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When David Ortiz walks into Red Sox camp, he’s impossible to miss. Even in retirement, the Hall of Fame slugger remains a larger-than-life figure who towers over the active players who flock to him for advice.
Needless to say, it was a surreal scene a couple of weeks back when Ortiz found himself looking up at a 19-year-old teenager who managed to make even Big Papi look small.
Standing at 6-foot-6, 277 pounds, Justin Gonzales is a mammoth Red Sox minor leaguer who has emerged as one of the club’s breakout prospects this spring. The outfielder is currently ranked as the organization’s No. 6 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, and during his limited opportunities filling in with the big league club, he’s already posted some shocking exit velocities that rank among the hardest hit balls by anyone in the game.
He’s certainly caught Ortiz’s attention, who said he believes Gonzales has the makings of a star.
“Oh my god, he’s a big kid man,” Ortiz told the Herald in Fort Myers. “I hope he stays healthy and continues working extremely hard, I mean, he’s got so many tools to begin to be a superstar.”
Originally signed for $250,000 out of the Dominican Republic as an international free agent ahead of the 2024 season, Gonzales made an immediate impression in his first year with the organization, earning the club’s Latin Program Player of the Year. He made his debut stateside in 2025, batting .281 with four home runs, 23 doubles, 12 stolen bases and a .753 OPS in 93 games, most of those coming at Low-A Salem.
Gonzales also participated in the 2025 Futures at Fenway South showcase, hitting a towering home run over JetBlue Park’s Green Monster, and he is expected to play in next week’s Spring Breakout showcase as well.
But lately Gonzales has really made his mark with the big league club.
Every game throughout the spring the Red Sox bring up a handful of minor leaguers to serve as backups and fill-ins, and with virtually the entire big league outfield group away for the World Baseball Classic, most of the club’s top outfield prospects have received even more opportunities than usual.
But none have made an impact like Gonzales, who shocked the baseball world on March 2 in Dunedin when he hit a single that was measured at 117.3 mph off the bat. According to Statcast, it was the second-hardest hit ball by any player in MLB this spring up to that point, and according to MLB.com’s Ian Browne, it would’ve ranked as the 31st hardest-hit ball in the majors throughout the 2025 season. For perspective, that’s on par with superstars like Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Speaking to the Herald by phone earlier this week, Gonzales acknowledged he didn’t expect that to happen, at least not so soon.
“Very surprised,” Gonzales said, with Red Sox player development manager Justin Frometa assisting with the interpretation. “Obviously (I’m going to) keep working hard and hopefully God willing I know there’s more in the tank because I’m trying to get to 120-plus.”
Beyond that scorched single, Gonzales also hit a lineout 110 mph to the shortstop in his first game with the big league club on Feb. 26. Most recently he had an RBI single in the club’s rain-shortened 2-0 win over the Rays on March 7.
“I learn a lot being up there,” Gonzales said of his time with the major league team. “You kind of see the way big leaguers go about their business, how they act and the way they handle themselves so it’s a big learning experience for me.”
“The more we see him the better it’s going to be for him,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Good kid too, he enjoys playing the game, so we’ll see him around.”
Though no one would dispute Gonzales’ monster potential, he still has a long way to go before he can fully harness his natural abilities. One area of focus has been cutting down his ground ball percentage, which was an eye-watering 57.4% last year according to FanGraphs, and driving the ball in the air more.
Besides the Red Sox’s hitting coaches, that message has also been sent by Ortiz, who took his fellow Dominican Republic countryman under his wing.
“He’s like a father to me,” Gonzales said. “Talking to David, he’s a very humble legend, right? You open (your) ears and you listen to him because you know what he’s done in this game. Ultimately when I have these conversations with David he reminds me, big guys like me and him, we don’t need to try to hit the ball hard, that happens naturally, we just need to find the barrel and hit the ball in the air. If we’re able to do both of those things all other things will take care of themselves.”
Ortiz said he sees a lot of himself in the young slugger.
“I’ll tell you what, I was a kid just like that,” Ortiz said. “When I was that age I don’t see myself being what I am today, or what I was when I played. You worked at it, you were disciplined, and it’ll take you there. So once you put that together, plus the God-given talent that you get, you can begin to be anything you want, you’ve just got to keep working.”
Though it will probably be a couple of years before Gonzales is ready for primetime, the young slugger has visited Fenway Park once before as part of the club’s minor league awards presentation toward the end of 2024. He described that as a “beautiful and wonderful experience” that he’ll never forget, and he often thinks about one day making it back and taking the field in a Red Sox uniform.
“I’m always thinking about how exciting that will be,” Gonzales said. “My goal is to get there and hit a lot of home runs when I’m there.”
USA-DR showdown for the ages
It was more of a grind than anyone would have hoped, but Team USA survived pool play and beat Canada in the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals Friday, setting up a titanic showdown with the Dominican Republic in the semifinals Sunday night.
It’s not an exaggeration to say this game could feature the greatest collection of baseball talent ever assembled for a meaningful game.
The star power that’ll be on display Sunday at loanDepot Park in Miami will be nothing short of breathtaking. Paul Skenes, the game’s top young arm and the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, will face a Dominican Republic lineup that should include superstars like Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Manny Machado and Junior Caminero, among others. Meanwhile the Dominican Republic will try to contend with an American lineup led by Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper, Bobby Witt Jr. and a whole bunch more.
Given how young some of the teams’ stars are — Roman Anthony and Caminero could still have 20 years of big league baseball in front of them — it will be decades before the full extent of these rosters’ greatness is known. But would anyone be surprised if the two teams wound up combining for 10 or more Hall of Famers? Wouldn’t shock me, and it’s even possible this game could challenge the 1932 World Series between the New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs, whose rosters featured 13 future Hall of Famers.
It will be one for the ages, and no matter the outcome, baseball fans everywhere should appreciate the spectacle the World Baseball Classic has become.
Smith named Opening Day starter
What a journey it has been for Shane Smith, the Danvers native and former Governor’s Academy star who has emerged as one of baseball’s most unlikely success stories in recent years.
Having overcome a litany of injuries that limited him to a handful of innings at Wake Forest, Smith went undrafted in 2021 but surged through the minor league ranks, eventually going to the Chicago White Sox as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 Rule 5 Draft. Smith made the most of his big league opportunity once with the White Sox, establishing himself as Chicago’s best starter and earning All-Star honors as a rookie.
Now, Smith has been announced as the White Sox’s Opening Day starter. He will take the mound against the Brewers when Chicago kicks off the regular season on March 26.
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