Red Sox infield prospect Franklin Arias has been named the Florida Complex League Player of the Week for the week of June 24-30, Minor League Baseball announced on Monday.
Arias went 7-for-15 (.467) with three doubles, one home run, six RBIs, four runs scored, five stolen bases, three walks, and three strikeouts in five games for the FCL Red Sox last week. The 18-year-old then went 4-for-7 (.571) with two doubles, one RBI, three runs scored, one stolen base, one walk, and one strikeout between Games 1 and 2 of Monday’s doubleheader against the FCL Braves at the JetBlue Park complex in Fort Myers.
Following Monday’s performance, Arias is now batting a stout .308/.432/.513 with 13 doubles, one triple, three home runs, 20 RBIs, 26 runs scored, 17 stolen bases, 23 walks, and 31 strikeouts in 35 games (146 plate appearances) for the FCL Red Sox after a relatively slow start to the season. The right-handed hitter leads Boston’s rookie-level affiliate in doubles, runs scored, stolen bases, extra-base hits (17), and total bases (60), per MiLB.com.
Defensively, Arias has seen all of his playing time on the field this season come at either shortstop or second base. The projectable 5-foot-11, 170-pounder has made 23 starts at short, where he has committed five errors in 98 chances, and eight at second, where he has yet to commit an error. He has also served as the FCL Red Sox’ designated hitter three times, including Game 2 of Monday’s twin bill.
Arias is currently regarded by both Baseball America and SoxProspects.com as the No. 21 prospect in Boston’s farm system. The native Venezuelan originally signed with the Red Sox for $525,000 as an international free agent coming out of Caracas in January 2023. He made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League last June and slashed .350/.440/.453 over 37 games while impressing with his defense.
Arias, who does not turn 19 until November, is the second member of this year’s FCL Red Sox to earn Player of the Week honors, joining fellow infielder and 2023 signee Yoeilin Cespedes (June 3-9). Cespedes has since received a promotion to Low-A Salem but has yet to appear in a game there due to left-hand soreness, according to SoxProspects.com Chris Hatfield.
As part of a new scheduling quirk, the 2024 Florida Complex League regular season will end on July 25. Barring a trade or other sort of surprise, it seems more likely than not that Arias will be joining Cespedes in Salem before the end of the summer.
