Former Cleveland Guardians power hitter Jhonkensy Noel. (Getty Images)
Jhonkensy Noel is the perfect case study in why raw power alone no longer guarantees opportunity — and why the Red Sox have to be careful when chasing it.
The appeal is obvious. At 6-foot-3, 250 pounds, Noel hits the ball as hard as almost anyone in the sport. His 19 career MLB home runs in just 327 at-bats validate the strength, and the underlying metrics back it up with elite exit velocities and a pull-heavy profile that would play loudly in Fenway Park. Even his nickname fits the image. Big Christmas — big body, big power, big swings.
Everything else explains why he’s available.
The contact issues are severe. Noel has struck out 115 times in those same 327 at-bats, carries a .193 career batting average, and consistently operates from behind in counts. This isn’t a mystery. It’s the risk that comes attached to extreme power profiles. Cleveland’s decision to designate Noel for assignment wasn’t a commentary on his strength — it was a roster decision. The Guardians needed bullpen depth, traded for left-handed reliever Justin Bruihl, and chose flexibility over a one-dimensional bat. In today’s game, versatility and optionality often win, even when the power is loud.
That same reality complicates the Red Sox fit.
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Noel is out of minor-league options, meaning any team that acquires him must keep him on the 26-man roster or expose him to waivers again. For Boston, that creates an immediate problem. Adding Noel now would require burning a 40-man roster spot — and likely designating someone else for assignment — for a player with a narrow, volatile offensive profile. That’s not how Craig Breslow has shown he wants to operate, especially with Boston still valuing pitching depth, roster churn, and in-season flexibility.
Ironically, the version of Noel that does make sense for the Red Sox isn’t the one currently available.
If Noel were to clear waivers and reach free agency, the calculus changes entirely. On a minor-league deal with a spring training invite, Boston could take a no-risk look. The Red Sox could stash him in Worcester, let him breathe, and see whether the power forces the issue organically instead of artificially. And if it does, the visuals would be impossible to ignore: Noel launching mammoth home runs over the left-field berm at Polar Park, turning curiosity into pressure.
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Fenway itself adds another layer to the intrigue. While the park doesn’t magically fix strikeout issues, the Green Monster is a doubles factory for right-handed hitters who pull hard contact to left. Even if a few would-be home runs die at the wall, more of Noel’s hardest contact would likely turn into wall-ball doubles and extra-base hits than in a neutral park. Fenway wouldn’t change the hitter — but it could make the contact he does make more valuable.
Maybe Noel is simply a one-hit wonder — forever remembered for a heroic postseason home run in a Guardians uniform. That outcome wouldn’t be shocking. Power-only profiles live on a thin edge, and once the league finds the holes, the opportunities disappear quickly.
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That doesn’t mean the Red Sox should ignore him altogether.
If Noel shakes free and reaches free agency, Boston should absolutely poke around. On a minor-league deal, the upside is still worth exploring. But without minor-league options, Noel just isn’t worth a 40-man roster commitment right now. The Red Sox don’t need more risk without flexibility.
Until that flexibility exists, Jhonkensy Noel remains exactly what his profile suggests: a tempting power idea, constrained by roster reality. Big Christmas is fun. The power is real. But until the roster math works, he’s better admired from afar than unwrapped too early.