Red Sox Reportedly Promote Highly Rated Infield Prospect
Boston Red Sox prospects Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer are both tearing it up at Triple-A Worcester this season.
Red Sox fans eagerly await their highly anticipated call up to the big leagues at some point this season, but Anthony and Mayer are staying put where they are for right now.
Instead, three other Red Sox prospects reportedly are receiving a promotion, the most notable of which is 19-year-old shortstop Franklin Arias. Arias is being bumped to High-A Greenville as well as left-handed pitcher Brandon Clarke while Hayden Mullins — also a left-handed pitcher — is being promoted to Double-A Portland, according to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo and Beyond The Monster’s Andrew Parker.
Arias is ranked as the fourth-best prospect in the Red Sox farm system by MLB Pipeline, falling in line behind Anthony, Kristian Campbell, who is off to a strong start in the majors, and Mayer. Arias signed with the Red Sox in January 2023 and is known for his elite middle infield glove. The Venezuela native batted .346 with no home runs, nine RBIs and four stolen bases in 19 games with Single-A Salem this season.
Clarke, who was selected by the Red Sox in the fifth round in 2024, didn’t pitch at all last season after being drafted. But the 6-foot-4, 220-pound lefty made quite the impression in spring training and with Salem. Clarke, 22, made three starts in which he allowed just one run and two hits in 9 2/3 innings while striking out an eye-popping 17 batters. Clarke is ranked as the 30th prospect for Boston by MLB Pipeline.
Mullins isn’t on the same trajectory as Arias and Clarke but the 2022 12th-round pick out of Auburn showed some promise. Mullens, who didn’t pitch in the Red Sox farm system until August 2023 after he recovered from Tommy John surgery, went 1-0 with a 1.06 ERA and 0.82 WHIP and across four appearances (three starts) with Greenville. He also recorded 27 strikeouts in 17 innings.
These are the first prospect promotions the Red Sox have made since Opening Day.