Alcantara, 20, will be tested in the upper minors for the first time after an up-and-down start to his 2025 season. The right-handed hitter broke camp with Greenville earlier this spring and came out of the gates firing, slashing .358/.427/.433 with two doubles, one home run, and eight RBIs in his first 18 games (75 plate appearances) through the end of April. He has since struggled to a .157/.232/.196 line with two doubles and seven RBIs over 14 games (56 plate appearances) in May.
Overall, Alcantara batted .271/.344/.331 (98 wRC+) with four doubles, one home run, 15 RBIs, 17 runs scored, four stolen bases, 11 walks, and 17 strikeouts in 32 games (131 plate appearances) for Greenville to begin the season. Among 83 qualified South Atlantic League hitters entering play Tuesday, he ranked third in strikeout rate (13 percent), eighth in swinging-strike rate (7.7 percent), 20th in batting average, and 31st in on-base percentage, per FanGraphs.
On the other side of the ball, Alcantara saw playing time at every infield position besides first base in his first stint with Greenville. The fluid 5-foot-10, 157-pounder (listed height and weight) logged 126 innings at second base, 76 1/3 innings at third base, and 63 2/3 innings at shortstop, committing four errors in 94 total defensive chances (.957 fielding percentage). He also made one start at DH.
Alcantara, who does not turn 21 until November, will bat eighth and start at second base in Portland’s series opener against Reading at Hadlock Field on Tuesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. ET.
(Picture of Marvin Alcantara: Gwinn Davis/Greenville Drive)
Red Sox infield prospect Marvin Alcantara made a positive first impression this season while transitioning to professional baseball in the United States.
On the heels of that performance, Alcantara came into the 2023 season ranked by SoxProspects.com as the No. 31 prospect in Boston’s farm system. The right-handed hitter made his stateside debut as an 18-year-old in the rookie-level Florida Complex League this past June and slashed .240/.347/.307 with seven doubles, one homer, 21 runs driven in, 26 runs scored, six stolen bases, 23 walks, and 35 strikeouts over 40 games (176 plate appearances). He then received a promotion to Low-A Salem in early August.
Alcantara’s first taste of full-season ball did not go too well out of the gate. He tallied just two hits (including a double) in his first nine games with Boston’s Carolina League affiliate before turning things around and going 13-for-45 (.289) with one home run, three RBIs, seven runs scored, three stolen bases, three walks, and 13 strikeouts in his final 12 games to end the year on a more encouraging note.
Marvin Alcantara went 3-for-5 and launched his first Single-A home run yesterday in Salem! pic.twitter.com/6fHMJQc0Yv
— Red Sox Player Development (@RedSoxPlayerDev) August 28, 2023
Altogether, Alcantara posted a .228/.324/.290 slash line in 61 games (259 plate appearances) between the FCL and Salem Red Sox this past season. While a combined OPS of .615 at the lower levels of the minor-leagues is far from head-turning, Alcantara did draw rave reviews for his defense. The 5-foot-10, 157-pounder split time between shortstop (his primary position) and second base at both stops, logging 377 2/3 innings at the former and 120 innings at the latter. He committed 10 errors in 243 total opportunities (translates to a .959 fielding percentage) and turned 34 double plays.
According to his SoxProspects.com scouting report, Alcantara is a “fluid defender at shortstop” who has a “quick first step.” He “moves well laterally and is comfortable charging the ball.” With soft hands, he is quick in “transferring the ball from his glove to his throwing hand.” He “carries himself confidently in the field” and — as previously mentioned — is capable of playing both middle infield positions well.
Earlier this summer, FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen described Alcantara as “a potential everyday shortstop with very advanced feel to hit and a projectable frame.” Alcantara, per Longenhagen, “tracks pitches with laser-guided precision and moves his barrel all over the zone. It’s especially beautiful when he tucks his hands in and puts the barrel on inner-third pitches, à la Justin Turner. He has the power to spray doubles into the gaps right now and should add strength as his frame fills out.”
Considering that he only turned 19 last month, Alcantara still has room to grow both physically and developmentally. To that end, SoxProspects.com’s director of scouting Ian Cundall tweeted back in August that Alcantara could have the chance to “move up quickly” next year if he progresses physically this offseason. For now, Alcantara is currently regarded by SoxProspects.com as the No. 29 prospect in the organization.
Assuming he remains with the Red Sox through the winter, Alcantara is projected to return to Salem for the start of the 2024 minor-league season in April.
With the 2023 international signing period set to begin on Sunday, now feels like an appropriate time to reflect on how some key members of the Red Sox’ 2022 class fared in their first seasons of professional baseball.
Per SoxProspects.com, Boston signed 31 prospects for a combined $5.281 million between January 15 and December 15 of last year. Of those 31 prospects, one has already been traded, as left-hander Inmer Lobo was dealt to the Pirates in November in exchange for infielder/outfielder Hoy Park.
Just two members of the Sox’ 2022 signing class — Dominican shortstops Fraymi De Leon and Freili Encarnacion — received bonuses of more than $1 million. Two others (Venezuelan catcher Johanfran Garcia and Dominican shortstop Jancel Santana) signed for more than $500,000 while four additional players (Dominican outfielders Natanael Yuten and Cristofher Paniagua, Venezuelan shortstop Frayner Noria, and Venezuelan right-hander William Colmenares) netted between $125,000 and $400,000 in bonus money.
De Leon signed for $1.2 million last January and made his pro debut in the Dominican Summer League less than five months later. The switch-hitting 18-year-old batted .218/.332/.268 with one double, one triple, two home runs, 21 RBIs, 29 runs scored, 20 stolen bases, 21 walks, and 61 strikeouts over 50 games (214 plate appearances) with the DSL Red Sox Blue. He saw playing time at both middle infield positions.
Encarnacion signed for $1.1 million and spent the entirety of the 2022 campaign with the DSL Red Sox Red. In 41 games for the affiliate, the right-handed hitting 17-year-old (turns 18 later this month) slashed .255/.335/.369 with eight doubles, three home runs, 23 runs driven in, 31 runs scored, nine stolen bases, 15 walks, and 51 strikeouts across 173 trips to the plate. He saw playing time at third base and shortstop and is currently regarded by SoxProspects.com as the 35th-ranked prospect in Boston’s farm system.
Garcia signed for $850,000 at the same time De Leon and Encarnacion did. The younger brother of Red Sox outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia, Johanfran compiled a .268/.367/.333 slash line to go along with seven doubles, one triple, 23 RBIs, 26 runs scored, 21 walks, and 25 strikeouts in 40 games (161 plate appearances) with the DSL Red Sox Red last season. The 18-year-old backstop also threw out 26 of 58 base stealers from behind the plate.
Santana, like De Leon and Encarnacion, hails from the Dominican Republic. The switch-hitting 17-year-old signed for exactly $600,000 last winter and proceeded to bat .184/.303/.203 with seven doubles, one triple, two home runs, 16 RBIs, 25 runs scored, 12 stolen bases, 18 walks, and 56 strikeouts in 43 games (179 plate appearances) for the DSL Red Sox Red. He logged 317 1/3 innings at second base and just 31 innings at shortstop.
Colmenares received the highest bonus ($125,000) of any of the 16 pitchers Boston signed in 2022. The 17-year-old (turns 18 next month) righty posted a 3.79 ERA and 3.79 FIP with 40 strikeouts to 18 walks over 13 outings (12 starts) spanning 40 1/3 innings of work for the DSL Red Sox Blue. He reportedly possesses a three-pitch mix that includes a 93 mph fastball.
Of the 23 international prospects who received bonuses of less than $100,000 last year, Venezuelan infielder Marvin Alcantara may have made the strongest first impression. After signing for just $30,000, the right-handed hitting 18-year-old batted .302/.406/.397 with 15 doubles, one home run, 29 runs driven in, 49 runs scored, 14 stolen bases, 29 walks, and 33 strikeouts in 53 games (224 plate appearances) with the DSL Red Sox Blue. He put up those numbers while playing every infield position besides first base.
“Just pounding the table for him,” Romero said of Requena’s interest in Alcantara. “He’s one of these guys that the crosscheck group really didn’t get to see much, but he made it to signing day and our area scout was just like, ‘You need to sign this guy!’”
Outside of Encarnacion, Alcantara is presently the only prospect included on SoxProspects.com’s top-60 rankings, as he comes in at No. 37 within the organization.
Alcantara, like many other players listed here, are projected to make the jump to the Florida Complex League for the 2023 minor-league season. Others will return to the Dominican Summer League and continue to hone their skills at the Red Sox’ academy down in El Toro.
While these three may be the early headliners, there are other young prospects worth keeping in mind as well. In his annual review of the Sox’ most-recent signing class, Baseball America’s Ben Badler identifies infielder Marvin Alcantara and right-hander Denis Reguillo as two possible sleepers to watch.
Alcantara, 17, was signed out of Venezuela by area scout Alex Requena back in January. The right-handed hitting shortstop did not receive much attention as an amateur and thus signed with Boston for a modest $30,000.
Still, despite the lack of eyes that were on him, Alcantara received a strong endorsement from Requena, who played a key role in making the signing happen, according to Red Sox assistant general manager Eddie Romero.
From the time he officially put pen to paper in January, Alcantara has made adding a muscle a priority over the last two months.
“Alcantara has started to add weight to his slender frame, standing out as a hit collector in games from the right side of the plate,” wrote Badler. “He’s a solid all-around player who could play at different spots around the infield, with his bat his calling card.”
Reguillo, on the other hand, was signed out of the Dominican Republic for just $10,000. There is not as much information available on the righty as there is on Alcantara, however.
“Reguillo was mostly in the mid-to-upper 80s as an amateur, but he has been adding weight to his slender frame since then and has the projection to be throwing in the low-to-mid 90s,” Badler wrote. “Adding more power behind his fastball would make him more intriguing, as he already has good feel for pitching and throws strikes from a good delivery with loose arm action.”
Both Alcantara and Reguillo are presumably raw and early on in their development. The Red Sox doled out a total of $40,000 for the two prospects, which accounts for less than one percent of their $5,179,700 bonus pool this year.
“The signing class isn’t made on January 15 (when the market opens),” Romero told Jennings. “The signing class is really made throughout the year when you have some more of these flexible signings. … We hammer the passed over and the (overlooked players) just as much as we do trying to make sure we’re on top of the premium, priority players in each class.”
On that note, both Alcantara and Reguillo are projected by SoxProspects.com to begin their professional careers in the Dominican Summer League. the 2022 DSL season is slated to begin sometime in July.
(Picture of JetBlue Park: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
According to Baseball America, the Red Sox have signed 16 international free agents since the 2022 signing window opened last Saturday.
Among the 16 prospects signed thus far, Dominican shortstops Fraymi de Leon and Freili Encarnacion and Venezuelan catcher Johanfran Garcia stick out as the headliners since they received attention from either Baseball America or MLB Pipeline.
With that being said, though, there may be another shortstop the Red Sox signed out of Venezuela who is worthy of some recognition as well. His name? Marvin Alcantara.
In a recent conversation with The Athletic’s Chad Jennings, Red Sox executive vice president and assistant general manager Eddie Romero identified Alcantara as someone that was not necessarily getting a ton of attention from other teams, but was still doing some eye-opening things on the field.
More specifically, it was the team’s Venezuelan area scout — Alex Requena — who made the case for Boston to sign Alcantara. Requena, per Romero, saw that Alcantara was a confident infielder who made solid contact at the plate, was an average runner on the base paths, and had the ability to play shortstop and second base if needed.
“Just pounding the table for him,” Romero said of Requena’s interest in Alcantara when speaking with Jennings. “He’s one of these guys that the crosscheck group really didn’t get to see much, but he made it to signing day and our area scout was just like, ‘You need to sign this guy!’”
And so the Red Sox did sign Alcantara for a reported $30,000, according to MLB.com. The right-handed hitter is one of eight prospects Boston has added out of Venezuela so far this winter.
As noted by Jennings, however, the $30,000 Alcantara has reportedly signed for represents less than 0.6 percent of the $5,179,700 in signing bonus pool space the Sox have to work with this year. The signing period opened on January 15 and does not close until mid-December.
“The signing class isn’t made on January 15,” said Romero. “The signing class is really made throughout the year when you have some more of these flexible signings. … We hammer the passed over and the (overlooked players) just as much as we do trying to make sure we’re on top of the premium, priority players in each class.”
The Red Sox will hope the modest price they paid for Alcantara’s services will prove to be even more of a bargain in the long run. In the interim, the 17-year-old is projected by SoxProspects.com to begin the 2022 season — and his professional career — in the Dominican Summer League.
(Picture of Eddie Romero: Angela Rowlings/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
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