BOSTON — The Red Sox promoted 28-year-old Mickey Gasper on Monday after the 2018 27th-round draft pick out of Bryant spent six seasons grinding in the minor leagues.
“You should have seen him when he walked in,” manager Alex Cora said. “I’ve never seen a call-up as dressed up as he was. It was sports coat and all that. I’m like, ‘Where were you?’ He was like, ‘At the apartment.’ I was like, ‘Wow, good for you.’ But all kidding aside, the at-bats are real.”
Cora said Gasper “earned” his first big league promotion after putting together excellent at-bats at Triple-A Worcester. The catcher/first baseman — who also recently has played some second base — had ridiculous Triple-A stats. He batted .401 with a .515 on-base percentage, .664 slugging percentage, 1.179 OPS, eight homers, 12 doubles, 32 RBIs and 36 runs in 40 games (171 plate appearances) for the WooSox. He had more walks (29) than strikeouts (16).
He began this season at Double-A Portland after Boston selected him from the Yankees in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft in December.
“Rule 5 pick. Testament to the organization recognizing talent,” Cora said.
He has posted a .341/.458/.559/1.017 line with 12 homers, 25 doubles, 54 RBIs, 64 runs, 55 walks and 38 strikeouts in 84 games (347 plate appearances) between Portland and Worcester.
“We have talked about the gap between the big leagues and Triple A. It’s a big one talent-wise,” Cora said. “But it gets to a point that he keeps doing this thing over and over and over again. A month, a month and a half, two months. And you’re like, ‘The at-bats are good.’ So we got to this point obviously and we felt like he made sense for the roster. We’ll see how long he stays here. But happy for him. I know there’s a lot of ex-teammates from Worcester that saw him (here) and they were excited. The first thing they say: ‘What an at-bat.’”
Red Sox infielder Nick Sogard, who played with Gasper in Worcester, added: “I love everything about Mickey Gasper’s game. I think having him as a teammate kind of motivates you to play hard beside him. He’s a great guy off the field. And then come game-time, he’s kind of an intense player. … Someone who you know is locked in every pitch and fighting for every inch. Yeah, he’s a really good hitter. Line drive hitter. Both sides of the plate. An on-base machine. He can mix in a homer here and there, too.”
BetMGM BET UP TO $1,500! BONUS BET REFUND AFTER A LOSS
STATES: AZ, CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MD, MI, NJ, OH, PA, TN, VA. Visit BetMGM.com for Terms and Conditions. 21 years of age or older to wager. MA Only. New Customer Offer. All promotions are subject to qualification and eligibility requirements. Rewards issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets. Bonus bets expire 7 days from issuance. In Partnership with MGM Springfield. Play it smart from the start with GameSense. GameSenseMA.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org. US Promotional Offers not available in New York.
Gasper graduated from Merrimack High (N.H.) and Bryant University. Gasper actually grew up a Yankees fan in New Hampshire because his parents are from New Jersey.
“(Because of) work my parents ended up bringing us up to New Hampshire where I was surrounded by Red Sox fans,” Gasper told MassLive in January. “And I was able to hold my ground even through 2004 when I was in fourth grade and my heart was broken.”
The front office began to talk with Cora about Gasper about a month and a half ago because the stats kept improving.
“The under the hood numbers. Not chasing pitches, hitting the ball hard. Taking his walks. Not striking out,” Cora said.
Cora said Gasper works similar at-bats as prospect Chase Meidroth, a 23-year-old infielder with a .439 on-base percentage and 34 more walks (81) than strikeouts (47).
“Mickey, he earned it,” Cora said. “The at-bats for everything I hear, they’ve been amazing. Not too much swing and miss. Not too many chases. He’s versatile. He can catch. He can play second. He can play first. Just one of those that obviously where we’re at, it made sense to get him here. We’ll see what happens in the upcoming days.”
