Red Sox Surging Top Prospect Earns First Top 100 Recognition

How much higher will the young slugger climb?

Sep 20, 2019; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; A detail view of Boston Red Sox hats and gloves at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-Imagn Images | Kim Klement-Imagn Images

Arguably the Boston Red Sox's fastest-rising prospect, 19-year-old Justin Gonzales gained a bit more notoriety in the industry's latest Top 100 list.

Baseball America updated its rankings late on Monday to account for some former prospects who reached the service time threshold to "graduate." That included Red Sox starter Payton Tolle, who BA considered a top-10 prospect as of last week, after his Sunday start against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Gonzales, whose prospect credentials have been taking off since his presence in big-league spring training opened some eyes, was one of the new names to enter the list. BA had him as the No. 98 prospect in the sport, which was his first introduction to being a nationally acclaimed top prospect.

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Why Justin Gonzales' takeoff looks primed to continue

Fans watch the Boston Red Sox take on the New York Yankees from the Green Monster seats April 23 at Fenway Park in Boston. | Rick Cinclair/Telegram & Gazette / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Gonzales' future value is tough to evaluate right now, because the raw talent so vastly exceeds any of the stats he's put up as a professional in comparison to others who excel in the low levels of the minors. He's got an .864 OPS this season in High-A, which is actually a sizable jump from the .753 mark he had last year in 93 games across three levels of competition.

BA's own scouting report acknowledges that the range of future major league outcomes for Gonzales is wide, but if he keeps showing improvement from season to season, it will be hard to deny that he's at least headed for the big leagues to get that shot.

"Gonzales has a wide range of outcomes, from an all-star corner outfielder to a high-contact, low-power first baseman who struggles to be more than a fringy roster member," the site proclaims.

Some sites list Gonzales at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, but those are woefully outdated. In spring training, he self-reported that he stood 6-foot-6 and weighed 270 pounds. He also earned rave reviews in spring training from one David Ortiz, who knows a thing or two about becoming a big-bodied slugger in the Red Sox system.

Gonzales has five home runs in 27 games this year after hitting only four all of last year. He can hit balls well over 110 mph, so those power numbers should keep increasing as he learns his swing and his body mechanics as a whole after such a sustained growth spurt.