs RH): 24%K and 11%BB. (vs LH): 22%K and 0%BB.
Small sample against lefties, so we can’t draw too many conclusions about his walk rate against them. But he doesn’t strike out against them either, and that’s what we wanted to see.
The Scouts
- Rotowire: #169 on their Top 400
- Fantrax: Not on their Top 400
- RotoProspects: Not on Top 500
- Toolshed Fantasy ($): Not on Top 500
- PARSlist ($): 85.3 (long career, some ASG)
- PLIVE+: 116 (101st best batting prospect)
Warnings
FanGraphs, a month ago:
A scrappy, grinder type of infielder who plays with big effort, Bonaci fits snugly in a utility infield role. His switch-hitting and defensive versatility will enable lots of favorable in-game matchups, or at least allow his manager to avoid unfavorable ones, since Bonaci can act as a platoon-neutral mid-game bat and then go to whatever position.
FanGraphs: Boston Red Sox Top 46 Prospects
So unless we see more in-game power, he’s more of a utility bat according to them. But after two HRs in 2021, and six in 2022, he has eight already this year with a couple of months to play. The power is developing before our eyes.
We haven’t seen him in Double-A yet.
What’s up with the lack of SBs this season?
Conclusion
He has great defensive skills. Maybe not ideal for SS, but quality for 2B, and he plays 3B too. So that’s why FanGraphs sees him as a useful utility bat.
The question about Bonaci was his power, and he answered that this year.
He always had good bat control, so add power, keep the speed, throw in defensive chops, and will the 2B of the future for the Red Sox please step forward? No so fast, there, Nick Yorke…
The point is, the Red Sox have some good young bats coming up in their system. Now you see why Brainer Bonaci is in that mix as well.