Ockimey announced his retirement from professional baseball Tuesday, Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald reports.
He will join the Red Sox organization in the professional scouting department. A former highly-regarded prospect, Ockimey played parts of eight minor-league seasons and registered a .788 OPS with 113 homers in 795 career MiLB games. He spent the 2022 season in the Phillies organization, slashing .254/.407/.447 with nine homers in 273 plate appearances across 65 games.
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Phillies' Josh Ockimey: Signs with Phillies
Rotowire
Ockimey announced Monday via his personal Twitter account that he agreed to a minor-league contract with the Phillies.
The 26-year-old, who starred a decade ago at Neumann Goretti high school in South Philadelphia, will attempt to make his big-league debut for his hometown team. While the expected addition of the designated hitter in the National League helps his chances, he hasn't shown enough in the upper minors to be considered a favorite to earn a roster spot. He does have good power and a good ability to draw a walk, but he's struck out at a 31.4 percent clip in 247 career Triple-A games, limiting his slash line to .214/.349/.435.
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Red Sox's Josh Ockimey: Re-ups with Boston
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Ockimey re-signed Monday with the Red Sox on a minor-league contract, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.
Boston included Ockimey in its 60-man player pool this season, but the 25-year-old didn't receive a promotion to the 28-man active roster at any point during the 60-game campaign. Assuming minor-league baseball is able to hold a season in 2021, Ockimey should be a regular in the Triple-A Pawtucket lineup.
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Red Sox's Josh Ockimey: Added to player pool
Rotowire
Ockimey was added to Boston's 60-player pool Friday.
The 24-year-old is a late addition to summer training and will provide roster depth at first base for the Red Sox. Ockimey spent last season at Triple-A Pawtucket and had a .204/.353/.459 slash line with 25 home runs and 139 strikeouts in 122 games.
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Red Sox's Josh Ockimey: Twelve home runs at Triple-A
Rotowire
Ockimey has a 1.004 OPS and 12 home runs through 41 games for Triple-A Pawtucket.
Ockimey was once a highly regarded first base prospect, but he's dropped off the map since showing little against advanced pitching. After being left off the 40-man roster and being snubbed in last winter's Rule 5 draft, Ockimey has used that as fuel to prove talent evaluators were wrong, he told Christopher Smith of MassLive.com. Ockimey is hitting just .236, but his splits against right-handers (.303/.488/.742) suggest he could still be a major-league contributor as a platoon first baseman/DH.
Ockimey went 3-for-5 with two home runs, a double and five RBI for Triple-A Pawtucket on Friday.
Ockimey, 23, has dropped several spots on prospect lists since the Red Sox drafted him in 2014 -- so much so that no team selected him last winter when Boston exposed him to the Rule 5 draft. Ockimey is a pull-heavy hitter that sees a lot of shifts and needs to adjust. He struggled in his first exposure to Triple-A last season and continued to scuffle in the Arizona Fall League. Ockimey has turned it around early in 2019 and is hitting .250 with 11 extra-base hits, including five home runs, along with a .617 slugging percentage in 19 games. The 23-year-old will need to sustain his production over the course of the season for the Red Sox to consider adding him to the 40-man roster.
Red Sox's Josh Ockimey: Invited to MLB spring training
Rotowire
Ockimey received an invitation to major-league spring training Thursday.
The first base prospect put up another solid season in 2018, posting a .245/.356/.455 slash line with 20 home runs and 71 RBI between Double-A and Triple-A. Ockimey only spent 27 games at Triple-A, however, and he's much younger than many players in the league, so without a clear path to playing time in Boston, he seems to be ticketed for more time at Pawtucket barring an injury to any of the Red Sox's regulars.
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Red Sox's Josh Ockimey: Homers in back-to-back games
Rotowire
Ockimey went 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk, three RBI and two runs Sunday in Triple-A Pawtucket's 8-3 win over Buffalo.
Ockimey had recorded just one extra-base hit over his last 13 games entering the weekend before going deep in back-to-back contests against Buffalo. The first baseman has totaled 20 home runs between Double-A Portland and Pawtucket this season to solidify himself as one of the Red Sox's top hitting prospects, but that distinction isn't overly prestigious with Boston boasting one of the weaker farm systems in baseball.
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Red Sox's Josh Ockimey: Promoted to Pawtucket
Rotowire
Ockimey advanced to Triple-A Pawtucket on Thursday, Christopher Smith of MassLive.com reports.
Ockimey slashed .251/.370/.459 with 14 home runs and 53 RBI through 88 games at Double-A Portland in 2018. He ranks as Boston's No. 1 prospect, so he could be in line for a late-season callup if he impresses at the next level.
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Red Sox's Josh Ockimey: Slow start at Double-A
Rotowire
Ockimey is hitting .233/.303/.333 with one home run and 11 strikeouts in eight games with Double-A Portland.
He missed the first two weeks of the minor-league season with a hamstring injury and has been slow to get going against Eastern League pitching. Ockimey spent 31 games with the Sea Dogs last year, so if he can heat up, he could be in line for a promotion to Triple-A sometime this summer.
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Red Sox's Josh Ockimey: Dealing with hamstring injury
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Ockimey is dealing with a minor hamstring injury, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.
This explains why Ockimey was placed on the minor-league disabled list to open the season. Fortunately, the injury isn't thought to be anything that will keep him sidelined for an extended period. Once he's healthy enough to be activated, the 22-year-old will join Double-A Portland. Across 31 games with the Sea Dogs last season, Ockimey hit a respectable .272/.372/.427 with three homers.
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Red Sox's Josh Ockimey: Opens year on minor-league disabled list
Rotowire
Ockimey (undisclosed) was placed on the minor-league disabled list Tuesday, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.
It's unclear what Ockimey is dealing with or how long it will keep him sidelined at this point. The 22-year-old prospect appeared in seven Grapefruit League games before being reassigned to minor-league camp, going 1-for-7 with four strikeouts. Once activated, Ockimey is expected to report to Double-A Portland, where he hit .272/.372/.427 with three homers in 31 games (121 plate appearances) last season.
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Red Sox's Josh Ockimey: Set to begin at Double-A
Rotowire
Ockimey posted a .274/.385/.436/.820 line with 14 homers, 27 doubles, two triples and 74 RBI over 131 games in 2017 between High-A Salem and Double-A Portland.
Ockimey's power potential jumps out; he's hit 32 home runs over the last seasons, but the highlight in 2017 was being a consistent hitter from April to September. The 22-year-old first baseman didn't experience a second-half drop as he did in 2016 and there was more use of all fields (2017 spray chart v. 2016 spray chart). First base-only prospects are not en vogue among fantasy players, but Ockimey's power is intriguing. There isn't a long-term first base solution in place at the major-league level, so Ockimey is a prospect of interest in Boston's organization. He's expected to begin the season in Portland and will be in a position to hit the majors by 2019.
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Red Sox's Josh Ockimey: Productive at High-A
Rotowire
Ockimey, 21, is batting .276/.393/.437 with eight home runs and 54 RBI through 83 games for High-A Salem.
Ockimey continues to show an eagle eye at the dish, as he is fourth in the Carolina League in walks. It is also encouraging to see him hitting well above the Mendoza Line after batting just .226 in 2016. Unfortunately, his raw power still hasn't quite translated to a plethora of home runs, which limits his upside.
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Red Sox's Josh Ockimey: Starting strong in Carolina League
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Ockimey went 17-for-38 with five extra-base hits, 10 RBI and eight runs over 10 games for High-A Salem to earn Carolina League Player of the Week for April 6-16, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.
Ockimey had a severe first half-second half split at Low-A Greenville in 2016, finishing up with a slash line of .152/.291/.349 after the All-Star break. His start to 2017 is encouraging, but we'll need to see the first base prospect sustain solid numbers over a full season.
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Red Sox's Josh Ockimey: Slumping since break
Rotowire
Ockimey is hitting .154/.290/.314/.604 in 43 games since the All-Star break.
Ockimey, a fifth-round draft pick in 2014, emerged as a power prospect in 2016, but it looks like opponents are catching up to him. He has just one homer in the last 27 games.
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Red Sox's Josh Ockimey: Facing infield shifts
Rotowire
Ockimey has been facing an infield shift in the Low-A South Atlantic League, Ian Cundall of SoxProspects.com reports.
The book is out on Ockimey early -- he's a pull-happy hitter, albeit one with intriguing power potential. Looking at his spray chart, nearly all of his groundballs are to the right side of the infield. The power stroke makes him a top-10 prospect in the organization, but developing more of an all-fields approach is something he needs to work on. Ockimey also needs to be better against left-handers, who have held him to a .211 average in 57 at-bats.
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Red Sox's Josh Ockimey: Leads Sally Leauge in OBP
Rotowire
Ockimey leads the Low-A South Atlantic League in walks (31) and on-base percentage (.438).
Ockimey told the Boston Globe that he's seeing the ball much better after getting contact lenses to correct his 20/15 vision. "They help me so much," Ockimey said. "There are some pitches I definitely wouldn't have been able to lay off without contacts." The 2014 fifth-round draft pick is also showing a good power stroke, hitting seven homers and slugging .566, second in the league.
