Keep an eye on the kid they call “The Password.”
His brother, catcher Johanfran Garcia, is the more high-profile prospect in the family. At 19, Johanfran is already ranked the Red Sox’ No. 13 prospect by Baseball America.
But 21-year-old Jhostynxon “The Password” Garcia is tearing up High-A pitching and rapidly ascending in the prospect rankings.
SoxProspects.com had Jhostynxon, an outfielder, unranked in its Top 60 entering spring training. It jumped him to No. 49 entering the regular season and now has him ranked No. 33.
Jhostynxon earned a promotion to High-A Greenville on May 29. The right-handed hitter has batted .312 with a .384 on-base percentage, .636 slugging percentage, 1.020 OPS, seven homers, four doubles, 12 RBIs, 17 runs, six walks and 19 strikeouts in 20 games (86 plate appearances) for the Drive.
The Red Sox are more excited than surprised by Garcia’s leap.
“I hate to say there’s surprises with our guys,” director of player development Brian Abraham said. “We’re training with these guys and working with these guys to get better. But I think sometimes when the training eventually lends itself to success on the field, that’s really exciting. I think it shows the trust he has in our staff, the trust he has in himself. And the willingness to push himself to be better every day, it’s paying dividends. Those types of development stories and those types of players are really fun to watch.”
The Password nickname originated from the Twitter user @InsideFastball. The account tweeted in October 2021, “New idea: Nicknaming Boston prospect Jhostynxon Garcia, ‘The Password’. Can we get some momentum behind this?”
Jhostynxon replied, “Thank you” to the tweet and included the nickname on his Twitter bio.
The nickname has gained more momentum recently with Jhostynxon raking. It is included on his Baseball-Reference page. The official Greenville Drive Twitter account refers to him as “The Password” when it posts video of his home runs and big hits.
@InsideFastball recently tweeted, “Thought the use of consonants was unique & reminiscent of a password… Jhostynxon saw it and graciously adopted it as his own!”
Everyone seems to love the nickname.
“It’s cool,” Abraham said.
The Garcia brothers of Venezuela both impressed the Red Sox front office with how much work they put in this past offseason. Johanfran unfortunately suffered a season-ending knee injury May 1 that required surgery. Johanfran, Boston’s No. 2 ranked catching prospect behind Kyle Teel, batted .385 with a .467 on-base percentage, .596 slugging percentage, 1.063 OPS, two homers and five doubles in 14 games (60 plate appearances) before injuring his knee.
Jhostynxon started the season at Salem with his brother. He has batted .283 with a .374 on-base percentage, .572 slugging percentage, .946 OPS, 12 homers, 10 doubles, one triple, 31 RBIs, 37 runs, 14 steals, 21 walks and 44 strikeouts in 44 games (190 plate appearances) between Salem and Greenville.
“He definitely took a leap from the work he put in this offseason,” Abraham said. “He’s a plus defender in the outfield. He can play all three positions. He can really impact the baseball.”
Jhostynxon’s stats have skyrocketed from last year. He batted only .230 with a .329 on-base percentage, .374 slugging percentage, .703 OPS, four homers, 14 doubles, six triples, 24 RBIs, 46 runs, 37 walks and 79 strikeouts in 73 games (310 plate appearances) for Salem in 2023.
“A lot of focus on his swing decisions this year,” Abraham said. “I think he was trending in the right direction in Low A. He was hitting balls far. We felt like we needed to give him another challenge. And I think the jump to High A, the swing decisions have continued to trend in the positive.”
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Jhostynxon posted a .258/.365/.517/.882 line with five homers, six doubles, one triple, 19 RBIs, 20 runs, 15 walks and 25 strikeouts in 24 games (104 plate appearances) before his promotion.
“He’s not missed on pitches he can drive,” Abraham said. “And his K rate, his swing and miss rate has decreased as well. Increased walks, decreased strikeouts and increased barrels generally lead to success. And in the short amount of time he’s been in High A, he’s done it.”
Jhostynxon has a 22.1% strikeout percentage at Greenville, down slightly from 24.0% at Salem. He has walked in 11.1% of his plate appearances between the two levels.
“He’s turning himself into an all-around player and a player who put himself on the map,” Abraham said.
Jhostynxon signed as an amateur international free agent out of Venezuela on July 2, 2019. He encouraged Johanfran to sign with Boston three years later. Johanfran signed for $850,000 in 2022.
“Not only was it my brother,” Johanfran said last September. “My family members were all encouraging me to come to the Red Sox to have both of us be on the same team.”
The Garcia brothers played together with Salem last year after Johanfran’s promotion there Aug. 15. Johanfran’s first game at Salem was Aug. 16. Coincidentally, Jhostynxon’s stats improved from Aug. 16 onward. He batted .265 with eight extra-base hits.
“It was awesome,” Johanfran said. “To play with a family member on the same team is a cool experience and I look forward to continuing to do that.”
Cespedes promoted to Salem
The Red Sox promoted 18-year-old shortstop/second base prospect Yoeilin Cespedes to Low-A Salem on Tuesday.
He batted .319 with a .400 on-base percentage, .615 slugging percentage, 1.015 OPS, five homers, 10 doubles, one triple, 24 RBIs, 20 runs, 12 walks, 19 strikeouts and three steals in 25 games (105 plate appearances) in the Florida Complex League to begin the season.
