Red Sox Prospects Rise Up MLB’s Updated Top 100 Rankings

The arrow is pointing upward for the Boston Red Sox’s top prospects.

MLB Pipeline revealed its updated top-100 prospect rankings on Monday. Former No. 1 prospect Roman Anthony has graduated, and Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer are also no longer eligible. Yet three young talents continued ascending the list.

With Anthony’s graduation, Franklin Arias is now Boston’s top prospect. The 19-year-old shot up the leaderboard from No. 76 to No. 35 in a July update, but MLB moved him up more to No. 24.

MLB.com’s Sam Dystraka noted that the 52-spot jump represents the fifth-highest climb from a player’s preseason ranking.

Meanwhile, Peyton Tolle skyrocketed up the chart from No. 28. The 22-year-old pitcher made the top 100 at No. 95 in last month’s update.

Jhostynxon Garcia also improved from No. 91 to 78. Those Red Sox prospects are joined on the top 100 by first-round pick Kyson Witherspoon, who debuts at No. 94.

Arias continues to garner attention as one of the game’s top prospects to monitor. His .282/.335/.388 slash line may not stand out, but the international signing has struck out in just 8.7 percent of his plate appearances against mostly older High-A competition.

Tolle has quickly risen up the ladder during his first professional season. Last year’s second-round pick began the season at High-A Greenville, but he made his first start for Triple-A Worcester on Sunday.

Now MLB’s No. 3 left-handed pitching prospect behind Thomas White and Kade Anderson, Tolle has a 3.31 ERA with 119 strikeouts and 22 walks in 81 2/3 innings this season. The 6-foot-6 hurler hadn’t allowed more than one earned run in each of his six starts at Double-A Portland.

Garcia keeps mashing in the minors, batting .303/.370/.581 with 16 home runs in 59 games for the WooSox. The 22-year-old outfielder has begun fielding grounders at first base, perhaps creating a quicker path to the big leagues.