The Boston Red Sox may have taken a hit to their farm-system reputation, but Franklin Primera is making a loud case that the system still has serious life.
A lot of the chatter around Boston has centered on the idea that the club “gutted” its prospect depth at the trade deadline to land Adley Rutschman from the Baltimore Orioles. Early in the year, most prospect evaluators had the Red Sox somewhere in the middle of the pack or a little better.
Now, the common view has slid toward the bottom 10. But rankings don’t always catch the teenagers who explode once they get rolling, and Primera is forcing that conversation.
The 19-year-old Venezuelan catcher is already looking like a potential future answer behind the plate if Rutschman departs after next season in free agency. Primera opened his pro career in the Dominican Summer League last year, then came stateside and immediately started hammering the ball.
He posted a 1.267 OPS in 32 games to earn a jump from the Florida Complex League to Low-A in June, and he hasn’t slowed down since the promotion. In 36 Low-A games, he’s hit .344/.485/.531.
Put together, that gives him a 1.129 OPS, 12 home runs, 88 hits, and 50 RBIs in 68 games as a catcher. He still has hurdles ahead, but at this point he looks like one of the most dangerous offensive backstops in the minors.
There’s some reason for optimism on the defensive side, too, though that comes more from scouting reports and word of mouth than from a full viewing of his time with the Salem Red Sox. If he can remain at catcher, the bat alone makes him a fascinating prospect.
MLB Pipeline has Primera ranked No. 4 in the Boston system, which puts him just outside the Top 100 for now. That probably won’t last long. When the next Top 100 list drops, Primera is going to be impossible to leave off.
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