Red Sox infield prospect Nick Sogard did a lot of traveling in 2021

It was one year ago Thursday when the Red Sox acquired catching prospect Ronaldo Hernandez and infield prospect Nick Sogard from the Rays for recently-designated relievers Chris Mazza and Jeffrey Springs.

Hernandez, 24, had a solid 2021 season with Double-A Portland and wound up finishing the year with Triple-A Worcester. For the purposes of this article, though, we will strictly be focusing on the year Sogard had.

The younger cousin of veteran big-league infielder Eric Sogard, Nick was originally selected by the Rays in the 12th round of the 2019 amateur draft out of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

After the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out what would have been his first full season of pro ball in 2020, Sogard was traded from Tampa Bay to Boston and opened the 2021 minor-league campaign with High-A Greenville.

In his first 38 games (171 plate appearances) with the Drive, the switch-hitter batted .264/.339/.473 (109 wRC+) with eight doubles, one triple, seven home runs, 22 RBIs, 26 runs scored, five stolen bases, 18 walks, and 25 strikeouts through July 4.

That very same day, Sogard traveled from Greenville, S.C. to Manchester, N.H. to make his Double-A debut in the second game of a doubleheader between the Portland Sea Dogs and New Hampshire Fisher Cats. He pinch-hit for Grant Williams in the fourth inning of the night cap and went 0-for-2 with a strikeout.

Sogard returned to South Carolina the following day and made his return to Greenville’s lineup on July 8. He then proceeded to bat .257/.297/.400 (87 wRC+) with one home run and two RBIs over his next nine games (37 plate appearances) before getting the call back up to Portland on July 23 to fill in for players who left for the Summer Olympics.

For the next two-plus weeks, Sogard appeared in a total of 15 games for the Sea Dogs and hit .280/.345/.320 (84 wRC+). 13 of his 14 hits went for singles and he was sent back down to Greenville when Triston Casas returned from Tokyo on August 10.

Sogard’s second stint with the Drive began when he was inserted back into Iggy Suarez’s lineup on Aug. 11. This time around, the California native impressed to the tune of a .341/400/.568 (155 wRC+) over 11 games and exactly 50 trips to the plate. He clubbed three homers and collected 12 RBI during that stretch before receiving another call-up to Portland on the final day of August.

With the Sea Dogs for a second time, Sogard appeared in just two games and went 1-for-5 with a single during a doubleheader against the Fisher Cats in Manchester on September 3. He was again sent down to Greenville and returned to the Drive’s lineup on Sept. 15.

From there, Sogard closed out his first season in the Red Sox organization on a solid note, going 4-for-13 (.308) with a pair of home runs and four RBI in four games against the Aberdeen IronBirds.