Red Sox first base prospect Brooks Brannon has read Ted Williams’ book “The Science of Hitting” multiples times.
So he certainly understands the importance of the Williams quote that hangs above the batting cages at the Red Sox’ JetBlue Park spring training complex in Fort Myers: “We’re going to learn how to do two things … We’re going to hit it hard and we’re going to hit it in the air.”
Those words ring especially true considering Brannon’s profile. He is a 6-foot, 245-pound right-handed power hitter in an organization with a major league roster heavy on left-handed hitters and always in search of right-handed batters who can use the Green Monster to their advantage.
Brannon has shown that power this year as a 22-year-old at Double-A Portland. He’s batting .301 with a .410 on-base percentage, .663 slugging percentage and 1.073 OPS in 23 games (100 plate appearances). He has seven home runs, seven doubles, one triple and 22 RBIs.
He’s had recent home runs with exit velocities of 114.2 mph, 112.6 mph, 110.0 mph and 102.3 mph.
“I know that my main priority or what’s expected is to hit the ball hard and slug,” Brannon said. “So I feel like being able to hit the ball in the air, hit it hard as often as possible and draw walks are the most important things for me as far as the type of player that I am.”
He added, “As long as I’m not chasing, I’m gonna walk a good bit.”
“Pulling the ball in the air is absolutely the most valuable outcome that you can possibly have,” Brannon said. “And it’s a premium and it is something that I have not done particularly well in the past. And we’ve focused a lot in the training environments on pulling the ball in the air quite a bit more.”
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Brannon said he needs to continue to improve in this area. This year, 44% of his batted balls have been pulled, 30% have gone to center field and 26% have gone opposite field.
“I think doing that in the training environments and learning how to do it properly has allowed me to be able to get the barrel out a little bit more and hit fly balls more often,” he said.
“And with the power and the strength that I’ve worked to gain over the past couple years, thankfully hitting the ball in the air has worked out a lot better,” Brannon added.
Brannon is listed at 210 pounds on the MiLB.com site, but he said he hasn’t been that weight since his junior year of high school. He put on approximately 25 pounds this past offseason, bringing him to 245 pounds.
“Other than the batting cage, the weight room is my favorite place to be,” he said. “I love lifting. I’ll always love lifting.”
He was interested in entering powerlifting competitions as a kid but his father discouraged it.
“That might be something I might pursue after my professional baseball career is over,” he said. “But I love the weight room. I love food, I love eating. And those two things, thankfully, are a good formula for putting on muscle and size.”
He weighed 220 pounds for the majority of last season.
“This was my first full off season that I’ve had in a while,” Brannon said. “And I think just maturing more physically and whatnot has allowed me to be able to put on a little bit more muscle. I was not even really trying to. Honestly, it kind of just happened.”
The Red Sox drafted Brannon in the ninth round (No. 279 overall) out of Randleman High in North Carolina in 2022, then signed him to a well-above slot value bonus of $712,500. The second highest ninth round bonus that year was $390,000 lower. He received the second-highest bonus among all picks in rounds 5-9 that year.
The investment is paying off. Brannon said this year is “absolutely” the best he’s felt in pro ball after dealing with some adversity in previous seasons. Injuries limited him to 17 games in 2023 and 62 games in 2024. He then posted only a .701 OPS in 93 games in 2025.
“There were definitely some dark times,” Brannon said. “In my first year in ’23, when I had the stress reaction in my back and then tearing my meniscus right out of spring training in ’24, and then last year having my first full season, but it being super inconsistent and up and down. The No. 1 thing that I lean on is my faith — continuing to live in scripture and praying.”
Even this year hasn’t gone completely smoothly. He broke his hamate bone during spring training, underwent surgery and began this season on the injured list.
He worked hard with Red Sox physical therapist Adam Diamond, who’s stationed at the Fort Myers complex, to return for his regular season debut on April 22.
“We worked our butts off to be able to get back and I was hitting in live at-bats three weeks after I had surgery,” he said. “A lot of that is just working together every second we could to strengthen and get mobility back and get that scar tissue down. And he was vital in that.”
Brannon entered the Red Sox system as a catcher but he’s made all 19 of his starts in the field this season at first base.
“Talking with some of the people in the organization, playing first base allows me to be able to be in the lineup a little bit more and let the bat play,” he said. “And I know what I need in order to be successful is to be able to hit. And so however I can help the team win, however I can help the org be successful, that’s what I’m here to do. And that’s my No. 1 goal.”
He still occasionally catches bullpen sessions. He said catching will always be in his back pocket.
”But as of right now, first base is the No. 1 priority defensively,” he said.
He’s worked on slowing the game down at first base. While he played there part-time in previous seasons, he views it as a new position.
“The game speeds up on you sometimes and you want to try to do a million things at once,” he said.
Portland manager Kyle Sasala and minor league infield/outfield defensive coordinator Pablo Cabrera, who now serves as Red Sox interim first base coach, have helped him learn to slow things down at first base.
“Allowing the athleticism to play and just putting your body in good positions to do the job,” he said.
Swing decisions and patience were the biggest things he worked on offensively this past offseason.
“Thankfully I’m blessed enough to be able to have a pretty good training facility back home that my family runs,” Brannon said.
His father, Paul Brannon, is the co-founder of Diamond X-Treme Training in Kernersville, North Carolina.
The Mariners drafted Paul Brannon, a former catcher/first baseman, in the fourth round in 1990. He appeared in 77 minor league games from 1990-93.
“We have a good bit of technology, so we’re able to really get the best training environments possible or at least as close as you can get,” Brannon said. “Honestly, I eat, sleep and breathe that place. And so just constantly being in the lab and constantly improving this offseason and continuing to do those things has helped the most.”
Brannon always has had a power-hitting profile. He led all high schoolers nationally with 20 homers in 2022, tying his dad’s North Carolina state single-season home run record.
“Bat speed plays a big part into it, and that’s something that ever since I was younger, I’ve always been able to kind of swing the bat pretty fast,” Brannon said. “And so being able to maintain that in the training environments that they push us through and then working on the other things like ball flight and swing decisions is absolutely very important.”
Brannon is coming off his first tough week with just three hits in five games against Reading at home.
“Especially coming off two weeks where I had two good weeks, it’s frustrating, but it’s part of it,” he said. “And baseball is the most beautiful game in the world because you can have a good week and then you can have a bad week, and the only thing that matters is that next AB.”
That’s the mindset he’s trying to keep. He bounced back nicely in the first game of this week on Tuesday in Binghamton. He went 2 for 5 with a double and two RBIs in a 7-3 victory for Portland.
“I know I have the ability to make good swing decisions. I know I have the ability to impact the ball. It’s more a matter of staying, even-keeled through the majority of the season, not riding the highs and the lows of the season,” Brannon said.
The Red Sox rank 19th in the majors in right-handed hitting slugging percentage with a .373 mark. Many of their young hitters — Roman Anthony, Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, Marcelo Mayer and Triston Casas — are left-handed. But they have several promising right-handed hitting prospects in Brannon, Justin Gonzales, Franklin Arias, Henry Godbout and Enddy Azocar.
“It’s been my dream to be a Major League Baseball player ever since I can remember, ever since I’ve been able to walk and hold a bat,” Brannon said.
“As of right now, I want to be great where my feet are and help the Sea Dogs in any way that I can help my team,” he added. “And if God blesses me with the ability to play in the big leagues this year or next year, that’s amazing. But right now I’m just grateful to be in Maine. It’s a beautiful state. And I’m grateful to be able to play with my teammates that I have now.”
Heyman homers twice in High-A debut
Luke Heyman homered twice in his High-A debut Tuesday after receiving a promotion Monday. He went 3 for 4 with four RBIs in Greenville’s 10-2 win over Asheville.
Boston acquired the 22-year-old catcher from the Mariners on Nov. 18 for reliever Alex Hoppe.
Uberstine makes rehab start
Tyler Uberstine, who made his MLB debut earlier this season for Boston, made a rehab start for Greenville on Tuesday. He’s been on the injured list since April 16 with right shoulder inflammation.
The 26-year-old righty allowed one run and one hit while striking out four batters in 1 ⅓ innings against Asheville. The run came on a solo homer.
Eyanson earns Eastern League Pitcher of the Week
On Tuesday morning, Anthony Eyanson was named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week for May 18-24. On Tuesday evening, he struck out eight batters in Double-A Portland’s in a 7-3 win over Binghamton.
He allowed three runs, three hits and two walks in four innings. The 21-year-old righty has a 1.35 ERA in eight starts between High-A and Double-A this season.
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