Boston Red Sox Top Prospects to Know
Top Prospects to know from the Boston Red Sox Farm System.
You are reading the free version of the Boston Red Sox Top Prospects. In this version, you will get the full writeups on the top prospect in the system, the biggest sleeper, and a player I could see breaking out in 2025.
In this edition, you will see what I offer in the full team reports. For every farm system, you will get my top 50 ranked players and detailed reports on the top 30. Each report includes advanced player data, traditional scouting thoughts from live and video looks, plus thoughts from scouts around the league.
Let’s dive in on what you get in the full report!
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Glossary:
FFG = Future Fantasy Grade - essentially, what is the likely long-term outcome for the prospect? This is always going to be more conservative. Handing out ace tags is not something I like to do. So, this is a realistic outcome.
90th Peak = If the player hits their best-case outcome, what does it look like?
Variance = How risky is this player’s profile, and how likely are they to hit their likely outcome? Low variance is good; high means more risky.
Format for report: Name/Position/Age on 2025 Opening Day/Height/Weight/Highest Level
Boston Red Sox Top Prospect
1. Roman Anthony, OF, 20, 6’2”/200, AAA
Anthony followed an impressive 2023 season up with an even better one in 2024, pushing himself to the top of prospect rankings. In 119 games between Double-A and Triple-A, Anthony slashed .291/.396/.498 with 18 home runs and 54 extra-base hits. The combination of contact, plate discipline, power, speed, and defense make him a true five-category asset.
Starting with his contact and approach at the plate, Anthony starts with his hands and a slightly open stance. He uses a leg kick to create quite a wide stance, but helps create good hand-to-hip separation. Leading with his body, Anthony creates good lag with the bat thanks to his strong hands and electric bat speed. His bat speed ranks at the very top of all hitters in baseball.
Given the bat speed, the power metrics are off the charts, though, as Anthony has a 90th percentile exit velocity near 109 mph. Topping out north of 116 mph and showing solid average exit velocities, Anthony easily shows plus or better power. The biggest flaw with the power is a ground ball rate just shy of 48 percent which is something to watch.
The plate discipline skills are impressive and Anthony knows the strike zone as well as anyone. He chased just 21 percent of pitches out of the zone. The contact skills follow along right with the discipline as Anthony posted a 75 percent overall contact rate with an 83 percent in-zone mark.
Anthony is an above-average runner at present and stole 21 bases on 28 attempts last season. He is likely to slow down with age and as he continues to fill out his frame. Anthony is a plus glove as well with an above-average arm. He likely fits into right field in Fenway Park which plays to his strenghts.
If you want to poke a hole in Anthony’s game, it is the amount of ground balls he hits. But considering how hard Anthony hits the ball, he is actually able to run higher BABIPs. With a slight tweak in the swing path, Anthony could unlock 30 home runs in the majors. The skills are there, and Anthony is going to be an awesome player for a long time.
FFG: Top-10 OF
90th Percentile Peak Outcome: .280/.370 OBP/28 HR/15 SB
Variance: Medium
Buy/Sell: Buy
Boston Red Sox Sleeper Prospect
10. David Sandlin, RHP, 24, 6’4”/215, AA
If you look at the surface ERA, you might not see the second-best pitching prospect in the Red Sox system. The good news is that Sandlin is so much more than the 5.34 ERA he posted this year in 57.1 innings between High-A and Double-A. Injuries have been a concern as he missed time this year with a forearm injury and an oblique injury in 2023, but the pure stuff is incredible.
The arsenal and pitch sequencing improved all season, and Sandlin made notable improvements with slight grip tweaks to his pitches. He showed a true five-pitch mix with five separate velocity bands.
The fastball sits between 96-97 mph, but has topped out at 100. The pitch gets above-average IVB, and when he locates it up, he misses plenty of bats. The command of the pitch does need to improve as Sandlin did show to be home run prone at times, especially when he left the fastball over the middle.
Sandlin shows two variations of his slider, with a sweeper in the mid-80s and a gyro-shape near 90 mph. He also mixed a harder, shorter cutter at 89-90 mph. The gyro plays like a cutter at times, with some pitches having more carry and short horizontal movement. The sweeper regularly gets 15 inches of horizontal movement.
The splitter reaches 94 and sits between 90-92 depending on the outing. A 94 mph splitter that resembled a splitter/splinker of one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, Paul Skenes. Sandlin rounded out the arsenal with an 80 mph curve, which is used more as a pitch to change hitter’s eye levels and get them off the fastball.
Durability is still a major issue. The most innings he has thrown in a season is 97, which he did in 2022 while still at Oklahoma. Sandlin has a starter's frame with a big upper half and broad shoulders. His arsenal has the potential to be one of a high-end starting pitcher. He is very good; we just need to see consistency and the ability to throw innings in 2025.
FFG: SP4/RP
90th Percentile Peak Outcome: 140 IP/3.50 ERA/160 K
Variance: Extreme
Buy/Sell: Buy
Boston Red Sox 2025 Breakout Prospect
22. Justin Gonzales, 1B/OF, 18, 6’4”/210, DSL
Every year, it seems the Red Sox have a DSL hitter who comes stateside and pops off and the best candidate for that in 2025 is Gonzales. Having a massive frame, much bigger than his listed 6’4”, Gonzales had a dominant DSL debut, slashing .320/.391/.517 with five home runs and 19 extra base hits in 47 games.
While having long levers, making contact was no problem for Gonzales against DSL pitching. He struck out in just ten percent of plate appearances thanks to an in-zone contact rate of 90 percent. He made plenty of contact on pitches he swung at out of the zone as well, having an overall contact rate of 79 percent.
The exit velocities were strong as well as Gonzales topped out at 108 and had a 90th percentile exit velocity of 104 mph, both impressive marks for a 17-year-old. Though, to turn more of those hard-hits into game power, Gonzales will need to lift more. Having a ground ball rate near 47 percent, Gonzales is a swing tweak away from unlocking more game power.
He will likely outgrow a corner outfield spot before long considering he already looks 6’6” to my eye. At first base, Gonzales will have pressure on the bat, but if the DSL data is any indication of that, he will be just fine.
FFG: Bat-First 1B
90th Percentile Peak Outcome: .275/.340/30 HR/2 SB
Variance: Extreme
Buy/Sell: Buy in Deeper Leagues