Former Red Sox catching prospect Kyle Teel (part of Garrett Crochet trade) named International League Player of the Week

Former Red Sox catching prospect Kyle Teel has been named the International League Player of the Week for the week of March 28-30, Minor League Baseball announced on Monday.

One of four prospects traded to the White Sox for ace left-hander Garrett Crochet in December, Teel has gotten his 2025 season off to a tremendous start. Appearing in all three of Triple-A Charlotte’s games against Gwinnett over the weekend, the left-handed hitter went 6-for-12 (.500) with one double, two home runs, nine RBIs, four runs scored, two walks, and two strikeouts as the Knights swept the Stripers.

Teel batted cleanup in all three contests for the Knights at Charlotte’s Truist Field, making two starts at DH and one start at catcher. The 23-year-old belted his first homer of the season on Friday, finished a triple shy of the cycle while driving in a career-high six runs on Saturday, and reached base twice on Sunday.

Originally selected with the 14th overall pick in the 2023 draft out of Virginia, Teel is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 4 prospect in Chicago’s farm system and the No. 51 prospect in the sport. After slashing .288/.386/.433 with 23 doubles, 13 home runs, 78 RBIs, 88 runs scored, 12 stolen bases, 68 walks, and 116 strikeouts in 112 games (505 plate appearances) between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester last season, the New Jersey native was traded by the Red Sox to the White Sox for Crochet on December 11 alongside fellow prospects Braden Montgomery, Chase Meidroth, and Wikelman Gonzalez.

All four were in major league camp with the White Sox this spring at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. Teel, in particular, impressed offensively by going 6-for-19 (.316) with one double, two home runs, six RBIs, five runs scored, four walks, and four strikeouts in 14 Cactus League games. On the other side of the ball, the athletic 6-foot, 210-pound backstop logged 34 2/3 error-less innings behind the plate but did not have much of a chance to show off his arm strength as he only (unsuccessfully) dealt with one base stealer.

As things stand in Charlotte, Teel is slated to split catching duties with another top 100 prospect in Edgar Quero. The plan out of the gate, as highlighted by Jeff Cohen of FutureSox.com, is for Teel and Quero to both be in the Knights’ lineup on a nightly basis, with the former serving as the DH when the latter is behind the plate and vice-versa.

While the case can be made that Teel and Quero are competing to be the backstop of the future for the White Sox, they are both currently behind Korey Lee and Matt Thaiss on Chicago’s catching depth chart. Still, the expectation is that, at the very least, Teel will make his big league debut at some point before the 2025 campaign ends. He could speed that timeline up if he continues to punish International League pitching the way he has been early on.