Exclusive: Tyler Dearden reflects on the past and his goals for 2023

Over the last few years, the Red Sox farm system has been on the rise. Boston has added prospects such as Marcelo Mayer and Nick Yorke through the draft and improved their depths through trades. One prospect who has steadily made improvements is Tyler Dearden. While he is not one of baseball’s top 100 prospects, he has a bright future.

Dearden began his professional career when the Red Sox selected him with the 881st overall pick in the 2017 MLB draft. It was a process that he will never forget

“Going into the summer of my Junior year, I got hurt and didn’t get to play in some of the big tournaments before the draft,” said Dearden. “I had a lot of contact with the Red Sox leading up to the draft. Ray Fagnant, the area scout, was at almost every game, and the day I got selected, he drove to my house from Massachusetts and came to have dinner with my family. That meant a lot to me.”

After signing with the Red Sox, Dearden began his professional career in the Gulf Coast League. The New Jersey Native hit .257 in 28 games before his first promotion. As he has moved through the Red Sox system, each level has brought a new challenge, but for Dearden, the biggest challenge has come at Double-A.

“The biggest jump for me has been Double-A,” said Dearden. “Throughout this season, I had to make a couple of adjustments. I tried to stick to my approach and what I felt confident in. I have had to make minor adjustments at each level, but Double-A has challenged me the most.”

As Dearden has moved closer to the majors, those adjustments have resulted in more power. Over the last two seasons, the 24-year-old has hit 32 home runs, including a career-high 24 in 2021. Before that, he had never hit more than four home runs in a season in the minors. When the minor league season was canceled in 2020, he used that time off to his advantage.

“For me, 2020 was a blessing in disguise, “said Dearden. “I was coming off a 2019 season in Greenville where I battled injuries throughout the year. I didn’t perform well and missing at-bats didn’t help. You usually only have three to four months to get ready in the offseason, so having a full year allowed me to dive into my swing. It gave me time to figure out what worked for me.

While Dearden could not match his power totals from 2021 this season, his offensive numbers continued to improve. The former 29th round-pick had 47 runs batted in, which is the second-highest total of his career. In 316 at-bats, he had 25 extra-base hits and experienced playoff baseball with Portland for the first time.

“Over the course of a long season, it can but repetitive, but for the last few weeks, it was a different atmosphere, “said Dearden. “Everyone was locked in. Every pitch was important, and it was a lot of fun.”

With the minor league season over, the focus for Dearden is now on 2023. In his first stint with Portland, he showed some power and posted a .267 average which was the second best of his career. Over the next few months, the New Jersey native will be focusing on improving his defense.

“I want to become a better defender and more complete hitter. My numbers were down power-wise this season, but I was adjusting to a new league. I feel confident in my swing, and if I continue to trust my approach, those power numbers will come back.”

As Dearden looks to build on his success from the last two years, the majors are closer than ever before. He will likely start the 2023 campaign in Double-A and could be in Triple-A sometime next summer. Regardless of how next season plays out, Dearden will take it day by day.

“The biggest advice I have gotten is to take it one day at a time,” said Dearden. “You will have some games when you go 0-4 or 4-4. You can’t let a bad day turn into a bad week or month. It makes it a lot easier mentally and performance-wise. “