Red Sox draft Henry Godbout out of UVA. Meet The New Guy

Who is he and where did he come from?

He’s the delightfully named Henry Godbout, and while he sounds like he comes from the pages of a Martin Amis novel, he actually comes to us from Brooklyn, New York via the University of Virginia. The Sox drafted him on Sunday with the 75th overall pick.

Despite the fact that he grew up in New York City, Godbout was raised a Red Sox fan by his New Englander father. That’s right — we’ve got ourselves a reverse Ben Rice on our hands! On the night he was drafted, he even shared a picture of his 3-year old self visiting Fenway in full Sox gear:

The fact that, even at age 3, he knew you could never go wrong with a soft serve twist bodes well for his baseball IQ.

What position does he play?

Hmmm, this could be an interesting question. The Sox announced him as a shortstop when they drafted him, which is a clear indication of where they intend to start him. But Godbout was almost exclusively a second baseman for the Cavs this year and, by all accounts, he wasn’t a particularly great one with the glove. He’s also not very speedy, with a large frame that could portend the addition of even more muscle and weight as he develops, which doesn’t sound like a middle infielder to me. I think we’ll see him bounce around the diamond as he climbs the ladder.

Will he be any good?

He is already very good in one very important part of the game: putting the bat on the ball. Not only is it exceedingly rare that he strikes out (he did it just 19 times in 226 plate appearances this year) it’s rare that he even swings and misses. He doesn’t have a ton of power right now (he hit 9 homers last year and 8 this year), but he’s still adding muscle to his 6”2’, 190-pound. frame.

If everything goes right for him with the bat, he could end up as a guy who pops 15-20 homers while putting the ball in play and taking plenty of walks, not unlike a right-handed Masataka Yoshida. But that’s the best-case scenario, not necessarily the most likely one.

Show me a cool highlight.

Here’s his 2025 highlight reel. I’m no sunflower seed spittin’ scout, but it looks to me like he’s got a quick bat that stays in the zone for a while. His leg lift also reminds be a bit of Yoshida’s.

What’s he doing in his picture up there?

Practicing the sneer he’ll give to any Yankee fans who give him shit when he returns to his hometown for the first time as a big leaguer and hits two home runs in a one game on May 11, 2029.

When will he be on the Red Sox?

Developmentally, he reminds me a bit of Chase Meidroth in the sense that they are both college hitters who entered the minors with advanced approaches at the plate. What may slow Godbout down is his defensive development. And after this year’s Kristian Campbell fiasco, the Sox may be inclined to take more time with players who don’t have natural defensive homes.

Expect him to start in either Salem or Greenville later this season. From there, we might see him in Fenway by 2028 if things go smoothly.