BOSTON \u2014 Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell commanded headlines for Red Sox prospects, and their respective ascents could open doors for others in Boston\u2019s system.<\/p>\n
Campbell made waves when the 22-year-old made a three-level rise from High-A Greenville to Triple-A Worcester. Jhostynxon Garcia also rose up the Red Sox system when he\u00a0ascended from<\/a>\u00a0Low-A Salem to Double-A Portland.<\/p>\n Garcia enters this season\u00a0as Boston\u2019s No. 12 prospect<\/a>, according to Sox Prospects, and as\u00a0high as No. 9<\/a>, according to MLB Pipeline. The 22-year-old will have ample opportunity to capture the spotlight and show how deep the Red Sox\u2019s prospect pool is.<\/p>\n \u201cTo me, a guy who can play plus defense and can impact the baseball consistently, there\u2019s always going to be a way to find a spot for those guys. I think it\u2019s just about consistency,\u201d director of player development Brian Abraham told NESN.com at Red Sox development camp Tuesday. \u201cHe spent some time in Double-A last year, so he might be a bit further away than some of these guys. But again, I think as long as he\u2019s doing those things consistently, day in and day out, improving his swing decisions, improving his bat-to-ball, there\u2019s usually spots for really good players. We\u2019ll find one somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n Garcia hit 16 home runs off a .998 OPS in 53 games with High-A Greenville last season. That earned him a promotion to Double-A Portland where he didn\u2019t achieve the same level of success \u2014 he earned a .706 OPS in 30 games \u2014 but he\u2019s feeling the growing support from Red Sox fans.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt it even more in Portland when I got up to Double-A. Every time I went up to bat or warm up or go play defense, the fans were always yelling and cheering. It was very special,\u201d Garcia told NESN.com via Carlos Villoria Benitez at Red Sox development camp.<\/p>\n Garcia\u2019s growing fanfare led to the popularity of his nickname, \u201cThe Password.\u201d The Venezuelan outfielder noted it was something he took a liking to when he saw it on Twitter. It\u2019s a nickname that caught on as he rose up the system. His value as a right-handed bat also could be intriguing for Boston.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re probably a little more left-handed heavy we\u2019d been in the past, so to have a right-handed power bat in the organization, that\u2019s certainly something we could use and utilize,\u201d Abraham said. \u201cI think currently you just want good players to be good players. It\u2019s hard, I think on the development side, to focus on just a right or lefty. As long as he gets better, there will be opportunities for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abraham noted that as prospects like Anthony ascend up Boston\u2019s ranks, there will be plenty of at-bats for players like Garcia. However, he\u2019s not feeling any pressure beyond personal improvement.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI feel happy. Happy to be here and be part of this group with all of the other Red Sox prospects. For me, it\u2019s just sticking to myself. I\u2019m not worried about anything else. Just trying to play ball and enjoy the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Garcia was protected from the Rule 5 draft when he was added to Boston\u2019s 40-man roster, and he\u2019ll get a chance to earn a spotlight this spring before the start of the Double-A season.<\/p>\n
BOSTON \u2014 Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell commanded headlines for Red Sox prospects, and their respective ascents could open doors for others in Boston\u2019s system. Campbell made… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n