SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Traditionally, players have often been tabbed for the Arizona Fall League as a final hurdle on their way to the big leagues. But clubs have also recently used the premier prospect circuit as a way to test young players after abbreviated campaigns.
An added element from the analysis perspective -- with Statcast technology equipped at all six primary ballparks -- is that it allows a further peek behind the curtain to corroborate what the eyes are seeing.
It certainly backs up the notion that Red Sox catching prospect Johanfran Garcia is hitting the ball hard. Really hard.
More on the Arizona Fall League:
In Tuesday’s 5-2 Salt River win, Garcia ripped a go-ahead, opposite-field two-RBI double at 104.5 mph off the bat. Boston's No. 28 prospect has gone 5-for-15 (.333) for the Rafters through the first eight days of Fall League action and he owns three of the top 16, four of the top 33 and six of the top 100 recorded exit velocities in the circuit, per Statcast. He’s teed off as high as 110.7 mph (the third-hardest hit ball of the young season), adding a pair of hits just north of 109 mph as well.
Only one other hitter -- Garcia's Rafters teammate Esmerlyn Valdez (PIT No. 15) -- has notched even four of the top 100 marks, an indication of the premium high-end EV’s that the native of Venezuela is capable of reaching. He’s always been gifted in the art of hitting the ball hard, but he credits the processes he’s encountered in pro ball for unlocking another tier.
“My daily routine and work in the cage, in the weight room [has helped most],” Garcia said via interpreter Tyler Mark, who also serves as Salt River’s pitching coach. “See the ball, hit the ball and try to put the barrel on the ball.”
Garcia is the younger brother of Jhostynxon Garcia (aka “The Password”), Boston’s No. 3 and MLB’s No. 85 prospect, who made his big league debut on Aug. 22. While Johanfran -- affectionately dubbed “The Username” as a nod to his brother’s unique moniker -- doesn’t have the same prospect pedigree at this stage, he’s emerged as the club’s premier international signing from the 2022 class, when he received a signing bonus nearly 2 1/2 times larger than his brother did.
“Very emotional,” Johanfran said of seeing his brother debut for the Red Sox. “My end goal is to get up there to be with him in Boston.”
For some brotherly context of how impressive the early metrics are, Jhostynxon’s highest exit velocity across his 360 plate appearances between Triple-A Worcester and Boston this season topped out at 110.2 mph. He exceeded triple digits on 46 occasions but when Johanfran was asked whether he’d be letting his older brother know how hard he’s been hitting nearly everything in Arizona, he smiled widely and said:
Siempre. Always.
More from MLB Pipeline:
• Top 100 prospects | Stats | Video | Podcast | Complete coverage
That the younger Garcia, 20, is succeeding against older and more experienced competition in the Fall League is nothing new. During his 46 games with High-A Greenville this season, he was two years younger than the average player in the South Atlantic League. As such, 89.8 percent of his plate appearances came against older pitchers. Despite that, he posted the fifth-highest wRC+ among all Red Sox Minor Leaguers (124) with a minimum of 200 plate appearances.
“I’m feeling good, I’m feeling comfortable up there,” Garcia said. “Just keep getting better against experienced pitching and kind of go from there, but I’m handling myself pretty well.”
Garcia got a slow start to the season due to a torn right ACL, not debuting until late May. But once back on the field, he delivered multiple walk-off home runs during his tenure in Greenville, including one after his brother homered twice earlier in a Triple-A contest.
Now that’s a unique -- and hard-hitting -- username/password combination.