BALTIMORE — Red Sox prospect Justin Gonzales showed his raw power as a 17-year-old in the Dominican Summer League last year. He slugged .517 with five home runs, 11 doubles and four triples in 47 games (192 plate appearances).
But Boston feels the right-handed hitter has more power potential and the development staff is working to get him to elevate the ball more.
“He’s obviously got a physical advantage right now because he is like 6-6 and just a big, strong animal,” assistant GM Eddie Romero said here at Camden Yards on Monday.
Gonzales is a Red Sox prospect breakout candidate in 2025. He’s expected to begin this season at extended spring training in Fort Myers, then play for the Florida Complex League Red Sox.
He has the potential to climb up the organizational rankings this summer. MLB Pipeline already has him ranked No. 15 in the system and noted, “He generates huge exit velocities with his quick right-handed swing and prodigious strength, and his promise as an all-around hitter offers additional intrigue. He posted very good non-chase and contact rates in the DSL.”
Baseball America does not yet list him on its Top 30. MassLive ranked him No. 25 on its preseason Top 25 Red Sox prospect list.
The Red Sox are trying to get him to hit the ball in the air more consistently. Romero said, “He’s really taken well to the training.”
“He’s a big, strong kid already who has a good feel to hit, a good feel for contact. So we just need to make a couple of minor adjustments on his launch angles and things like that,” Romero said. “And those really low line drives, we can start getting him to elevate it a little bit more and more and find some gaps.”
Boston signed Gonzales for $250,000 out of the Dominican Republic as an amateur international free agent Jan. 15, 2024.
He said in September that he expects to grow more. His father is 6-4 and his mother is 6-3.
For such a young hitter, he has an impressive, patient approach. He batted .320 with a .391 on-base percentage in the DSL and he had almost as many walks (19) as strikeouts (20). He likes to hit to all fields and he strives to play with the same hustle and passion as superstar Ronald Acuña Jr. does.
Gonzales — who the Red Sox named their 2025 Latin Player of the Year — plays both the outfield and first base.
MLB Pipeline grades his arm a 70 (plus plus) on the 20-80 grading scale.
“He’s really intriguing overall,” Romero said. “I know that we’ve played him some in center field throughout the spring and we’ll do that in extended some and kinda go from there. But give him every chance. If not, he can definitely profile in a corner.”
‘Legit five tools’
Keep an eye out for the Red Sox’ top two 2025 amateur international prospects, Dorian Soto and Harold Rivas. They should play this season in the DSL. Soto is 17. Rivas will turn 17 in May.
MLB Pipeline ranked the 6-foot-2, 177-pound Rivas the No. 32 prospect for the 2025 international signing period. It noted in his scouting report, “His bat speed is consistently above the Major League average, checking in around 75-76 mph, while also producing exit velocities consistently north of 100 mph.”
“We knew he had above average bat speed,” Romero said. “I think with the strength gains that he’s made already, we’ve seen that improve. And with that, the quality of contact has also improved. So when we were scouting him, we saw that he had a good basis to work from. And then just a dynamic player, somebody we thought had potential for legit five tools.”
MLB Pipeline also noted that Rivas, a center fielder, has five-tool potential and wrote that “one evaluator bestowed a George Springer comp.”
“He’s an outstanding defender,” Romero said. “He can throw. He’s a really good runner. Plus runner. And so the fact that he’s making these strides on the offensive side are really impressive.”
MLBPipeline ranked Soto the No. 8 overall prospect for the 2025 international signing period. Boston inked him Jan. 15 to a $1.4 million bonus.
Listed at 6-foot-2, 180 pounds, MLB Pipeline grades Soto’s hitting 60 (plus) and his power 55 (above average).
“Another like kind of physical guy. Advanced physically,” Romero said.
Romero said the Red Sox will keep him at shortstop right now. Scouting reports have said he might eventually need to move off shortstop as he continues to grow.
“I want to try to do everything we can to keep him there,” he said. “Just a guy who’s just really talented and can do a lot of things at a young age. He’s a switch hitter. He’s got thump. Working on some bat-to-ball training with him now. But just the kid that he gets after it. Gets after it in the weight room. Gets after it in fundamentals.
“They have a really healthy competition between the guys like him and Rivas and (fellow 2025 international signee) Hector Ramos and a couple other guys,” Romero added. “So it’s been good to see these guys have that camaraderie and that work ethic right off the bat. But he’s a guy that early on, he’s driving the ball a lot from both sides. It’s a guy who’s got impact potential. We just see if with the training and the work ethic and all that, we can kind of wrap it all up together and see where it goes.”
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