Pitching prospect Luis Cohen of the Red Sox has been assigned to Low-A Salem for the 2024 minor league season, following two years in rookie level.
In January 2022, Cohen signed a contract as an international free agent out of Venezuela with the Red Sox for a meager $10,000. Shortly after, the native of Tucacas made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League, pitching to a 2.89 ERA in 13 appearances (12 starts) and 46 2/3 innings of work with 42 strikeouts to 14 walks.
Cohen moved up to the Florida Complex League last summer. The 20-year-old right-hander won the FCL Pitcher of the Month award in July, leaving a lasting impact in his first appearance in the United States. Over the course of 10 appearances (seven starts, 39 innings), he recorded a 3.46 ERA with 39 strikeouts against 14 walks for Boston’s Fort Myers club.
Cohen placed 24th in strikeouts per nine innings (9.00), 12th in walks per nine innings (3.23), 16th in strikeout rate (25.3 percent), 15th in walk rate (9.1 percent), 11th in batting average against (.206), sixth in WHIP (1.08), eighth in line-drive rate (15.6%), 12th in ERA, eighth in FIP (3.85), and 17th in xFIP (4.56) among the 48 FCL pitchers who went over the 30-inning mark in 2023. These numbers are according to FanGraphs.
Cohen, who is listed as 6-foot and 172 pounds, has a high leg kick and throws from a three-quarters arm slot. The right-hander has a four-pitch mix that includes a 91-93 mph fastball with a 94 mph max, a 74-78 mph curveball with depth, an 80-82 mph slider with a horizontal break, and an 80-82 mph changeup with late fade, as detailed in his SoxProspects.com scouting report.
Cohen “has several traits teams look for in young pitchers and has gained velocity and improved each year,” according to the same scouting report. Additionally, “if he shows consistency with his command and secondary pitches, he could see his velocity tick up even more and break out in 2024.”
SoxProspects.com presently ranks Cohen, who turns 21 late next month, as the 38th best prospect in Boston’s farm system. After the website updated its top 60 list on Thursday, that presently stands at 16th place among the organization’s pitchers.
Cohen is not the only member of Boston’s 2022 international signing class who is expected to start and make the Opening Day roster for Salem. Denis Reguillo, Johanfran Garcia, Marvin Alcantara, and Natanael Yuten are among those who join him. On Friday night, the Red Sox take on the Carolina Mudcats at home to start the season.
That being said, Red Sox minor-league clubs from Double-A down will use six-man rotations this season with multi-inning relievers behind them, according to a Monday report from Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. Since Salem is off almost every Monday this year, Cohen would be able to make one start each week and use the time in between to work on his own growth by engaging in “goal-oriented side work.”
In the long term, younger arms like Cohen may profit from this intriguing plan, which is the result of the Red Sox revamping their pitching staff under chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and director of pitching Justin Willard.
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