Red Sox pitching prospect Adam Bates has been named to the Australian national team for next month’s WBSC U23 World Cup in China.
Bates, who turned 19 last week, was among 12 pitchers to make Team Australia’s roster. The Aussies will compete in Group A with China, Colombia, Great Britain, Japan, and Puerto Rico. The biennial tournament runs from September 6-15.
A Sydney-area native, Bates signed with the Red Sox for $200,000 as an international free agent last September after impressing at the 2023 U18 Baseball World Cup in Taiwan. Though he had prior experience pitching in the Australian Baseball League as a 17-year-old in 2022, the right-hander made his organizational/professional debut for Boston’s Florida Complex League affiliate in May and spent his first season stateside in Fort Myers.
In 11 appearances (nine starts) for the rookie-level FCL Red Sox, Bates posted a 3.96 ERA and 4.32 FIP with 36 strikeouts to 17 walks over 36 1/3 innings. Opposing hitters batted .278 against him. His 17.2 percent swinging-strike rate ranked 12th among the 76 FCL pitchers who threw at least 30 innings this year, per FanGraphs.
Listed at a projectable 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds, Bates operates with a high-80s fastball that tops out at 91 mph, a low-70s curveball, and a low-80s changeup, according to his SoxProspects.com scouting report . He also throws a cutter that he picked up from former Padres righty and fellow Australian Chris Oxspring, as he explained to hosts Andrew Parker and Ed Hand on the To The Show We Go podcast back in February.
Bates is not currently ranked among Boston’s top 60 prospects by SoxProspects.com, which describes him as having “room to grow.” It’s early and things can change, but it will be interesting to see if Bates can make his way to Low-A Salem at some point in 2025.
