Brent Honeywell Readies For Big Leagues

Best Player

Since being a supplemental second-round pick in 2014, righthander Brent Honeywell has been in a hurry to get to the big leagues, confident he not only can compete but dominate.

Well, he’s getting close.

Initially sent back to Double-A Montgomery to start this season, Honeywell moved up to Triple-A Durham after two starts and showed the talent and ability to soon take that next step. He went 8-8, 4.48 through 16 starts with rates of 11.5 strikeouts and 2.6 walks per nine innings.

“He has an extremely high ceiling and all of the building blocks to be a front-of-the-rotation starter in the American League East,” senior vice president Chaim Bloom said.

“He’s working on consistency—mechanically, so that he can execute at an even higher level, and also with his approach to hitters and using all of his weapons effectively. Brent’s responded well in the past when challenged, and we’re seeing him start to do that again at the Triple-A level.”

Those challenges tend to be motivating, and another that gets Honeywell’s dander up is chatter about his screwball being a gimmick when he has so many other weapons.

“Brent’s repertoire is so deep, and he has a handful of pitches that will all play at the big league level,” Bloom said. “More than that, though, he is an intense competitor with great savvy, and when he’s on, he doesn’t just succeed—he dominates opposing hitters.”

Plus, farm director Mitch Lukevics said, Honeywell is also learning how to handle failure, which is also a necessary part of player development.

Biggest Leap Forward

Defense is still a challenge for second baseman Brandon Lowe, but the 2015 third-round pick from Maryland—who because of injury didn’t debut until 2016 due to a broken leg—has shown major improvement at the plate at high Class A Charlotte.

Lowe hit .336/.422/.607 with nine home runs through 61 games, showing evidence of bat control, hard contact, plate discipline and patience. In the pitcher-friendly Florida State League, no less.

“He has great at-bats on a daily basis,” Bloom said. “He sees the ball, he’s short and quick to it, makes contact, hits for power and takes his walks.”

If he can keep hitting and improve the defense, Lowe projects as an offensive second baseman.