Red Sox promote OF prospect Justin Gonzales to High-A Greenville

The Red Sox have promoted outfield prospect Justin Gonzales from Low-A Salem to High-A Greenville, as was first reported by Hunter Noll of Beyond the Monster.

Gonzales, 18, is currently regarded by Baseball America as Boston’s No. 12 prospect. At the same time, MLB Pipeline has him ranked at No. 7 and SoxProspects.com has him ranked at No. 13. The Dominican Republic native is enjoying a productive first season in the United States after originally signing with the Red Sox for $250,000 as an international free agent coming out of Bani last January.

On the heels of earning 2024 Dominican Summer League All-Star honors and being named the organization’s Minor League Latin Program Position Player of the Year in his professional debut, Gonzales impressed in his first stateside spring training down in Fort Myers and received a promotion to Salem on May 6 after appearing in just one game in the rookie-level Florida Complex League.

Given his general lack of experience, it’s not terribly surprising that Gonzales struggled somewhat out of the gate in his first taste of full-season ball. The right-handed hitter was batting .246/.398/.277 in his first 18 games (83 plate appearances) with Salem through the end of May. He began to turn a corner in June, however, and has been steadily on the rise since then. Overall, he slashed .298/.381/.423 with 23 doubles, two triples, four home runs, 27 RBIs, 45 runs scored, 11 stolen bases, 35 walks, and 52 strikeouts over 81 games (357 plate appearances) for Boston’s Carolina League affiliate. That includes a .317/.431/.533 line against lefties and a .294/.368/.397 line against righties.

Among 54 qualified Carolina League hitters entering play Tuesday, Gonzales ranked first in batting average, third in slugging percentage and strikeout rate (14.6 percent), fourth in OPS (.804), wOBA (.393), and wRC+ (131), ninth in on-base percentage, 18th in swinging-strike rate (10.3 percent), and 20th in isolated power (.125), per FanGraphs.

“This kid is more physical than any player I’ve been around,” Red Sox senior director of player development Brian Abraham told The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier earlier this year. “He’s a monster. I think he’s still kind of learning what he can do physically, learning his body. And for a guy who’s so big and has so much power, his ability to control the bat is incredibly impressive. He’s been a much better hitter than maybe we had expected. That’s been really exciting.”

Defensively, Gonzales saw playing time at all three outfield spots with Salem. The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder logged 226 1/3 innings in center, 192 innings in right, and 127 2/3 innings in left, recording two assists and committing four errors in 127 total chances. He also made 16 starts at DH and has previous experience at first base.

Gonzales, who does not turn 19 until December, surpasses recently-activated right-hander Juan Valera as the youngest player on Greenville’s roster. He is batting second and starting in right field for the Drive in their series opener against the Bowling Green Hot Rods at Fluor Field on Tuesday night.