When the Red Sox signed Franklin Arias as an international prospect in 2023, he was known as glove-first shortstop with a mediocre bat. It’s safe to say that’s no longer applicable.
MLB’s No. 26 prospect has been unstoppable at the plate this season, and that continued Tuesday when Arias launched his fourth homer in the past five games in his sixth multihit performance of the year during Double-A Portland’s 9-7 loss to Hartford at Delta Dental Park at Hadlock Field.
To put his early-season performance in perspective, Arias' 2-for-5 night actually lowered his batting average. Even so, he is still leading all qualified Minor Leaguers with a .457 average, .857 slugging percentage and 1.402 OPS. He also ranks second in the Eastern League with just five strikeouts.
COMPLETE RED SOX PROSPECT COVERAGE
So far this season, Boston's No. 2 prospect has feasted on right-handed pitching. His homer, a high opposite-field fly to right-center field, was his third of the year off a righty. Over 26 at-bats, Arias is slashing an eye-popping .500/.600/.923 against them.
Regularly playing against older competition as he has climbed through the system, Arias has garnered praise for his strong bat-to-ball skills. Over the past three seasons, the 20-year-old has hit north of .300 twice and routinely ranked top 10 in the system in average. Arias’ power surge, however, is something new.
Throughout his first three professional seasons, Arias hasn't eclipsed more than nine homers in a campaign. This year, the Venezuela native has four big flies through 11 games, and while on-pace-for stats are more for fun than anything else, Arias is on pace to blow his career high out of the water if he plays in 116 contest like he did in 2025.
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Earlier this week, MLB.com’s Ian Browne discussed Arias' hot start to the campaign with Brian Abraham, Boston’s senior director of player development. Abraham credited Arias’ newfound pop to his substantial offseason work.
“He’s done a good job adding weight and strength, which has translated into more consistent impact on the baseball -- bat speed, more barrels and overall louder contact,” Abraham said. “The other key focus has been improving his pitch selection, targeting the right pitches he can drive in the air to the pull side.”
Abraham commended Arias’ work ethic, mentioning that there is “a lot of excitement about where he’s headed and the growth still to come.”
If this is what Arias looks like as an unfinished product, pitchers should already be on guard for what's to come for him.