{"id":28280,"date":"2025-01-22T14:36:38","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T14:36:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=28280"},"modified":"2025-01-22T14:36:38","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T14:36:38","slug":"red-sox-prospect-who-reached-101-mph-in-video-has-fun-seeing-fan-reaction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=28280","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox prospect who reached 101 mph in video \u2018has fun seeing fan reaction\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Righty David Sandlin knows how Red Sox fans like to keep up-to-date with prospects.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old saw their prospect fervor again earlier this month when multiple X accounts tweeted a video that Pitching WRX initially posted on Instagram. It showed Sandlin reaching 101 mph with his fastball during an offseason workout.<\/p>\n

The video received almost 500,000 views from just two of the X users (PeskyReports\u2019 Matthew Crory and 98.5 Sports Hub\u2019s Tyler Milliken) who posted it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been a guy that loves interacting with fans so X is a great platform for it,\u201d Sandlin said. \u201cI have a lot of fun seeing that fan reaction and interacting with a lot of those accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans not only noticed 101 mph flash on the radar gun but also a dog roaming behind the catcher.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I had more fun with it talking about the dog Bailey, our facility dog,\u201d Sandlin said. \u201cEverybody was checking to make sure she was OK. I promise she was behind a net. She\u2019s OK. She\u2019s always there.\u201d<\/p>\n

PitchingWRX ended up tweeting some photos of the 11-year-old Border Collie the next day, then Sandlin quoted tweeted it with a pointed finger and wrote, \u201cSince Bailey seemed to be a big hit yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEven the stuff I don\u2019t comment on, I still see a lot of it and a lot of the stuff is funny to me,\u201d Sandlin said last week at Boston\u2019s Rookie Development Program. \u201cI get behind it. So I love the Boston fans and how passionate they are. It\u2019s an honor to be in this city and be a part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

MassLive named Sandlin one of nine Red Sox prospects who has a chance to make his MLB debut in 2025.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s one of the hardest-throwing pitchers in the system. He also reached 100.4 mph with his four-seamer during a minor league game last year.<\/p>\n

But he also knows for his fastball to be effective, his secondary pitches need to play better.<\/p>\n

Sandlin \u2014 who Baseball America ranks Boston\u2019s No. 10 prospect \u2014 finished 2024 with an impressive 12.9 strikeouts and 2.8 walks per nine innings.<\/p>\n

But he also got hit around at times, finishing with a 5.34 ERA and .269 batting average against in 18 starts between High-A Greenville and Double-A Portland.<\/p>\n

ERA doesn\u2019t always tell the whole story in the minors because of the development aspect. A pitcher might be asked to throw his best stuff less often so he can work more on pitches that need to develop.<\/p>\n

Sandlin, who Boston acquired from the Royals for reliever John Schreiber last Feb. 17, worked on different slider and splitter grips throughout the 2024 season.<\/p>\n

He also threw a sweeper, which he said was a \u201ctotally new pitch throughout whole the year\u201d and one that the Red Sox might end up eliminating because it doesn\u2019t play as well with his arm slot.<\/p>\n

He said he\u2019s working more toward \u201ca bullet, gyro-type of slider.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201dAnd then maybe adding a cutter as well,” he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s fine-tuning those secondary pitches, that way I can get the guys off the fastball and be able to use that fastball as a weapon,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Sandlin also began elevating his fastball more in the zone toward the end of last season.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot leaving it as middle and then fine-tuning the slider, the splitter to kind of give me the secondary pitches I can use vs. right-handed and left-handed batters,\u201d Sandlin said.<\/p>\n

He said he found the right grips to get the slider and splitter \u201cto click\u201d toward the end of \u201824.<\/p>\n

Sandlin has always been a strike thrower, averaging just 2.6 walks per nine innings in 33 minor league starts.<\/p>\n

The importance he places on throwing strikes dates back to one of his first pitching coaches, Bill Fisher, who taught him \u201cdamage happens when you walk batters.\u201d Fisher told him to \u201climit the free stuff\u201d and \u201cmake the hitters earn it.\u201d<\/p>\n

While he has shown impressive control, he knows he needs to improve his command within the zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it comes down to the execution inside the zone,\u201d Sandlin said. \u201cOf course I want the batting average against to be low. I wish it was .000. But I think it\u2019s just executing the pitches late in counts and then executing inside the zone. It also probably goes into just as much if not falling into a rhythm \u2014 becoming predictable. I think that\u2019s a big part of my game-plan \u2014 being able to go out there first pitch of the at-bat and not just throw a fastball or slider. Have the whole repertoire to go at them.”<\/p>\n

He views both strikeout percentage and walk percentage as two of the more positive stats from last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cTry not to listen to the noise of obviously ERA and all that when we\u2019re working on stuff,\u201d Sandlin said. \u201cBut that was a positive reinforcer \u2014 the walk rate telling me that I\u2019m in the zone and the strikeout rate showing me I\u2019ve got the swing-and-miss stuff. So it\u2019s just fine-tuning the locations in the zone.\u201c<\/p>\n

Sandlin also is focusing on his mechanics to help him put less stress on his body, which is especially important because he\u2019s such a hard thrower.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep moving down the mound more efficiently is a big thing,\u201d Sandlin said.<\/p>\n

Senior director of player development Brian Abraham raved not only about Sandlin\u2019s \u201cpure stuff\u201d and \u201cincredible fastball\u201d but also his competitiveness and confidence to challenge hitters. Abraham added that the Red Sox asked Sandlin to get stronger this offseason so he can \u201cmaintain his power stuff throughout a long season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boston took a conservative approach with Sandlin in \u201824. He spent from May 14-June 15 on Greenville\u2019s IL with forearm tightness, then never threw more than 4 innings in any of his 14 starts after being activated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the two biggest things for me (this offseason) were mobility and putting on healthy weight,\u201d Sandlin said. \u201cI think I\u2019m up about 10, 12 pounds right now from where I was at the end of the year last year. And now you see the velo tick up again this offseason.\u201d<\/p>\n

How important does he think ERA is? He knows it must improve.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously it\u2019s a good stat to have in a good direction,\u201d Sandlin said. \u201cThe minor leagues is about development. So a lot of those things can get inflated. I\u2019m not trying to make excuses or anything like that at all. But yeah, they can get inflated a little bit. There are finer things behind the scenes that you look at and those are the most important. So obviously once you get up in the high levels, yeah, it becomes a little more important and it\u2019s usually a good tell but it\u2019s not the end-all be-all I would say.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a hard thrower, Sandlin potentially might be a candidate to break into the majors as a reliever if bullpen help is needed this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously I want to start but whatever the team throws at me I\u2019m going to tackle it with the best of my ability,\u201d he said. \u201cIf that\u2019s coming out of the bullpen to help at the big league level, obviously it\u2019s every player\u2019s dream to play at the big league level no matter how you get there. So if that opportunity arises, I\u2019ll be ready for it and excited to tackle it.\u201d<\/p>\n