Article: Three Under-The-Radar Red Sox Prospects Who Can Make Noise in 2025

[Billy Mock]

It looks like the Big Three will all be in Boston soon enough. Who else could shoot up prospect lists in the next year?

The Boston Red Sox have built one of the top farm systems in all of baseball thanks to their ability to identify, draft, and sign both high-level amateur and international baseball talent. Their system is ranked as the best farm in all of baseball by Baseball America and is ranked third by MLB Pipeline. The current farm is highlighted by the Big Three. That would be Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, and Kristian Campbell, all of whom were drafted in back-to-back years between 2021 and 2023. All three prospects rank within at least the top 15 on both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America's most recent top 100 prospects list. With Campbell having already made his big league debut, he will soon graduate as a prospect, and both Anthony and Mayer should debut at some point this year. What's unique about this group is that while Mayer has pretty much lived up to his fourth-overall-pick pedigree, neither Campbell nor Anthony were first-round picks who entered Boston's system with a whole lot of buzz. Nevertheless, they've both had meteoric rises through the system, which speaks to the organization's ability to develop big league talent. Let's break down a few under-the-radar minor league prospects that may have what it takes to shoot up Red Sox prospect rankings in the same way with a big 2025.

1. Jojo Ingrassia, LHP, High-A
Jojo Ingrassia is another name on the long list of pitching development successes for the Red Sox. Ingrassia was Boston's 14th-round pick in the 2023 draft, selected 418th overall out of Cal State Fullerton. In his first season as a pro, Ingrassia certainly surpassed his expectations as a 14th-rounder. 

Ingrassia opened his professional career as a reliever for Low-A Salem, where he spent all of 2024. In nine games out of the bullpen, Ingrassia delivered 18 innings in long relief, allowing just four earned runs while striking out 36 batters (18 K/9). Because of his consistent success in multi-inning stints, Ingrassia was eventually stretched out as a starter. He would end up starting 12 games but only completed five innings twice. However, Ingrassia maintained the level of success he found out of the bullpen. In 40.1 innings as a starter, the 22-year-old lefty posted a 1.79 ERA and 12.95 strikeouts per nine innings. In his 21 total appearances, Ingrassia led all Low-A pitchers with at least 50 innings pitched in both strikeout rate (39.6%) and strikeout rate minus walk rate (31.1%), while finishing within the top ten in both ERA (1.85) and opponent batting average (.178). Ingrassia has opened the 2025 season with a promotion to High-A Greenville where he has moved back into a multi-inning relief role. In two appearances thus far, he has already struck out 14 batters over 7.2 innings.

Ingrassia is your typical funky lefty whose stuff plays up due to his lower arm slot and ability to spin the ball at a high rate. He's also only walking 7.9% of hitters thus far in his pro career, which actually tracks better than a lot of recent high-profile starting pitching prospects. The tools are present for Ingrassia to at least be an average to above-average multi-inning reliever moving forward. The Red Sox can definitely move him back into a starter's role and experiment with how his arm responds to heavier workloads. The only thing that keeps Ingrassia out of the upper-tier of pitching prospects at the moment is his lack of track record. With another season of success for the lefty, that can certainly change.

2. Conrad Cason, RHP/SS. Florida Complex League
Conrad Cason has yet to make his professional debut, but is definitely a player to keep an eye on for the 2025 season and beyond. Cason was Boston's eighth-round draft pick just a year ago out of Greater Atlanta Christian High School, where he was a standout as a two-way player. There's a growing amount of amateur prospects entering pro systems as two-way players, but it's still very rare that any actually do both for any amount of time. Cason has shown a strong desire to continue doing both, stating that he "wants to take what Shohei is doing and try to take it to the next level." While that is quite the long shot, I'm sure that's a mindset the Red Sox love to see from the 18-year-old.

It's important to be realistic about two-way prospects and not to bank on them being successful on both sides of the ball. For what it's worth, Jac Caglianone, one of the top two-way prospects in last year's draft, was selected sixth overall and immediately was converted into a full-time hitter. However, Cason is a unique case in that he doesn't have a clear-cut better side to his game. The chances of him playing shortstop and pitching are slim to none, but there is a chance he can hit and pitch. It's already on the record that Cason will be developed by the Red Sox as a two-way player to open his career. Cason is both a plus hitter and pitcher, and if he ends up focusing on one over the other, the expectation is that skill would only get better. 

As a position player, more of Cason's value comes as a defender, although he has a promising bat as well. Given he has been up to 98 mph on the mound, he has a 65-grade arm across the diamond with above-average to plus athleticism. At the plate, there are questions about his hit tool, but he should continue to grow into more power that will count for a lot if he's making enough contact. As a shortstop, he draws a lot of similarities to Tampa Bay Rays top prospect Carson Williams when Williams was entering the professional ranks in 2021. On the mound, Cason features a three-pitch mix, with the fastball being his premier offering. The slider and changeup are his breaking and offspeed pitches of choice, and he showed improved feel for both in his senior year. Cason will make his professional debut in the Florida Complex League in May, and if he can find success both at the plate and on the mound, this is a player who can take the prospect world by storm in 2025. 

3. Johanfran Garcia, C, Single-A
Following a season-ending ACL injury in May of last year, Johanfran Garcia is looking to put his name back on the map as one of the top catchers in Boston's farm system. If the name Garcia rings a bell, it's because Johanfran Garcia is the younger brother of Jhostynxon Garcia, the organization's sixth-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline. The Red Sox signed Jhostynxon out of Venezuela in 2019, and after they found success with him they returned to the well and signed his brother in 2022. Garcia has yet to log a full season's worth of games, but he was tracking well prior to the injury. 

Garcia opened his professional career in 2023 in the Florida Complex League. In 179 plate appearances, the backstop hit five home runs and posted a slash line of .302/.408/.497, good for a .904 OPS and a 137 wRC+. His OPS and wRC+ both ranked within the top five among catchers with at least 100 plate appearances across both complex leagues. He earned himself a promotion to Low-A Salem at the end of the season, where he struggled offensively for 15 games. However, upon his return to Low-A in 2024, Garcia raked up until he went down with the knee injury. In 60 plate appearances, Garcia hit two home runs along with a .385/.467/.596 slash line. He was pacing as one of the top hitters in the organization prior to the injury as his 1.063 OPS and 207 wRC+ were the best in the system, minimum 60 plate appearances. Granted, the sample size has been small, but Garcia has certainly showed a lot of promise thus far. 

The plus power is Garcia's calling card as a hitter, while his above-average arm should keep him behind the plate long-term. His hit tool was improving a lot prior to the injury, and if he picks up where he left off, Garcia can quickly become one of the best offensive catching prospects in baseball.  

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[mvp 78]

I agree about Ingrassia, but disagree on the second two. I think Cason may take a little while to adjust, though his velo should show well in FCL. Garcia is coming back from injury and may get off to a bit of a slow start. It also may impact his defense more than we hope.

I'd swap out those two for Blake Aita and Harold Rivas for two different reasons. I think Blake Aita has the ability to storm through A ball with little trouble and reach AA by the end of the season due to his spin rates and increased velo. Harold Rivas has the physical gifts that other prospects have shown in the past to go from a 40ish ranked prospect to being strapped to a rocket ship once they start to appear in games (Bleis, Jimenez, Antoni Flores, et al). 

[Larry Cook]

In hindsight maybe zantenella should have been left in Florida for an extra year. 
dude just cannot hit!!!!