Two Red Sox Prospects Make Huge Leaps In The Athletic's Midseason Top 50

Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer have graduated to the majors, so one might not expect the Boston Red Sox to maintain a heavy presence in this season's updated top prospect rankings.

Well, think again, because if Boston is doing anything well this season, it's continuing to produce top minor league talent.

Keith Law of The Athletic released his updated Top 50 prospect rankings on Thursday, and the list excluded any players who are currently on major league rosters, which took Mayer out of the equation despite having only five games played at the big-league level. However, Boston still had three players on the list.

Unsurprisingly, outfielder Roman Anthony was listed at number one, as the 21-year-old's major league debut has become daily fodder for Red Sox debate circles. But the two Red Sox behind him on the list both made massive jumps.

First, 19-year-old shortstop Franklin Arias was Law's eighth-ranked prospect overall after starting the season at number 42. Arias is slashing .351/.396/.511 in 22 games so far after earning an early-season promotion to High-A Greenville.

"(Arias is) a true shortstop, he doesn’t punch out (8.3 percent at the higher level), and he has power. It’s electric on both sides of the ball and if there’s a flaw in his game, pitchers through the High-A level haven’t exposed it yet," Law wrote. "Leave it to the Red Sox to graduate a top-10 prospect (Kristian Campbell) and immediately have someone else replace him."

Meanwhile, the previously unranked Jhostynxon Garcia checked in at number 46 on Law's updated list. The 22-year-old outfielder was added to the 40-man roster in the offseason and has a 1.057 OPS in seven games since his May promotion to Triple-A.

"The Password, as he is known, has taken a pretty significant step forward this year off a breakout year in 2024," Law wrote. "He’s swinging less often, which has also meant that he’s whiffing less and he’s chasing less, and he’s still hitting the ball hard — although the surface results haven’t been there yet."

Arias and Garcia aren't going to impact the Red Sox's season at the major league level, but their progress is still an extremely encouraging development for a farm system that is far outshining its big-league parent club.