Red Sox Prospect Skyrockets Into Top 10 Of Keith Law’s New Rankings

Franklin Arias might not get the same level of hype some of the other Red Sox prospects have received in recent years, but that might already be changing.

The shortstop should probably start being included in the same breath as Boston prospects who haven’t yet graduated to the big leagues like Roman Anthony or Jhostynxon Garcia. Keith Law, one of the best-known prospect experts in baseball, sure thinks so, at least.

Law released his latest prospect rankings — a top 50 through the first two months of the season — and no one took a bigger leap than Arias. The shortstop, who was ranked No. 42 on Law’s preseason rankings, landed at No. 8 on this most recent list.

“He’s a true shortstop, he doesn’t punch out (8.3 percent at the higher level), and he has power. It’s electric on both sides of the ball and if there’s a flaw in his game, pitchers through the High-A level haven’t exposed it yet,” Law wrote for The Athletic.

Law expressed some slight concern over a high ground ball rate, but he added, “he’s also driving enough balls to get some in-game power.”

At just 19, Arias obviously has a long way to go before he reaches the big leagues. That might be part of the reason he doesn’t have the same hype as the others, at least not yet. But as Law noted, the production at each level has been undeniable. In 165 professional games across multiple levels, Arias is hitting .329 with 12 home runs and 95 RBIs while also stealing 45 bases. There’s not a ton of swing and miss (100 strikeouts), and he can work a walk, too, drawing 82 free passes.

Arias has been a stud since getting the promotion to High-A Greenville, too. He’s hitting .351 with a pair of home runs and 17 runs driven in over just 22 games. That he’s doing that despite being three years younger than the average High-A player is notable, too.

Defensively, he has at least held his own.

“Confident fielder who can make difficult plays look close to routine,” SoxProspects.com writes in his scouting report. “Scouts have mixed opinions on whether he can stick at shortstop long-term. Potential above-average defender at second and average defender at shortstop.”

The Red Sox have a pressing need and desire to improve at the big league level right now. At some point, talking about prospects only goes so far, and Arias certainly won’t be the one to save the day on the 2025 season. It does help to know that the cupboard won’t be left bare as prospects from the highly rated system continue to graduate to the bigs.

“Leave it to the Red Sox to graduate a top-10 prospect (Kristian Campbell) and immediately have someone else replace him,” Law wrote.