The Portland Sea Dogs are the Red Sox Double-A farm club and this season will have three starting pitching prospects that are listed on the top 30 Red Sox prospects on MLB Prospect Watch. A fourth prospect who is highly ranked (19th) is right-hander Ben Taylor, who showed enough in Spring Training to earn a spot in the Boston bullpen. Taylor was projected to begin 2017 with Portland in their bullpen.
Taylor is an example of how a pitcher can suddenly mature to where their value and projection escalates. An issue to keep in mind when discussing the next three prospects, especially a former number one pick who has stalled.