Boston Red Sox
Arias, 20, is MLB’s No. 7-ranked prospect.
Franklin Arias in action during the MLB All-Star Futures baseball game against the National League, Sunday, July 12, 2026, in Philadelphia. AP Photo/Chris Szagola
The No. 1 Boston Red Sox prospect just hit a major milestone.
Shortstop Franklin Arias, who overtook the graduated Payton Tolle as the organization’s top minor leaguer this year, was promoted to the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox on Thursday.
Arias, 20, had practically been begging for the promotion this year. In 75 games with the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs, he slashed .318/.407/.587 with a .994 OPS, 19 home runs, and 52 RBI.
The league’s No. 7 overall prospect leads Double-A’s Eastern League in OPS; his batting average and slugging percentage are second-best; his on-base percentage and home run tally rank third in the EL.
Arias, a Venezuela native, wasn’t penciled into Worcester’s lineup on Friday as he settles into his new home for the time being.
In Worcester, a 44-mile drive eastbound on the Mass. Pike from Polar Park to Fenway Park, he’s one promotion away from the big leagues.
Speaking with reporters on Friday, Arias, who stands at 5-foot 11, 170 pounds, said he’s thrilled to be this far along in the minor league system already.
“Something that I’ve been dreaming of since I was a little kid,” Arias said through a translator (via MLB.com’s Tim Crowley). “Now that I’m here living my dream one call away, I’m really happy and really grateful for the opportunity given.”
Boston signed Arias as an international free agent in 2023 at age 17. He spent that year in rookie ball, 51 games with the FCL Red Sox and 36 with the Single-A Salem Red Sox in 2024, and 116 combined games across Single-A, High-A Greenville Drive, and Portland in 2025.
Arias’s power explosion this year propelled him to top prospect status league-wide. 2026 marks his first double-digit homer season (eight in 2025, nine in 2024, one in 2023) and the first time his slugging percentage reached the .500s.
The slugger said he’s put a lot of effort behind the scenes into his dominant campaign.
“I’ve been working really hard since Spring Training,” Arias said. “On the hitting side, I’ve been working a lot with the guys in Double-A and all the hitting coaches and putting all the work and all the effort into having a good year and the results have shown.”
Defensively, Arias has been excellent, too. He’s committed just three errors at shortstop in 474.2 innings (.986 fielding percentage).
Arias was selected to the 2026 Futures Game on the American League’s roster earlier this month. Top prospects like Portland teammate Anthony Eyanson, Athletics’ Leo De Vries, and Mariners’ Kade Anderson.
Chad Epperson, Arias’s former Double-A manager and current Boston third base coach, had high praise for the player earlier this year.
“Kudos to the kid for putting in the work,” Epperson said (via MassLive’s Christopher Smith). “He’s always had that bat to ball ability. And now with the strength, he’s swinging the bat faster. He’s more confident to take chances when he wants to.
“His ability to dominate out of his pre-pitch allows him to be rangy. He takes pride in the one-star plays, the routine plays, but he also works his (expletive) off to make the five-star plays. So I attribute it to just his work ethic and God given ability.”
Kaley Brown
Kaley Brown is a sports producer for Boston.com, where she covers the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox.
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