Austin Rei   Catcher

       
 
Born: October 27, 1993
Birthplace: Berkeley, CA
Height: 6-0
Weight: 185
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
   
Drafted: 3rd round, 2015 by BOS;
38th round, 2012 by MIN
How Acquired: Draft
College: Washington
High School: Campolindo (CA)
   

Photo © Kelly O'Connor
Austin Rei photos by Kelly O'Connor
Pronunciation: Ray
First Pro Contract: June 30, 2015 (BOS)
Signing Scout: Chris Pritchett
Signing Bonus: $742,400
   
Pro Debut: July 6, 2015 (Lowell)
MLB Debut: -
   

Released (May 2021)
 
 
 
 
 
     
  Scouting Report & Links      
         
  Physical Description: Solid catcher’s frame. Sturdy lower half, minimal remaining projection.

Hit: Below-average hit tool. Starts vertical and square with hands high. Utilizes a short leg lift and has minimal stride. Doesn’t effectively incorporate lower half in swing. Has tinkered with different swing mechanics since he signed, utilizing a high leg lift with Lowell in 2015 and a toe tap in 2016. Slight uppercut in swing path. Fringy bat speed. Makes a lot of weak contact both on the ground to the left side and in pop ups to the infield. Approach is a work in progress, but has shown improved pitch recognition and knowledge of the strike zone. Struggles with velocity and will be challenged by more advanced pitching.

Power: Average raw power to the pull side. Almost all power is to left field currently, and given his swing mechanics is unlikely to develop power to all fields. Likes to cheat and open hips early to pull the ball in the air. Below-average present in-game power, below average power potential.

Run: Well below-average speed.

Field: Has truggled with his receiving, early in his pro career but showed improvement up the ladder. Does a good job getting down quick and smothering balls in the dirt. Has soft hands and a quiet glove. Potential average defender.
  Arm: Solid-average arm strength. Will pop slightly above-average times of 1.9-1.95 seconds consistently. Throw has some tail and transfer is a little slow.

Career Notes: Suffered a torn left thumb ligament during his draft year at the University of Washington. While he denied that the thumb was still bothering him after being drafted, his stunningly poor showing both offensively and defensively in Lowell indicated otherwise. Was still wearing significant tape on the hand at least in spring training 2016. Broke his foot in 2019 spring training, causing him to miss the start of the 2019 season. Received a non-roster invitation to Spring Training in 2021. Began 2021 at the Alternate Training Site on the "Development List."

Summation: Upper minors depth. Won’t hit for much average or power, but could post decent on-base percentage. Doesn’t have the offensive or defensive potential to profile as an everyday type.

Links
The Write-Up: Lowell (8.4.15)
2015 Top 40 Season in Review
Notes from the Field: Day Two of ST (3.18.16)
With change to mechanics, Rei putting 'terrible' debut... (3.31.16) 
 
   
     
    Hitting Stats                                          
  year team lg level org age g ab r h 2b 3b hr rbi tb bb so sb cs avg obp slg ops
2013 Washington NCAA Coll --- 19 23 50 4 11 1 0 0 6 12 5 11 0 0 0.220 0.339 0.240 0.579
  2014 Washington NCAA Coll --- 20 52 153 24 48 11 2 2 28 69 21 36 1 0 0.314 0.408 0.451 0.859
  2015 Washington NCAA Coll --- 21 25 91 14 30 9 1 7 20 62 12 28 0 0 0.330 0.445 0.681 1.126
  2015 Lowell NYPL A- Bos 21 34 112 14 20 5 1 2 12 33 11 39  1 0 0.179 0.285 0.295 0.579
  2016 Greenville SAL A Bos 22 91 311 50 66 13 1 6 33 99 41 82 1 4 0.212 0.332 0.318 0.650
  2017 Salem Car A+ Bos 23 95 319 41 71 30 0 3 38 110 39 96 3 5 0.223 0.331 0.345 0.676
  2018 Portland East AA Bos 24 83 265 25 66 13 2 7 31 104 36 72 2 1 0.249 0.355 0.392 0.747
  2019 GCL Red Sox GCL Rk Bos 25 7 14 7 4 1 0 0 4 5 8 5 0 0 0.286 0.583 0.357 0.940
2019 Portland East AA Bos 25 26 83  4 13 5 0 1 9 21 6 29 0 0 0.157 0.213 0.253 0.466
  2020 Season Cancelled --- --- Bos 26 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
  2021 Winnipeg AmAs Indy -- 27 56 107 20 40 7 0 0 19 47 24 44 1 1 0.240 0.374 0.281 0.656
  2021 Amarillo DAC AA Ari 27 7 18 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 10 1 0 0.111 0.200 0.111 0.311
  2022 Kentucky Atl Indy --- 28 38 127 24 38 6 1 6 24 64 17 28 1 0 0.299 0.395 0.504 0.898
  2022 Long Island Atl Indy --- 28 33 106 11 15 6 0 2 9 27 10 31 0 1 0.142 0.227 0.255 0.482
  2022 Souterhn Maryland Atl Indy --- 28 21 53 7 17 5 0 1 14 25 8 14 2 1 0.321 0.439 0.472 0.911
   
     
  Advanced Stats & Splits
   
     
  Awards   SoxProspects.com Awards  
  Red Sox Minor League Defensive Player of the Month (July 2016)
2016 South Atlantic League All-Star
2017 Red Sox Minor League Defensive Player of the Year
  2016 SoxProspects.com Pre-Season All-Star
2017 SoxProspects.com Pre-Season All-Star
SoxProspects.com Player of the Week (April 10-16, 2017)
SoxProspects.com Player of the Month (April 2017)
2018 SoxProspects.com All-Star
 
   

   
     
 
 
 
     
 
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