After the Red Sox included Kyle Teel in the five-player trade that netted them frontline starter Garrett Crochet from the White Sox last month, Johanfran Garcia emerged as the highest-ranked catching prospect in the organization heading into 2025.
Garcia got off to a blazing hot start at the plate in 2024 but saw his season come to an abrupt end on May 1 when he was carted off the field at Low-A Salem after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee while running the bases. The then-19-year-old was placed on the full-season injured list on May 8 and underwent season-ending surgery shortly thereafter.
Garcia, who turned 20 in December, had been one of the top performers in the lower minors before suffering the injury. In 14 games for Salem (Boston’s Carolina League affiliate), the right-handed hitter batted a stout .385/.467/.596 with five doubles, two home runs, five RBIs, five runs scored, six walks, and 15 strikeouts over 60 plate appearances.
At season’s end, Garcia was one of 254 hitters who made at least 60 trips to the plate in the Carolina League. Among those 254, he ranked first in batting average, OPS (1.063), wOBA (.498), and wRC+ (207), second in slugging percentage, fourth in on-base percentage, eighth in line-drive rate (32.4 percent), and 12th in isolated power (.212), per FanGraphs.
Defensively, Garcia unsurprisingly saw all of his playing time on the field in 2024 come at catcher. The 5-foot-11, 196-pound backstop logged 85 innings behind the plate for Salem, allowing two passed balls and throwing out six of 32 potential base stealers. He also made four starts at DH and has past experience at first base.
The younger brother of Red Sox outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia (who was added to the 40-man roster in November), Johanfran originally signed with Boston for $850,000 as an international free agent coming out of Venezuela in January 2022. The Valencia native is currently regarded by MLB Pipeline as the organization’s No. 17 prospect, eight spots below his older brother.
When making a recent appearance on Boston Sports Entertainment Network’s ‘The Pesky Podcast,’ Garcia (through interpreter and former Red Sox player development coach Fabian Castorena) said that he is feeling “much better now” and “is working to get back to the field.” In terms of where he is at in the rehab process with his right knee, he said that he is “about 65 to 70 percent ready to go.”
Since he is coming off major knee surgery and spent much of this past year rehabbing in Fort Myers, the Red Sox will likely exercise caution when it comes to Garcia’s status leading into the start of spring training next month. With that being said, he is projected by SoxProspects.com (who has him ranked 15th in the system) to open the 2025 season at High-A Greenville.
