Article: Keep Your Password Secure: Jhostynxon Garcia Brings Something Different to the Red Sox's Outfield

[Brandon Glick]

There has rarely been a player with a nickname more apt than Jhostynxon Garcia.

The Red Sox's third-best prospect is finally on his way to the big leagues, though ask anyone to spell or pronounce (Yos-TIN-son) his first name, and you'll likely be met with a lot of shrugs or botched attempts that sound like random syllables woven together (the worst I've ever heard was "Ja-HOST-ee-nix-on", which, in fairness, is in the ballpark of how it looks phonetically). Thus, "The Password" was born, and it's stuck with Garcia as he's climbed the minor league ranks.

Now a major league ballplayer, Garcia will be hard-pressed to carve out a permanent role in Boston. Though he's replacing the injured Wilyer Abreu in the present, the team's outfield picture is still absurdly crowded moving forward. Roman Anthony and Ceddanne Rafaela are on long-term extensions and are pencilled in as the starters in left and center field, respectively, for the foreseeable future. Abreu, when healthy, is the starter in right, and Jarren Duran is a darn good fourth outfielder who hits like a designated hitter when he's on. Add to them Masataka Yoshida and Rob Refsnyder -- two capable outfielders who are better suited for DH duties at this point in their respective careers -- and you've got six players for three spots when everyone is healthy. With Garcia added to the mix, make it seven.

The outfield crowding was so severe that the front office dumped James Tibbs III -- the best prospect returned in the Rafael Devers trade -- at the trade deadline in the deal for Dustin May. Garcia, however, was (surprisingly) kept in the organization, and now Red Sox fans will have a chance to see why the franchise thinks so highly of the 22-year-old Venezuelan.

He's more or less had a gradual rise since signing as an amateur free agent in 2019, first making his debut in the organization in 2021 after the Covid-19 pandemic shut down all minor league activity during the 2020 calendar year. He walked more than he struck out during his 45-game debut in the DSL as an 18-year-old, and he took off from there, ascending at least one level each year before his Double-A to MLB rise this season.

Across his 99 games and 433 plate appearances with the WooSox and Sea Dogs this season, Garcia is slashing .289/.363/.512 with 20 home runs and 71 RBIs, as well as a 9.9% walk rate and 25.4% strikeout rate, all totaling up to a 133 wRC+. He was actually better in Triple-A than Double-A, hitting nearly six times as many homers in just twice as many games. His wRC+ (+23), wOBA (+0.056), and ISO (+0.124) all saw significant spikes after he got his promotion to Worcester.

He's worked hard on his plate approach, going from a 54.3% swing percentage in the DSL to a 48.5% swing rate during his stint in Triple-A. While that's helped him maintain strong walk rates, his contact skills are still a big question mark. He whiffs a whopping 33.4% of the time, which has led to a really bad 75.2% in-zone contact rate (i.e., the tenth-percentile among all Triple-A hitters, per TJStats). He also swings a bunch at pitches outside the zone, which, in conjunction with his low overall swing rate, means he watches a bunch of strikes.

There's a balance to be had with his patience, which seems more born out of a desire to work counts than an actually discerning eye at the plate. Nevertheless, this approach makes Garcia a bit of an old-school slugger, the likes of which the Red Sox don't really have in the outfield currently (Roman Anthony somewhat fits that profile, but he's so good at everything that he hardly qualifies for the same distinction). He pulls the ball in the air quite often (18.3% of batted ball events), which will obviously play at Fenway Park for a right-handed hitter. He's also elite in terms of barreling the ball (12.0%), which means he's hitting fly balls at ideal launch angles more often than most.

What this all translates to is a guy who should feast at Fenway... if he can limit his bad swings. His gap between his 90th-percentile exit velocity (106.1 mph) and average exit velocity (86.8 mph) is huge, a result of his inability to lay off of pitches outside the zone. That's something that can hopefully be fixed with many reps against the best pitchers in the world, but there have been a lot of exceptionally talented players who haven't been able to clear that hurdle.

With Devers long gone, Garcia instantly becomes the biggest 30-homer threat on the roster, besides maybe Alex Bregman and Anthony. That kind of power is important to have, especially when the only player on the team with more than 20 home runs this season (Abreu) is the player Garcia is effectively replacing. Though this will likely just be a cup of coffee until Abreu is healthy again, Garcia has a chance to prove his worth to the Red Sox, even in the league's most crowded outfield picture.

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[mvp 78]

Love the player. Don't love the nickname. Probably a very unpopular opinion. 

[Brandon Glick]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Love the player. Don't love the nickname. Probably a very unpopular opinion. 

It's funny because I've gotten so used to calling him "Password" that it's almost like Jhostynxon is his nickname to me now. A bit of a Batman/Bruce Wayne "which one is the real mask" kind of vibe 

[mvp 78]

32 minutes ago, Brandon Glick said:

It's funny because I've gotten so used to calling him "Password" that it's almost like Jhostynxon is his nickname to me now. A bit of a Batman/Bruce Wayne "which one is the real mask" kind of vibe 

I was fairly ambivalent on the nickname at first, but was completely out on it once they started calling Johanfran the username. 

[moonslav59]

Jay-Gee is too hard to say.

[notin]

23 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I was fairly ambivalent on the nickname at first, but was completely out on it once they started calling Johanfran the username. 

How do you think Johanfran feels about that, knowing he didn’t get his nickname because of anything about himself but rather as a facetious extension of his more successful brother’s nickname?

Sibling rivalry with coattails!

[notin]

52 minutes ago, Brandon Glick said:

It's funny because I've gotten so used to calling him "Password" that it's almost like Jhostynxon is his nickname to me now. A bit of a Batman/Bruce Wayne "which one is the real mask" kind of vibe 

My (very overworked) spell checker much prefers Password and clearly has no idea what to do with Jhostnyxon…

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

21 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Jay-Gee is too hard to say.

Why not J-Gar? Has it already been taken?

[Bellhorn04]

I'm going with Joey.  I think Password might be funny the first 1,000 times but eventually loses its appeal.

[moonslav59]

"Alphabet Soup" is too long.

How about just "Alphabet?"

[mvp 78]

13 minutes ago, notin said:

How do you think Johanfran feels about that, knowing he didn’t get his nickname because of anything about himself but rather as a facetious extension of his more successful brother’s nickname?

Sibling rivalry with coattails!

He is the younger brother. I'm sure it's been that way his whole life.

[notin]

20 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

"Alphabet Soup" is too long.

How about just "Alphabet?"

Taken by Giannis Antetokuonmpo…

[notin]

22 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

"Alphabet Soup" is too long.

How about just "Alphabet?"

Another good one is “Eyechart”, but it was already (and appropriately) used on Doug Gwosdz…

[Bellhorn04]

"Scrabble Goldmine" might be apt except you can only have 7 tiles in Scrabble.

[notin]

31 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I'm going with Joey.  I think Password might be funny the first 1,000 times but eventually loses its appeal.

That’s so American - just give him an easier name.  All about making it easier for everyone and screw him.
 

One of us. One of us.  One of us…

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

I just hope we didn't rush our minor league home run leader from the past two seasons to the Bronx too soon.

He might ruin Yankee fans for life.

[notin]

2 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

"Scrabble Goldmine" might be apt except you can only have 7 tiles in Scrabble.

Well, you can only ADD seven tiles.  At least one has to already be on the board.

KISS.  Just “Scrabble” works…

[moonslav59]

37 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

He is the younger brother. I'm sure it's been that way his whole life.

I've been high on both of these brothers for a while, perhaps unjustified.

So far, both have put up some good numbers.

Do you think Jo Garcia can stick at catcher?

[moonslav59]

I like "SCRABBLE" as his nickname.

[notin]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I like "SCRABBLE" as his nickname.

Another simple direction is just “Ghost”…

[Bellhorn04]

I just hope Fred doesn't notice that 5 letter sequence in the middle...

[notin]

5 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I just hope Fred doesn't notice that 5 letter sequence in the middle...

One Golden Sombrero and he will modify the name to Jhostinkson.  You are correct…

[moonslav59]

18 minutes ago, notin said:

Another simple direction is just “Ghost”…

That's a good one, too.

I think "Password" should go. Do we mostly agree on that?

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

12 minutes ago, notin said:

One Golden Sombrero and he will modify the name to Jhostinkson.  You are correct…

It won't take a Golden Sombrero. If he just swings at a pitch in the dirt, that will be all the motivation Fred will need.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

5 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

That's a good one, too.

I think "Password" should go. Do we mostly agree on that?

My posts will refer to him as J-Gar. Simple and accurate.

[vegasbob]

While you guys fool around with his name, I think Garcia will cinch the inevitable trade of either Duran or Abreu .

Duran apparently can't be a clutch hitter per another analysis, and Abreu is on his second IL stint this year , though neither was or is expected to be beyond the minimum 10 days.      

Numerous factors come into play, including Garcia's ability to hit MLB pitching . Age, years of control and durability all count .      My prediction is that Breslow keeps Duran, not Abreu  and Garcia , along with Roman Anthony   make up the outfield next year.    I think Refsnyder retires, so Yoshi has another season with us, Yuck.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

3 minutes ago, vegasbob said:

While you guys fool around with his name, I think Garcia will cinch the inevitable trade of either Duran or Abreu .

Duran apparently can't be a clutch hitter per another analysis, and Abreu is on his second IL stint this year , though neither was or is expected to be beyond the minimum 10 days.      

Numerous factors come into play, including Garcia's ability to hit MLB pitching . Age, years of control and durability all count .      My prediction is that Breslow keeps Duran, not Abreu  and Garcia , along with Roman Anthony   make up the outfield next year.    I think Refsnyder retires, so Yoshi has another season with us, Yuck.

I don't believe Masa has earned the "yuck' tag yet. There's been a couple of active Sox players this season who have been more worthy of 'yuck' than Masa.

[moonslav59]

13 minutes ago, vegasbob said:

While you guys fool around with his name, I think Garcia will cinch the inevitable trade of either Duran or Abreu .

Duran apparently can't be a clutch hitter per another analysis, and Abreu is on his second IL stint this year , though neither was or is expected to be beyond the minimum 10 days.      

Numerous factors come into play, including Garcia's ability to hit MLB pitching . Age, years of control and durability all count .      My prediction is that Breslow keeps Duran, not Abreu  and Garcia , along with Roman Anthony   make up the outfield next year.    I think Refsnyder retires, so Yoshi has another season with us, Yuck.

I'm 100% in on Jh Garcia. I agree. He will make trading Duran much easier. (We could trade Abreu, but I think it will be Duran.) This is not about not valuing Duran. I do. I think he will help land us Ryan.

Garcia is a RHB with power. Adding the LHB Lowe helps, too.

[drewski6]

23 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I'm 100% in on Jh Garcia. I agree. He will make trading Duran much easier. (We could trade Abreu, but I think it will be Duran.) This is not about not valuing Duran. I do. I think he will help land us Ryan.

Garcia is a RHB with power. Adding the LHB Lowe helps, too.

Play Garcia at 1b.

[TedYazPapiMookie]

Brandon, entertaining article.  It should be fun to see if the Password can start out on fire like Campbell did.  Roman took quite a while to adjust so if the Password's path resembles his then the season will be over before things click.  Let's hope he doesn't resemble Mayer who never clicked his season.

I was surprised you put Duran behind the platoon hitting Abreu.  All Cora has to do is put Rafaela in RF and Duran in CF and BOS would never have to worry about forcing a square peg in a round hole with Abreu.  He can be trade bait; he can DH despite Yoshida being the better all-around hitter or he can be a late inning bat which best fits his skill set.  

There is a valid reason Duran would bring more in a trade; he's the far more complete player with many skills Abreu doesn't have.  Abreu is a sold defender with a good arm that can't hit lefties.  Duran is an exceptionally fast defender who can cover more ground than Abreu, bat leadoff to set the table for the offense and is a much better hitter that steals bases.  It makes sense he would get more in a trade, but the important question is "Who in their right mind trades a top player to get better?"  That's the type of logic that sent Mookie to LAD, Priester to MIL, Sale to ATL. 

Abreu needs to go to stop Cora from making daily mistakes with his line-up card.