While all eyes remain on Roman Anthony in anticipation of his eventual call to the big leagues, another notable Red Sox outfield prospect is making a strong impression in Worcester as well.
Jhostynxon Garcia, currently ranked as Boston’s No. 5 prospect by MLB Pipeline, was recently promoted to Triple-A and has enjoyed a dominant start with the WooSox. Garcia, nicknamed “The Password,” has already hit four home runs through his first 11 games at Triple-A while batting .391 with a 1.112 OPS.
Garcia’s performance is particularly notable given that he wasn’t exactly tearing the cover off the ball through the first month and a half in Double-A. The 22-year-old from Venezuela batted .256 with three home runs and a .748 OPS in 33 games with Portland, which is respectable but wouldn’t suggest mastery of the level.
Obviously the Red Sox saw things they liked under the hood, and Garcia has rewarded the club with a big debut upon his promotion.
Garcia has been one of the club’s fastest-rising prospects over the past year or so. The outfielder led all Red Sox minor leaguers in home runs last season with 23, which he hit across three levels rising from Low-A Salem to Double-A Portland. He was added to the Red Sox 40-man roster over the offseason to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft, and beyond his impressive power Garcia is also regarded as a solid defender in center field with even higher potential in the corners.
Though the Red Sox have no shortage of outfield depth, Garcia is developing into another option who could provide additional support in the near future. At the rate he’s going, that day could come sooner rather than later.
Triple-A: Anthony putting on a clinic
What more can be said about Anthony at this point?
Baseball’s consensus No. 1 prospect, the 21-year-old is both among the youngest players in Triple-A and arguably the best. Anthony is currently batting .303 with eight home runs, 23 RBI, a .922 OPS and nearly as many walks (45) as strikeouts (49). Some of his home runs have been comical as well, including a pair of bombs recently that left the bat at 115.5 and 116 mph.
To put that into perspective, those would rank among the hardest-hit balls in the majors this season, up there with the hardest hits by guys like Pete Alonso and Kyle Schwarber.
Beyond Anthony and Garcia, the other most notable development in Worcester has been the apparent resurgence in potential first base depth. Ryan Noda, who was recently acquired in a trade from the Los Angeles Angels, has been terrific in his first week with the WooSox, batting .364 with a .894 OPS through eight games.
Double-A: Jordan earns promotion, Sandlin next?
A pair of Portland Sea Dogs earned back-to-back consecutive Eastern League Player of the Week honors at the end of May.
Infielder Blaze Jordan got the nod for the week of May 19-25 when he went 10 for 23 (.435) with three multi-hit games, a double, two homers, eight RBI, four runs, and two stolen bases. Slashing .390/.490/.671 with 32 hits (five doubles, six homers), 18 runs, 24 RBI, 14 walks and just 11 strikeouts in 26 May games pushed the Red Sox to promote him to Worcester over the weekend.
David Sandlin took home POTW honors last week (May 26-June 1) after pitching the first complete-game shutout of his professional career in Game 1 of last Thursday’s doubleheader (seven innings). The 24-year-old righty, whom the Red Sox acquired from the Kansas City Royals in the John Schreiber trade last spring training, is excelling at keeping the bases empty and inducing weak contact. Over five May starts he struck out 29 batters, only allowed seven extra-base hits (two home runs, five doubles), and issued just five walks in 25.2 innings; opponents batted .237, got on base at a .275 clip, and slugged a meager .351 against him.
Sandlin appears to be trending up as spring turns to summer. After allowing at least one run in each of his first seven outings of the season, he’s coming off back-to-back shutout performances of five and seven innings, respectively, with one walk and 14 strikeouts over those two games.
Left-hander Connelly Early also dominated in May, pitching to a 1.80 ERA over four games (three starts), with 33 strikeouts and just four earned runs and 10 hits allowed in 20 innings. He went at least 4.2 innings and struck out eight or more batters in each outing. Command can be an issue for Boston’s ’23 fifth-rounder, though; he walked 11 batters and hit three over the span of the month. He’s issued multiple walks in six of his eight games this season, and only finished one outing without a free pass (April 15).
Shortstop/infielder Mikey Romero led the team with eight doubles in just 17 May games and his 16 hits and 11 RBI were second and tied for second, but he’s been sidelined with forearm tightness since May 27.
The Sea Dogs also enjoyed a family reunion last month. On May 20, the Red Sox promoted outfield prospect Zach Ehrhard to Portland, making him teammates with older brother Drew, an infielder.
High-A: Rivera making noise in Greenville
Much has been made about the quality of the Greenville Drive’s pitching staff, but while plenty of people have been paying close attention to guys like Payton Tolle, Brandon Clarke and Juan Valera, another arm has emerged as one to watch.
Eduardo Rivera, a 21-year-old left-hander, has enjoyed a breakout season in which he’s posted a 2.08 ERA with 45 strikeouts in just 26 innings for the Drive. Standing at 6-foot-7, Rivera is a towering presence on the mound who boasts a mid- to high-90s fastball along with a wide-ranging arsenal including a cutter, slider, changeup and curveball.
Cut by the Oakland Athletics last summer, Rivera joined the Red Sox midway through 2024 and has proven to be a steal.
In addition to Rivera, Tolle has continued his dominance of High-A with a 3.86 ERA and 54 strikeouts through 32.2 innings, and Clarke has a 2.51 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 14 innings since being called up from Salem in late April. Valera, a 19-year-old whose fastball tops out at 100 mph, is currently on the IL with right elbow soreness.
Offensively, infielder Franklin Arias has continued his dominant start. The 19-year-old, currently Boston’s No. 3 prospect behind only Anthony and Marcelo Mayer, is batting .372 with a .939 OPS in 26 games since being called up to Greenville from Salem, and outfielder Miguel Bleis (Boston’s No. 12 prospect) is up to seven home runs with nine stolen bases and a .795 OPS.
Low-A: Hometown kid moves up after strong May
Hanover, Mass. native Shea Sprague took a step closer to playing at Fenway Park in May when he pitched his way to a promotion from Salem to Greenville.
The southpaw, whom the Red Sox selected out of UNC Chapel Hill in the 13th round of last summer’s draft, allowed just two earned runs over his three Salem Sox games last month, then pitched 3.1 shutout innings of one-hit ball with zero walks and five strikeouts in his Greenville debut on May 31. Sprague still hasn’t yielded a home run this season, either.
As first reported by SoxProspects’ Chris Hatfield and confirmed to the Herald, the Red Sox are promoting infielder Freili Encarnacion from Salem to Greenville after he hit .333 with a 1.057 OPS in 23 May games. He led the roster in hits (29), runs (20), homers (seven), and RBI (15), and stole four bases, drew seven walks, and struck out 16 times.
Outfielder Justin Gonzales’ plate discipline was elite in May. He walked as much as he struck out, 14 apiece, and his .398 on-base percentage nearly matched Encarnacion’s team-best .402 mark.
Rookie ball: Son of Papi getting started
Among the most attention-grabbing selections the Red Sox made in last year’s draft was D’Angelo Ortiz, the son of Hall of Fame slugger and team legend David Ortiz. The younger Ortiz did not appear in any games following his selection last summer but recently made his professional debut in the Florida Complex League.
So far he’s acquitted himself well.
Through his first 18 games Ortiz has batted .283 with a .739 OPS, four stolen bases, five RBI and eight walks. The 20-year-old has spent the majority of his time at first base but has played some third as well.
