Red Sox minor league report: Farmhand Cutter Coffey makes history with homers in six straight games - The Boston Globe (2024)

The run represents a startling change to the trajectory of his year. He’d been hitting .186/.260/.331 with four homers through 29 games. He’s hitting .458/.552/1.375 with those seven homers in his last six games.

Some of the explosion can be attributed to the launching pad of Fluor Field in Greenville, one of the more homer-friendly environments in the minors. Still, a few elements speak to Coffey’s offensive development.

He has made some mechanical tweaks — broken down by Chris Clegg of SoxProspects and RotoBaller — to tighten his swing, helping him catch pitches in front of the plate. The result? His pulled fly-ball rate on barrels has doubled — meaning he’s getting more bang for the buck when squaring up pitches. He also is simply hitting the ball harder, with his top 10 percent of batted balls averaging 102 miles per hour this year (up from 99 last year).

With the tighter swing has come more frequent contact. Coffey has lowered his strikeout rate from 27 percent in a late-season promotion to Greenville in 2023 to 23 percent this year. During his homer streak, he struck out just twice in 29 plate appearances, evidence he’s chasing fewer pitches.

Coffey has the upside of a player with 60-grade power on the 20-to-80 scouting scale, albeit with a still-developing offensive approach that creates a wide range of possibilities. Still, his power coupled with the arm strength to play on the left side of the diamond points to a player with clear big league tools.

A look at the rest of the week in the Red Sox minor league system:

▪ Triple A Worcester: 3-3 last week, 32-37 overall

Nick Yorke (Baseball America’s No. 8 Red Sox prospect) continued to rake following his promotion to Triple A, going 10 for 23 with three doubles, good for a .435/.536/.565 line. He’s making steady hard contact, with a 7 percent swing-and-miss rate and a line-drive approach that has produced a .405/.510/.643 line in his first 11 games with Worcester.

Matthew Lugo, who hadn’t struck out more than twice in a game all season, had a trio of three-strikeout games last week, going 3 for 22 with 10 strikeouts and two walks.

Righthander Josh Winckowski had his best start since returning to Triple A, striking out eight and walking none in six one-hit innings. He threw a harder, sharper cutter that averaged 90 m.p.h. with less cut (2.7 inches, roughly half of what he’d averaged prior to that outing) and downward movement than he’d shown in previous outings. The pitch got eight swings and misses.

▪ Double A Portland: 3-3 last week, 34-29 overall

Big Three Update: No. 1 prospect Roman Anthony missed three games after getting hit by a pitch on the elbow, but bounced back with a homer in his return. The 20-year-old has reached base in 17 straight games, hitting .364/.493/.673 with three homers in that stretch. No. 2 prospect Marcelo Mayer went 6 for 19 with two more doubles, running his total to 23, the most in Double A. His excellent production has come chiefly against righties (.337/.403/.539); he has struggled in left-on-left situations (.177/.246/.275). No. 3 prospect Kyle Teel had multiple hits in four of five games, going 10 for 20 with a .500/.560/.700 line. For the season, the 22-year-old is hitting .313 (second in the Eastern League) with a .410 OBP (second), .487 slugging mark (sixth), and .898 OPS (fourth).

In the eyes of some evaluators, Kristian Campbell may soon warrant consideration as a top-five Red Sox prospect, if he isn’t there already. He’s now hitting .392/.456/.667 through 12 games since his promotion to Double A. For the year, the 22-year-old second baseman/outfielder is hitting .328/.427/.586 with 10 homers in 52 games.

Blaze Jordan (No. 17) returned after missing a month with a broken finger by running his hitting streak to 19 games before taking an 0-fer. The 21-year-old is the author of perhaps the most ridiculous statistic in the Red Sox system this year: In 39 plate appearances against lefties, he has yet to strike out while posting an outrageous .486/.513/.800 line.

▪ High A Greenville: 3-3 last week, 25-38 overall

Outfielder Miguel Bleis (No. 4) went 3 for 19 in his first four games in High A, though still managed to give a glimpse of the diverse tool set that has him ranked as a top prospect.

Outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia, 21, continued to show loud tools in June. In 12 games this month, he’s hitting .333/.423/.711 with five homers.

▪ Single A Salem: 4-2 last week, 32-31 overall

Switch hitter Antonio Anderson is hitting .200/.345/.400 with two homers in 12 games in June — the 2023 third-rounder matching his homer total from the first two months of the season.

Righthander Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz allowed one unearned run in four innings in his most recent start, and now has gone nine innings without an earned run to lower his ERA to 3.05 with a 28 percent strikeout rate (up from 23 last year) in 44 innings.

▪ Florida Complex League: 1-0 last week, 13-14 overall

Rain limited the rookie league team to one game.

▪ Dominican Summer League: Blue, 4-5 overall; Red, 7-2 overall

The Red Sox signed righthander Dalvinson Reyes in January to one of their largest international amateur bonuses for a pitcher in years. He impressed in his first two pro starts, throwing seven scoreless innings with eight strikeouts, no walks, and just two singles allowed.

Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com. Follow him @alexspeier.