Farm Report: Red Sox unlock ‘Password’ as Garcia breaks out at Triple-A

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 as of now ranked as Boston s No prospect by MLB Pipeline was in recent weeks 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 games at Triple-A while batting with a 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 -year-old from Venezuela batted with three home runs and a OPS in 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 which he hit across three levels rising from Low-A Salem to Double-A Portland He was added to the Red Sox -man roster over the offseason to protect him from the Rule Draft and beyond his impressive power Garcia is also regarded as a solid defender in center field with even higher likely in the corners Though the Red Sox have no shortage of outfield depth Garcia is advancing into another option who could provide additional endorsement in the near future At the rate he s going that day could come sooner rather than later Red Sox prospect Roman Anthony has been one of the best players in Triple-A so far this season Courtesy of the Worcester Red Sox Triple-A Anthony putting on a clinic What more can be explained about Anthony at this point Baseball s consensus No prospect the -year-old is both among the youngest players in Triple-A and arguably the best Anthony is at the moment batting with eight home runs RBI a OPS and nearly as multiple walks as strikeouts Particular of his home runs have been comical as well including a pair of bombs in the last few days that left the bat at and 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 largest part notable maturation in Worcester has been the apparent resurgence in foreseen first base depth Ryan Noda who was just now acquired in a agreement from the Los Angeles Angels has been terrific in his first week with the WooSox batting with a OPS through eight games Red Sox pitching prospect David Sandlin is among the various talented young arms the organization has brought in over the past two years Ashley Green Worcester Red Sox Double-A Jordan earns promotion Sandlin next A pair of Portland Sea Dogs earned back-to-back consecutive Eastern League Contestant of the Week honors at the end of May Infielder Blaze Jordan got the nod for the week of May - when he went for with three multi-hit games a double two homers eight RBI four runs and two stolen bases Slashing with hits five doubles six homers runs RBI walks and just strikeouts in May games pushed the Red Sox to promote him to Worcester over the weekend David Sandlin took home POTW honors last week May -June after pitching the first complete-game shutout of his professional career in Event of last Thursday s doubleheader seven innings The -year-old righty whom the Red Sox acquired from the Kansas City Royals in the John Schreiber business last spring training is excelling at keeping the bases empty and inducing weak contact Over five May starts he struck out batters only allowed seven extra-base hits two home runs five doubles and issued just five walks in innings opponents batted got on base at a clip and slugged a meager 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 strikeouts over those two games Left-hander Connelly Early also dominated in May pitching to a ERA over four games three starts with strikeouts and just four earned runs and hits allowed in innings He went at least innings and struck out eight or more batters in each outing Command can be an issue for Boston s fifth-rounder though he walked 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 Shortstop infielder Mikey Romero led the company with eight doubles in just May games and his hits and RBI were second and tied for second but he s been sidelined with forearm tightness since May The Sea Dogs also enjoyed a family reunion last month On May 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 -year-old left-hander has enjoyed a breakout season in which he s posted a ERA with strikeouts in just innings for the Drive Standing at -foot- Rivera is a towering presence on the mound who boasts a mid- to high- s 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 and has proven to be a steal In addition to Rivera Tolle has continued his dominance of High-A with a ERA and strikeouts through innings and Clarke has a ERA with strikeouts in innings since being called up from Salem in late April Valera a -year-old whose fastball tops out at mph is currently on the IL with right elbow soreness Offensively infielder Franklin Arias has continued his dominant start The -year-old in the present Boston s No prospect behind only Anthony and Marcelo Mayer is batting with a OPS in games since being called up to Greenville from Salem and outfielder Miguel Bleis Boston s No prospect is up to seven home runs with nine stolen bases and a OPS Former BC High star Shea Sprague is now a minor leaguer in the Red Sox system and was in recent months promoted from Low-A to High-A Matt Stone Boston Herald 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 th round of last summer s draft allowed just two earned runs over his three Salem Sox games last month then pitched shutout innings of one-hit ball with zero walks and five strikeouts in his Greenville debut on May Sprague still hasn t yielded a home run this season either As first disclosed by SoxProspects Chris Hatfield and substantiated to the Herald the Red Sox are promoting infielder Freili Encarnacion from Salem to Greenville after he hit with a OPS in May games He led the roster in hits runs homers seven and RBI and stole four bases drew seven walks and struck out times Outfielder Justin Gonzales plate discipline was elite in May He walked as much as he struck out apiece and his on-base percentage nearly matched Encarnacion s team-best mark Rookie ball Son of Papi getting started Among the majority of attention-grabbing selections the Red Sox made in last year s draft was D Angelo Ortiz the son of Hall of Fame slugger and club legend David Ortiz The younger Ortiz did not appear in any games following his selection last summer but in recent days made his professional debut in the Florida Complex League So far he s acquitted himself well Through his first games Ortiz has batted with a OPS four stolen bases five RBI and eight walks The -year-old has spent the majority of his time at first base but has played certain third as well