Of all the Red Sox prospects who made it up to Double-A Portland this year, Chase Meidroth is far from the most highly touted. Still, the 22-year-old infielder made the most of his time with the Sea Dogs and ended the first full season of his professional career on an encouraging note.
Meidroth, Boston’s fourth-round selection in the 2022 amateur draft out of San Diego, made the jump to High-A Greenville this spring after playing in the Florida Complex League and at Low-A Salem in his pro debut. The right-handed hitter promptly got off to a quick start, batting .338/.495/.460 with three doubles, two home runs, 14 RBIs, 19 runs scored, four stolen bases, 21 walks, and 20 strikeouts over 20 games (97 plate appearances) with the Drive.
Shortly after being named the Red Sox’ Minor League Hitter of the Month for April, Meidroth earned a promotion to Portland alongside catching prospect Nathan Hickey in early May. Though he proceeded to record at least one hit in his first four games with the Sea Dogs, life in the Eastern League proved to be more challenging for Meidroth. By the time the calendar flipped from July to August, the native Californian found himself slashing a pedestrian .259/.380/.381 in his first 55 games (237 plate appearances) against upper-level pitching.
The first few weeks of August proved to be somewhat laborious as well, but Meidroth began to turn a corner offensively as September approached and rode that momentum into the final month of the 2023 season. In his last 19 games of the year, Meidroth went 19-for-63 (.302) with five doubles, one homer, eight RBIs, 17 runs scored, two stolen bases, 19 walks, and 13 strikeouts. His .519 on-base percentage in September was the top mark in the Eastern League.
All told, Meidroth slashed .255/.386/.375 with 16 doubles, one triple, seven home runs, 43 runs driven in, 59 runs scored, nine stolen bases, 59 walks, and 78 strikeouts in 91 games (396 plate appearances) for Portland. Among qualified hitters in the Eastern League this season, Meidroth ranked sixth in walk rate (14.9 percent), eighth in strikeout rate (19.7 percent), eighth in batting average, second in on-base percentage, 17th in OPS (.762), first in swinging-strike rate (5.7 percent), and ninth in wRC+ (119), per FanGraphs.
“My game is to put the ball in play and have competitive at-bats to help give our team the best chance to win,” Meidroth said of his offensive approach when speaking with FanGraphs’ David Laurila earlier this summer. “I’m trying to provide opportunities for the guy behind me to drive me in, whether that’s by hitting a single, walking, or getting hit by a pitch. It’s kind of the whole pass-the-torch mentality, which I’ve had my whole life. In college, we really zoned in drawing our walks and staying in our zone. That’s kind of created the hitter I am, and that I want to be.
“It’s not so much that as I view at-bats as there being a lot of ways to win them,” he added. “For instance, if you see 10 pitches, that extends the inning for the pitcher. As for [Luis] Arraez, I’d like to say him [as a comp], but that guy is on a whole other level. Obviously, you’re seeing what he’s doing this year. But I mean, I grew up watching guys like Dustin Pedroia and Justin Turner. They’re both very smart hitters with great approaches, so I’ve always tried to try to model my game after theirs. Obviously, I’ve got a long ways to go to be at that level.”
On the other side of the ball, Meidroth started games at every infield position besides first base between his two stops this season. With the Sea Dogs specifically, the 5-foot-9, 170-pounder logged 133 2/3 innings at second base, 461 1/3 innings at third base, and 144 innings at shortstop, committing a total of seven errors in 214 defensive chances. In addition to being named Portland’s Defensive Player of the Year, he was also tabbed as the best defensive third baseman in the Eastern League by league managers in Baseball America’s Best Tools survey.
Meidroth, who does not turn 23 until next July, ended the 2023 season ranked by Baseball America as the No. 14 prospect in Boston’s farm system. MLB Pipeline had him slightly lower at No. 20 on its list while SoxProspects.com has him ranked 13th heading into the new year.
Along with 10 other Red Sox prospects, Meidroth has been invited to participate in the club’s 2024 rookie development program in Boston next month. He is also scheduled to take part in Winter Weekend at the end of that week in Springfield.
Assuming he remains in the organization through the winter and into the spring, Meidroth is currently projected by SoxProspects.com to move up to Triple-A Worcester for the start of the 2024 campaign in late March.
While that is still months away, one thing to watch with Meidroth moving forward, regardless of the level, will be how he fares against advanced pitching in the upper-minors. There is some concern when it comes to his ability to impact the ball, so he will need to show that he can make hard contact more often and, in turn, do damage against pitches in the strike zone.
