Tag: franklin arias

Red Sox promote top prospect Franklin Arias to Double-A Portland

The Red Sox have promoted top prospect Franklin Arias from High-A Greenville to Double-A Portland, according to the club’s MiLB.com transactions log.

Arias is moving up a level for the second time this season. The 19-year-old infielder opened the 2025 campaign at Low-A Salem and batted .346/.407/.397 (134 wRC+) with four doubles, nine RBIs, 15 runs scored, four stolen bases, six walks, and 12 strikeouts in 19 games (86 plate appearances) before receiving a promotion to Greenville in late April.

After getting off to a blistering start with Greenville that saw him net South Atlantic League Player of the Month honors for May, Arias began to cool off as spring turned to summer. The right-handed hitter continued to struggle offensively out of the All-Star break in July, but has fared relatively better as of late to bring his line up to .265/.329/.380 (107 wRC+) with 21 doubles, one triple, six home runs, 49 RBIs, 43 runs scored, seven stolen bases, 32 walks, and 35 strikeouts in 87 games (392 plate appearances) for the Drive.

Overall, Arias is slashing .279/.343/.383 (112 wRC+) with 25 doubles, one triple, six home runs, 58 RBIs, 58 runs scored, 11 stolen bases, 38 walks, and 47 strikeouts in 106 games (478 plate appearances) between Salem and Greenville this season. That includes a .214/.296/.282 line against lefties and a .300/.358/.415 line against righties.

Between his stops in Salem and Greenville, Arias primarily split his playing time between shortstop and second base, logging 780 2/3 innings at the former and 44 innings at the latter. The rangy 5-foot-11, 170-pounder (listed height and weight) committed six errors (all at shortstop) in 364 total defensive chances. He also made 10 starts at DH.

A native of Venezuela, Arias originally signed with the Red Sox for $525,000 as an international free agent coming out of Caracas in January 2023. Lauded for his ability to make contact and fielding prowess, he made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League shortly thereafter. He impressed there before truly breaking out last season. As part of a standout 2024 campaign, he was recognized as a Baseball America Rookie and Florida Complex League All-Star, the Florida Complex League’s Top MLB Prospect and MVP, and Boston’s Minor League Baserunner of the Year.

Unsurprisingly, Arias was included in multiple top 100 prospects lists to begin the 2025 season. He is currently regarded by Baseball America as Boston’s No. 3 prospect and the game’s No. 50 prospect, while MLB Pipeline has him ranked as Boston’s No. 1 prospect and the No. 24 prospect in the sport. SoxProspects.com has him at No. 2 on its top 60 list behind only rookie left-hander Payton Tolle.

Arias, who turns 20 in November, is leading off and starting at shortstop in Portland’s series opener against Erie at Hadlock Field on Tuesday night. The Sea Dogs have 12 regular-season games remaining and currently trail Somerset by just 1 1/2 games for a spot in the Eastern League playoffs.

(Picture of Franklin Arias: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Red Sox’ Franklin Arias named South Atlantic League Player of the Month for May

Red Sox infield prospect Franklin Arias has been named the South Atlantic League Player of the Month for May, Minor League Baseball announced on Thursday.

Arias, 19, went 40-for-99 (.404) with nine doubles, one triple, two home runs, 19 RBIs, 14 runs scored, three stolen bases, six walks, and seven strikeouts in 23 games for High-A Greenville last month. The right-handed hitter is currently riding a 14-game hitting streak. He is batting .372/.408/.529 with 11 doubles, one triple, two home runs, 23 RBIs, 14 runs scored, five stolen bases, eight walks, and nine strikeouts over 28 games (130 plate appearances) with the Drive since being promoted from Low-A Salem in late April.

Among the 95 hitters in the South Atlantic League who entered play Tuesday having made at least 130 trips to the plate this season, Arias ranked first in batting average, strikeout rate (6.9 percent), and swinging-strike rate (3.5 percent), second in OPS (.937), third in slugging percentage, fourth in wOBA (.427) and wRC+ (162), ninth in on-base percentage, and 35th in isolated power (.157) and line-drive rate (22.9 percent), per FanGraphs.

On the other side of the ball, Arias was just recognized as the Red Sox’ Minor League Defensive Player of the Month for May. Since moving up from Salem to Greenville, the 5-foot-11, 170-pounder has split his playing time on the field between shortstop and second base, making 20 starts at the former and four starts at the latter. Between the two spots, he has committed just one error in 87 total chances. He has also made four starts at DH.

Originally signed out of Venezuela for $525,000 in January 2023, Arias is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 4 prospect in Boston’s farm system and the No. 65 prospect in the sport. Following an impressive professional debut in the Dominican Summer League, the Caracas native is coming off a 2024 season that saw him net plenty of awards, including Baseball America Rookie All-Star honors, Florida Complex League All-Star, MVP, and Top Prospect honors, and Red Sox Minor League Baserunner of the Year honors.

Arias, who does not turn 20 until November, told The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier in April that one of his goals was to make it to Double-A Portland — or even Triple-A Worcester — before the end of the 2025 season. Given Arias’ level of play at High-A, Greenville hitting coach JP Fasone was recently asked by MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith if he believes the teenager is already ready for his second promotion of the year.

“Luckily, I don’t have to worry about any of that (promotion decisions), but I would say if he continues on this trajectory, there’s no reason he wouldn’t be,” Fasone said. “He’s definitely shown he can handle the pitching. There are definitely things we still wanna see out of him in Greenville. But when the people who make those decisions make the call, he’ll definitely be ready.”

(Picture of Franklin Arias: Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Red Sox to promote prospects Franklin Arias, Brandon Clarke to High-A Greenville

The Red Sox are promoting infield prospect Franklin Arias and pitching prospect Brandon Clarke from Low-A Salem to High-A Greenville, as was first reported by Andrew Parker of Beyond the Monster.

Arias, 19, is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 4 prospect in Boston’s farm system and the No. 72 prospect in the sport. The right-handed hitter batted a stout .346/.407/.397 with four doubles, nine RBIs, 15 runs scored, four stolen bases, six walks, and 12 strikeouts in 19 games (86 plate appearances) for Salem to open the season. He did not play in Sunday’s series finale against Hickory.

Among 93 qualified hitters in the Carolina League coming into play on Sunday, Arias ranked third in swinging-strike rate (6.1 percent), sixth in batting average, 11th in strikeout rate (14 percent), 13th in line-drive rate (29.2 percent), 21st in on-base percentage, 29th in wOBA (.401), 30th in OPS (.804), 34th in slugging percentage and wRC+ (128), and 46th in speed score, per FanGraphs.

On the other side of the ball, Arias has seen the vast majority of his playing time to this point in the season come at shortstop. With Salem, the 5-foot-11, 170-pounder logged 135 1/3 innings at short, where he committed just one error in 70 defensive chances. He also made one start at second base and two starts at DH.

A native of Venezuela, Arias originally signed with the Red Sox for $525,000 as an international free agent coming out of Caracas in January 2023. He put forth a strong professional debut in the Dominican Summer League that season, then caught fire in the Florida Complex League last year. To go along with being named the FCL’s 2024 MVP and top prospect, he was rewarded with a promotion to Salem in late July and was later recognized as Boston’s Minor League Baserunner of the Year.

“I definitely want to be the best player I can be. [But] I try to take it day to day and try not to look too far in the future,” Arias told The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier (through a translator) earlier this month. “I feel that’s what helped me get that MVP last year, and I think if I can take that day-to-day approach this year, I can have some similar results.”

Arias, who does not turn 20 until November, also told Speier that he is aiming to make it to Double-A Portland or even Triple-A Worcester before his age-19 season draws to a close. If he were to receive a promotion to Portland at some point this winter or fall, he would join Roman Anthony (2023) and Xander Bogaerts (2012) as the two most recent Red Sox prospects to reach the Double-A level as teenagers.

In Greenville, Arias is slated to join a middle infield mix that already includes the likes of Marvin Alcantara, Nazzan Zanetello, Fraymi De Leon, and Justin Riemer (on the injured list). It would not be terribly surprising if he emerged as the Drive’s primary shortstop moving forward, though he could spend additional time at second base to get others reps at short.

Clarke, meanwhile, is not yet ranked by Baseball America as one of Boston’s top pitching prospects, though that will likely be changing soon. The 22-year-old left-hander was selected by the Red Sox in the fifth round (148th overall) of last summer’s draft out of State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota. He forewent his commitment to transfer to South Carolina by signing for $400,000, but did not pitch for an affiliate after putting pen to paper.

Clarke, instead, waited until April 10 of this year (his 22nd birthday) to make his professional debut. The Virginia native then posted a 0.93 ERA (1.20 FIP) with 17 strikeouts to just two walks in his first three starts (9 2/3 innings) for Salem. He only gave up two hits in that stretch as two of his three outings to kick off the 2025 campaign were both scoreless and hitless.

Among the 118 Caroline League pitchers who entered Sunday with at least nine innings under their belts early on, Clark ranked first in FIP and xFIP (1.55), second in strikeout rate (47.2 percent) and groundball rate (68.8 percent), batting average against (.061), and WHIP (0.41), third in line-drive rate (6.3 percent) and swinging-strike rate (21.3 percent), 13th in ERA, and 17th in walk rate (5.6 percent), per FanGraphs.

Listed at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, Clarke stood out in spring training not just because of his large stature, but because of his arsenal as well. As highlighted in his SoxProspects.com scouting report, the athletic lefty throws from a three-quarters arm slot and incorporates a high leg kick into his delivery. He operates with a four-pitch mix that consists of a 96-99 mph fastball that tops out at 100 mph, an 87-90 mph slider, an 81-85 mph sweeper, and an 87-89 mph changeup that is still considered a work in progress.

Much like Arias, Clarke is in line to face more advanced competition at the High-A level with this promotion. Presumably taking the place of fellow southpaw Hayden Mullins (promoted to Portland) in Greenville’s starting rotation, Clarke will join a talented pitching staff headed by 2024 second-round draft pick Payton Tolle, Juan Valera, and Jedixson Paez. He will likely make his Drive debut in the team’s upcoming series against the Asheville Tourists at Fluor Field.

(Picture of Franklin Arias: Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

How did Red Sox prospect Franklin Arias fare in stateside debut this season?

Behind only Miguel Bleis, infielder Franklin Arias stole more bases (35) than any other Red Sox prospect in 2024. As such, he was named the organization’s Minor League Baserunner of the Year last month.

Arias originally signed with the Red Sox for $525,000 as an international free agent coming out of Venezuela in January 2023. After putting together a strong showing in the Dominican Summer League last year, the Caracas native embarked upon his stateside debut by making the jump to the Florida Complex League this season.

In 51 games for the FCL Red Sox, Arias batted a stout .355/.471/.584 with 16 doubles, two triples, six home runs, 28 RBIs, 41 runs scored, 30 stolen bases, 34 walks, and 36 strikeouts over 206 plate appearances. The right-handed hitting 18-year-old then received a promotion to Low-A Salem in late July.

Though he struggled some out of the gate with Salem, Arias turned things around as the calendar flipped from August to September and slashed a respectable .257/.331/.378 with nine doubles, three home runs, 26 RBIs, 18 runs scored, five stolen bases, 16 walks, and 29 strikeouts in 36 games (166 plate appearances) for Boston’s Carolina League affiliate.

Altogether, Arias posted a .309/.409/.487 slash line with 25 doubles, two triples, nine home runs, 54 RBIs, 59 runs scored, 35 stolen bases (in 41 attempts), 50 walks, and 65 strikeouts in 87 total games (372 plate appearances) between the FCL and Salem. That includes a .290/.401/.454 line against right-handed pitching and a .422/.460/.689 line against lefties.

Among the 27 Red Sox minor-leaguers who made at least 370 trips to the plate this season, Arias ranked first in wSB (3.0), third in batting average, OPS (.896), speed score (7.1), and wOBA (.427), fourth in on-base percentage and wRC+ (150), fifth in slugging percentage and strikeout rate (17.5 percent), seventh in isolated power (.178) and swinging-strike rate (9.6 percent), and 10th in walk rate (13.4 percent), per FanGraphs.

Defensively, Arias saw playing time at both middle infield positions between his stops in the FCL and Salem this year. In 57 total starts at shortstop, the projectable 5-foot-11, 170-pounder committed 10 errors in 243 chances. In 20 total starts at second base, he committed just two errors in 78 chances. He also started nine games at DH.

“He’s one of these guys that you can close your eyes and you know he’s going to field a ground ball,” Red Sox director of player development Brian Abraham said of Arias when speaking with The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier in July. “He’s a very easy plus defender, which is, I think, what’s really exciting about him. The bat has always been behind, and now the bat is starting to creep up and all of a sudden, you’re looking at a player who does a little bit of everything.”

In addition to being named the Red Sox’ Minor League Baserunner of the Year, Arias was recognized as the 2024 Florida Complex League MVP, an FCL All-Star, and the FCL’s top prospect. He is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 6 prospect in Boston’s farm system and the No. 91 prospect in the sport.

Should he remain in the organization through the winter, Arias — who turns 19 in November — will likely return to Salem for the start of the 2025 season. If he continues to be a stolen-base threat moving forward, it will presumably have more to do with his approach than his speed. Red Sox assistant general manager Eddie Romero acknowledged as much in a conversation last month with MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith.

“I would put him in the category of a kid who has really good instincts and can do things at a very mature level on the base paths,” Romero said. “Because I don’t think he’s a plus runner by any means. I think he’s got good speed and he’s very advanced at timing things, taking advantage, and preparing before the game. He’s just got a very mature way about going into it for his pregame. He’ll know pitcher moves. He’ll know catcher arm strength. I think he’s advanced in that area. He’s got good speed. He’s not a Jarren Duran. But I think it’s that he uses his IQ to help him steal a lot of bases.”

(Picture of Franklin Arias: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Red Sox to promote prospects Franklin Arias, Juan Valera to Low-A Salem

The Red Sox are promoting infield prospect Franklin Arias and pitching prospect Juan Valera from the Florida Complex League to Low-A Salem, according to reports from The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier and SoxProspects.com.

Arias, 18, is currently ranked by Baseball America as the No. 9 prospect in Boston’s farm system. The right-handed hitter batted .355/.471/.584 with 16 doubles, two triples, six home runs, 28 RBIs, 41 runs scored, 30 stolen bases, 34 walks, and 34 strikeouts in 51 games (206 plate appearances) for the rookie-level FCL Red Sox this season.

In the month of July alone, Arias has slashed a ridiculous .482/.574/.768 with five doubles, one triple, three homers, nine RBIs, 18 runs scored, 14 stolen bases, 12 walks, and 14 strikeouts over 18 games (68 plate appearances). Among 70 qualified FCL hitters coming into play on Monday, Arias led the pack in batting average, on-base percentage, OPS (1.055), and wRC+ (180). He also ranked second in slugging percentage, fifth in isolated power (.229), 17th in walk rate (16.5 percent), and 23rd in strikeout rate (17.5 percent), per FanGraphs.

Defensively, Arias has split his playing time on the field this season between shortstop and second base. The 5-foot-11, 170-pounder committed nine errors in 33 starts at short for the FCL Red Sox but did not commit an error in 10 starts at second. He also made four starts at DH.

Arias, who turns 19 in November, originally signed with the Red Sox for $525,000 as a highly-touted international free agent coming out of Venezuela in January 2023. The Caracas native made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League last year and has since added to his glove-first profile by showing signs of immense improvement at the plate.

“He’s one of these guys that you can close your eyes and you know he’s going to field a ground ball,” Red Sox director of player development Brian Abraham said of Arias when speaking with Speier earlier this month. “He’s a very easy plus defender, which is, I think, what’s really exciting about him. The bat has always been behind, and now the bat is starting to creep up and all of a sudden, you’re looking at a player who does a little bit of everything.”

Valera, meanwhile, is not yet ranked by Baseball America but is rated by SoxProspects.com as the No. 42 prospect in Boston’s farm system. The 18-year-old right-hander posted a 1.79 ERA and 3.29 FIP with 40 strikeouts to 14 walks in 11 appearances (nine starts) spanning 40 1/3 innings for the FCL Red Sox this season. Opposing hitters batted just .128 against him.

Dating back to the beginning of June, Valera has pitched to a 0.98 ERA (2.20 FIP) with 29 strikeouts to four walks over his last seven starts (27 2/3 innings). That includes punching out a season-high seven batters in five perfect frames against the FCL Braves last Thursday.

Among the 20 FCL pitchers who entered Monday with at least 40 innings under their belt to this point in the year, Valera ranked first in batting average against and WHIP (0.77), second in FIP, third in groundball rate (56 percent), fourth in ERA fifth in strikeout rate (26 percent), sixth in walk rate (9.1 percent) and xFIP (3.98), and eighth in swinging-strike rate (16 percent), per FanGraphs.

Valera, who turned 18 in May, originally signed with the Red Sox for $45,000 as an international free agent coming out of the Dominican Republic in April 2023. The Sabana Grande de Palenque native appeared in 15 games (one start) as part of his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League last season but has really burst onto the scene this year.

Listed at 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, Valera primarily operates with a 93-97 mph fastball and an 83-85 mph slider, according to his initial SoxProspects.com scouting report. The projectable righty does not yet feature a third pitch and is inconsistent when it comes to throwing strikes. Still, “he checks a lot of boxes that you look for in a pitching prospect his age.”

While Arias and Valera are getting somewhat of a head start in making the jump to Salem, others in Fort Myers will likely join them at some point in August since the 2024 FCL season will conclude on July 30 at the latest.

(Picture of Franklin Arias: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Red Sox’ Franklin Arias named Florida Complex League Player of the Week

Red Sox infield prospect Franklin Arias has been named the Florida Complex League Player of the Week for the week of June 24-30, Minor League Baseball announced on Monday.

Arias went 7-for-15 (.467) with three doubles, one home run, six RBIs, four runs scored, five stolen bases, three walks, and three strikeouts in five games for the FCL Red Sox last week. The 18-year-old then went 4-for-7 (.571) with two doubles, one RBI, three runs scored, one stolen base, one walk, and one strikeout between Games 1 and 2 of Monday’s doubleheader against the FCL Braves at the JetBlue Park complex in Fort Myers.

Following Monday’s performance, Arias is now batting a stout .308/.432/.513 with 13 doubles, one triple, three home runs, 20 RBIs, 26 runs scored, 17 stolen bases, 23 walks, and 31 strikeouts in 35 games (146 plate appearances) for the FCL Red Sox after a relatively slow start to the season. The right-handed hitter leads Boston’s rookie-level affiliate in doubles, runs scored, stolen bases, extra-base hits (17), and total bases (60), per MiLB.com.

Defensively, Arias has seen all of his playing time on the field this season come at either shortstop or second base. The projectable 5-foot-11, 170-pounder has made 23 starts at short, where he has committed five errors in 98 chances, and eight at second, where he has yet to commit an error. He has also served as the FCL Red Sox’ designated hitter three times, including Game 2 of Monday’s twin bill.

Arias is currently regarded by both Baseball America and SoxProspects.com as the No. 21 prospect in Boston’s farm system. The native Venezuelan originally signed with the Red Sox for $525,000 as an international free agent coming out of Caracas in January 2023. He made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League last June and slashed .350/.440/.453 over 37 games while impressing with his defense.

Arias, who does not turn 19 until November, is the second member of this year’s FCL Red Sox to earn Player of the Week honors, joining fellow infielder and 2023 signee Yoeilin Cespedes (June 3-9). Cespedes has since received a promotion to Low-A Salem but has yet to appear in a game there due to left-hand soreness, according to SoxProspects.com Chris Hatfield.

As part of a new scheduling quirk, the 2024 Florida Complex League regular season will end on July 25. Barring a trade or other sort of surprise, it seems more likely than not that Arias will be joining Cespedes in Salem before the end of the summer.

(Picture of Franklin Arias: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Red Sox infield prospect Franklin Arias has the makings of a ‘true shortstop’

The Red Sox had a number of young, international prospects make their respective professional debuts in the Dominican Summer League this past season, including infielder Franklin Arias.

Arias, who just turned 18 last month, signed with Boston for $525,000 coming out of Venezuela back in January. In May, Ben Badler of Baseball America noted that the Caracas native was a “high baseball IQ player with good rhythm at the plate” and “easy arm strength” on the field.

Nearly four months after putting pen to paper, Arias debuted for DSL Red Sox Red on June 18. The right-handed hitter immediately made his impact felt by going 4-for-5 out of the leadoff spot with two RBIs, one run scored, and one walk in an 11-9 victory over DSL Tigers 1.

Arias recorded two more four-hit games in June (the first of which he notched his first pro home run) before cooling off to the tune of a .191/.261/.262 slash line in 12 July contests. He then ended the year on a strong note by going 14-for-34 (.412) with five extra-base hits in August.

All told, Arias batted a stout .350/.440/.453 with nine doubles, one triple, one home run, 15 runs driven in, a team-high 32 runs scored, three stolen bases, 19 walks, and 14 strikeouts in 37 games (159 plate appearances) for Boston’s DSL Red affiliate. Going even deeper, Arias posted a 1.036 OPS against lefties and an .854 OPS against righties.

Among the 276 hitters in the Dominican Summer League who registered at least 150 plate appearances this season, Arias ranked fifth in strikeout rate (8.8 percent), fourth in batting average, 24th in on-base percentage, 57th in slugging percentage, 37th in OPS (.893), 57th in line-drive rate (23.3 percent), 12th in swinging-strike rate (14.8 percent), and 33rd in wRC+ (144), per FanGraphs.

On the other side of the ball, Arias saw all of his playing time on the field this summer come at shortstop. The 5-foot-11, 170-pounder logged a team-leading 260 1/3 innings at the position, committing nine errors in 121 chances (.926 fielding percentage) while also turning 16 double plays.

Arias, who was not ranked by SoxProspects.com at the start of the minor-league season in April, is now regarded by the site as the No. 30 prospect in Boston’s farm system. Similarly enough, MLB Pipeline currently has Arias ranked 28th on its Red Sox-centered top prospects list.

The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, who compiles the Red Sox’ organizational rankings for Baseball America, unsurprisingly excluded Arias from his preseason top-10 list heading into 2024. He did, however, have encouraging things to say about Arias in a virtual chat with BA subscribers on Friday.

“Yeah, he’ll start to get attention next year,” Speier wrote of Arias. “There’s a strong consensus that he’s a true shortstop, with enough bat-to-ball that he should have some offensive value. His physical development will determine how much, but he has an unusually clear path to being a big-leaguer for someone who has yet to play in the United States.”

To that end, Arias is projected by SoxProspects.com to make the jump to the States and play in the rookie-level Florida Complex League next season. As things stand now, he would seemingly be in a competition for playing time at shortstop with top prospect and fellow 2023 international signee Yoeilin Cespedes.

Of course, the Red Sox will more than likely find a way to accommodate both infielders so they each get plenty of at-bats in Fort Myers. Still, this can be viewed as a good problem to have if it means one or both of Arias and Cespedes get exposure at a new position next year.

(Picture of JetBlue Park: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)