Red Sox's Alex Cora Has High Praise For Fan-Favorite Prospect: 'Complete Player'

Few players in the Boston Red Sox organization have raised their stock in the past year quite like Jhostynxon Garcia.

Garcia, the 22-year-old Venezuelan-born outfielder, was once a lesser-regarded prospect than his younger brother, Johanfran (also in the Boston organization). But since the beginning of 2024, the elder Garcia, nicknamed "The Password," has been hitting lasers and climbing top prospect lists.

Monday marked the crowning achievement of Garcia's young career, as he was selected to represent the Red Sox in the Futures Game in Atlanta on Jul. 12. Last year's participants from the Red Sox organization--Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, and Kyle Teel--have all gone on to debut in the big leagues.

But if the invite to the exclusive showcase wasn't enough, Garcia also recently received some serious compliments from his potential future manager, Alex Cora.

"You don’t want to get just a hitter here to the big leagues. We want the complete players. Garcia is a complete player,“ Cora said, per Christopher Smith of MassLive. ”We’re very proud of him.”

This season, Garcia has an .845 OPS and 12 home runs, including a .932 OPS and nine home runs in only 33 games since being called up to Triple-A. He's making consistent loud contact, and that's the trait that's eventually going to land him in the majors.

However, Cora noted that the Red Sox haven't only been impressed by his barrel skills. He complimented the youngster's outfield defense, which is surprisingly limber for a player whose estimated weight these days is over 200 pounds.

“We saw him in spring training, and we didn’t see the best version offensively,” Cora said, per Smith. “In between (pitches), mechanics-wise, he was off. But the way he played the outfield was eye-opening.”

Red Sox fans are excited, yet wary, about the prospect of Garcia continuing to shine in Triple-A. He's a prime trade chip due to Boston's surplus of young outfielders. But the old adage is "If you hit, you don't sit," and Garcia might have a bat that the Red Sox need to someday find a way to squeeze into the lineup.