Road to The Show™: Boston’s Teel

MiLB.com's Road to the Show Scouting Report series spotlights players who are just starting their professional careers, focusing on what the experts are projecting for these young phenoms. Here's a look at third-ranked Red Sox prospect Kyle Teel. For more player journeys on The Road to The Show, click here.

Like many in his Draft class, Kyle Teel followed up a tremendous college career with a brilliant pro debut.

Across three levels of the Minors in his first professional season, Teel batted .363/.482/.495 with six doubles, a pair of homers and 22 RBIs in 91 at-bats. Among 2023 Draftees with at least 100 plate appearances, he finished third in average, second in on-base percentage and seventh in OPS (.977).

The 22-year-old also displayed the advanced approach for which he came to be known at the University of Virginia, drawing nearly as many walks (21) as strikeouts (22) as he advanced to Double-A Portland. Over three seasons with the Cavaliers, Teel batted .343 with a .979 OPS, collecting 80 extra-base hits, including 28 homers, and 155 RBIs.

“A lot of what we are seeing is the same Kyle Teel we’ve seen at Virginia -- an advanced approach with the ability to hit to all fields, manipulate the barrel and get on base,” Red Sox director of player development Brian Abraham told MLB.com. “He has shown the ability to drive the ball as well, especially to the pull side. We’ve been pleased with his ability to work at-bats, attack pitches he can handle and constantly make adjustments, game to game, at-bat to at-bat and even pitch to pitch.”

The Ridgewood, New Jersey, native was the starting quarterback on the Mahwah High School football team while also starring on the baseball diamond. His senior season in 2020 was wiped out by the pandemic, but by then he’d already established himself as one of the better amateur players in the country. He hit .574/.678/1.164 with eight homers and 31 RBIs while striking out just twice during his junior season. Teel mostly stayed behind the plate but also played some shortstop and outfield.

Teel was among a select group of players invited to participate in the Prospect Development Program, and he was viewed as an early-round pick. But like many in his class, Teel took his name out of the pandemic-shortened Draft. Instead, he decided to honor his commitment to Virginia, which he made as a freshman in high school.

Before he got started with the Cavaliers, Teel made up for lost time with the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters of the Northwoods League. In 31 games, he hit .258 with a .740 OPS, seven extra-base hits and 18 RBIs.

Teel took a major step forward during his first season at UVA, where he earned first-team freshman All-American honors from D1Baseball.com. He hit a team-best .335 with a .942 OPS, while bashing nine homers and driving in 41 runs. Teel split time almost evenly as a catcher and right fielder while leading the program to its first College World Series since 2015.

He went back to the Rafters the summer before his sophomore season. Teel didn’t put up the same type of numbers as his incredible debut but he was still able to show off his advanced approach. He batted .276/.402/.439 with six homers and 45 RBIs while compiling more walks (41) than strikeouts (36).

Teel had a short stint with Harwich in the Cape Cod League ahead of his junior season, which turned out to be one of the best in program history. He was named ACC Player of the Year while bringing the Cavs back to the CWS. He was named a first-team All-American by six different publications while earning the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award and the Johnny Bench Award for the Top male NCAA baseball catcher.

Teel maintained a .400 batting average throughout the entire season, finishing with a .407/.475/.655 slash line with 13 homers, 25 doubles and 65 RBIs. Teel also set the single-season school record with 105 hits.

ABSOLUTELY LEGENDARY!!!

Kyle Teel a GRAND SLAM to give UVA a 5-2 lead in the B7!!!

📺: https://t.co/4O21OYhA3i#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/YcjvZjS3aE

— Virginia Baseball (@UVABaseball) June 14, 2021

MLB Pipeline ranked Teel as the No. 7 prospect in the 2023 Draft class. He eventually landed with the Red Sox at No. 14 and later signed for a below-slot bonus of $4 million.

After signing, he reported to the Rookie-level Florida Complex League for a stint that would last all of three games and seven at-bats. During that span, he collected three hits, one of which left the yard, and a pair of walks and two RBIs.

He bypassed Single-A and was promoted to High-A Greenville in August. Teel tore the cover off the ball in 14 games with the Drive, batting .377 with a .938 OPS. He was promoted once again to finish the season in Portland. Although it was just a nine-game stint, Teel continued to impress at the plate. He batted .323 with a .945 OPS, recording one homer, two doubles and 11 RBIs.

Teel played exclusively as a catcher during his first professional season, throwing out 12 runners.

He’ll likely return to Portland to open the 2024 season. He was not included among Boston’s non-roster invitees. But he should get some good looks during Spring Training and should at least put himself in consideration for a big league roster spot by Opening Day of 2025, if not sooner.

Here's what the experts at MLB Pipeline have to say about Teel:

Scouting grades (20-80 scale)

HIT: 55
POWER: 50
RUN: 45
ARM: 60
FIELD: 55
OVERALL: 55

“One of the top high school catching prospects in the 2020 class, Teel might have gone in the top three rounds had he not withdrawn from the Draft because he wanted to attend Virginia. He blossomed into the consensus best backstop in the 2023 Draft after hitting .407/.475/.655 and winning Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year honors last spring, yet he dropped to the Red Sox at No. 14. Signed for $4 million, he batted .363/.482/.495 and reached Double-A in his pro debut.

After focusing too much on power as a sophomore, Teel learned that he can make more consistent hard contact when he doesn't swing for the fences. More hitter than slugger, he has a sound left-handed swing and a disciplined, all-fields approach. He features 20-homer upside and should produce plenty of doubles with pop that plays to all parts of the ballpark.

Quicker and more athletic than most catchers, Teel presently has average speed but will lose some quickness as he spends more time behind the plate. With plus arm strength and impressive accuracy, he threw out 38 percent of basestealers during his junior season and 29 percent during his pro debut. His receiving continues to improve, and he has a knack for stealing strikes with his framing skills.”