The buzzing wouldn’t stop. By Thursday afternoon, John García’s phone lit up with so many calls and messages that he could barely catch his breath. Friends, former teammates, and family all wanted a piece of the man whose son had just been handed the biggest news of his life. For John, once a decorated pitcher on Venezuela’s national softball team, nothing in his playing career compared to this moment.
On the other end of that whirlwind was his 21-year-old son, Jhostynxon García, who will step into the major leagues on Friday night wearing a Boston Red Sox uniform. The stage couldn’t be bigger, and the moment couldn’t be more historic. García is not only ranked as MLB’s No. 78 overall prospect and Boston’s No. 2 prospect, but he’s also about to become the first player ever born in Apure, Venezuela, to reach the majors.
“I was almost asleep when he called me,” John García said in a voice message to El Emergente. “He told me he was walking around center field, playing with a football, when he got the news. His mom wasn’t in the room, but that’s when he said it: he was going to the big leagues.”
His father, who has spent a lifetime in dugouts and bullpens, knows what comes next: performance. “Now he has to hit the ball well,” John said with a mix of pride and nerves, fully aware that his son’s first taste of the big leagues will come against the very team Boston measures itself against.
Back home, the family is already talking about the celebration. The plan isn’t set, but John admits he’s leaning toward what feels most natural: firing up the grill. “Barbecues are our thing,” he said, imagining smoke and laughter filling the air as the García family soaks in the milestone.
The trip to Boston will come later, he insists. And when it does, John García will see what every call, every late-night practice, and every sacrifice has built toward: his son standing under the Fenway lights, facing the Yankees, and writing the first line of his own baseball story.
Red Sox call up no. 3 prospect ahead of the Yankees Series
The Red Sox didn’t just shuffle their roster before opening a four-game set with the Yankees; they injected it with energy. On Thursday, Boston announced the promotion of Jhostynxon García, their No. 3 prospect and one of the fastest-rising outfielders in the minors. At only 22, García has already built a reputation as a power bat with poise, forcing the organization to make room for him despite a crowded outfield picture.
Teammates and coaches welcomed him with a grin, calling him by the nickname he’s carried since his teenage years: “The Password.” With a first name that looks like a string of random letters (pronounced “JOES-tin-son”), García’s identity has always been a playful challenge for scorekeepers. But his bat has made things simple. In Triple-A Worcester this year, he crushed pitching with a .303/.367/.564 slash line and 17 home runs in just 66 games, numbers that made his arrival in Boston feel inevitable once Wilyer Abreu’s injury created an opening.
Still, for all the noise about his stats and rankings, García admitted the call-up hit him in the heart before it registered in his head. “I’m really excited and happy,” he said through a translator at Polar Park. “Didn’t expect (a call-up) today, or anything for that matter, but I’m just happy.” WooSox coach Iggy Suárez called his reaction calm, but García confessed he felt the “urge to cry” and broke down during a call with his parents. “Definitely a dream come true,” he said, pausing to gather himself. “Definitely a dream that I had since I was a little kid.”
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