Red Sox OF prospect Justin Gonzales recognized as Carolina League Player of the Week

Red Sox outfield prospect Justin Gonzales has been named the Carolina League Player of the Week for the week of June 30-July 6, Minor League Baseball announced on Monday.

Gonzales appeared in five of Low-A Salem’s six games against Lynchburg on the road last week. The right-handed hitting 18-year-old went 8-for-20 (.400) with three doubles, one home run, four RBIs, three runs scored, two stolen bases, three walks, and three strikeouts. He drew one walk on Tuesday, homered as part of a three-hit effort on Wednesday, did not play on Thursday, singled on Friday, doubled and drove in one run on Saturday, and doubled twice in Sunday’s series finale.

Now riding a four-game hitting streak, Gonzales is batting .273/.383/.376 with nine doubles, one triple, two home runs, 15 RBIs, 24 runs scored, nine stolen bases, 24 walks, and 30 strikeouts in 45 games (196 plate appearances) for Salem this season. That includes a .246/.356/.304 slash line against righties and a far more favorable .407/.515/.741 slash line against lefties.

Among 89 Carolina League hitters who have made at least 190 trips to the plate this year, Gonzales ranks 11th in batting average and on-base percentage, 14th in strikeout rate (15.3 percent), 16th in wOBA (.378), 17th in OPS (.758), 19th in wRC+ (122), 27th in slugging percentage, and 33rd in walk rate (12.2 percent) and swinging-strike rate (10.5 percent), per FanGraphs.

On the other side of the ball, Gonzales has seen playing time at all three outfield spots for Salem. The hulking 6-foot-4, 220-pounder has logged a team-leading 226 1/3 innings in center field, 61 innings in right field, and 15 2/3 innings in left field, recording one outfield assist and committing three errors in 74 total defensive chances. He has also made nine starts at DH and has prior experience at first base.

Originally signed out of the Dominican Republic for $250,000 in January 2024, Gonzales is currently regarded by Baseball America as Boston’s No. 16 prospect. The Bani native burst onto the scene in his professional debut last season, most notably earning Dominican Summer League All-Star and Red Sox Minor League Latin Program Position Player of the Year honors. He stood out in his first stateside spring training and made the jump to Salem on May 6 after just one game in the rookie-level Florida Complex League.

“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 in early May. “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.”

Gonzales, who does not turn 19 until December, could emerge as an intriguing candidate to be moved in the coming weeks if the Red Sox elect to be aggressive ahead of the trade deadline at the end of the month. Assuming he remains in the organization, though, it should be worthwhile to see if Gonzales can aggressively work his way up to High-A Greenville at some point in the second half.