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Password accepted: Inside Jhostynxon Garcia’s journey to minor league stardom
“Man, is anybody going to sign me?”
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Sixteen-year-old Jhostynxon Garcia just wanted anyone to say “yes.”
That’s all he wanted for more than a year. He spent too many difficult months running, sweating, and pouring his soul into his tryouts. Those months would pass without an answer to Garcia’s plea. There wasn’t much time left for MLB organizations to give him one. The 2019 International Free Agency (IFA) Period was approaching, and it looked as though teams would be spending their limited international pool money elsewhere.
Maybe his effort just wasn’t enough. Heck, maybe no amount of effort would have been enough. The stress of hoping for an answer — any answer — put thoughts similar to those into Garcia’s mind. What if he just wasn’t good enough? Were his professional baseball dreams too far-fetched? He considered quitting at certain points. Maybe no one wanted him for a reason.
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“You start questioning yourself around that time, leading up to the deadline,” Garcia told Boston.com through translator Juan Rivera, the pitching coach for the Portland Sea Dogs. “Then you start thinking, ‘Man, I guess I’m not cut out for this.’”
If he quit, he would be walking away from the sport that brought his family together. He’d be leaving the sport his father, a softball player and trainer in Venezuela, pushed him to try as a kid. He’d be leaving the sport his parents spent many hours helping him and his brother master. All of that time he spent training and playing baseball with his family would have amounted to nothing.
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But right before the start of the IFA period, those thoughts of quitting vanished. Garcia heard a “yes” from the Boston Red Sox, who would sign him to his first professional contract on July 2, 2019. The grind, pain, and stress had been worth it. He finally received his answer.
Two years later, Garcia made his minor league debut as a member of the Red Sox’ Dominican Summer League (DSL) Blue Team. The outfielder hit .281/.424/.481 with four home runs and 27 RBI in his 45 games with the DSL. Those stats earned him a spot on the Red Sox’ Florida Complex League (FCL) roster almost a year later, marking Garcia’s first-ever promotion.
This promotion preceded the first struggle of Garcia’s professional baseball career. He had trouble connecting with the ball while in the FCL, batting just .188/.328/.366 with three home runs and 17 RBI. He had 19 hits, which was only half the amount of hits he had with the DSL the prior season (38).
Garcia wasn’t living up to his standards. No one knew that more than Garcia. Another mental battle waged inside his head that year.
“The first time having a lot of failure really hits you hard,” Garcia said. “Things weren’t going the way I wanted, and there were moments that were really difficult mentally.”
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Those stats weren’t enough to hold Garcia back. The Red Sox promoted him to Single-A Salem in June 2023, and he spent about a year there before moving up to High-A Greenville. No matter where he went, or how well he played, Garcia always had a strong support system to lean on. The outfielder could rely on his parents, who encouraged him from miles away. He had his brother, who had been signed by the Red Sox organization a few years after Garcia was.
Outside of his family, Garcia had a group of fans on social media. That group likely included X user @InsideFastball, who took notice of Garcia’s unorthodox first name during the outfielder’s time with the DSL. In October 2021, the user made a post calling Garcia “The Password” and encouraged fans to use the moniker.
Garcia admitted that when he first saw his nickname on social media, he had no idea what it meant. He fell in love with it as soon as people started explaining it to him. The nickname spread across the Red Sox fandom over the next three years, and it exploded in popularity during Garcia’s stint in Greenville.
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That was when The Password’s game unlocked.
In just over two months with Greenville, Garcia batted .311/.371/.627 with 16 home runs and 37 RBI. Many baseball fans were starting to access The Password, as well as his various highlights that seemed to go viral every other game. Those stats and highlights didn’t need much analysis: High-A was too easy for Garcia. He earned a quick promotion to Double-A Portland, where he finished his 2024 season as a member of that year’s All-MiLB Prospect First Team.
Those two months filled Garcia’s head with yet another series of powerful thoughts. These thoughts were far more hopeful.
“I had that six-week stretch in Greenville last year, where I started thinking, ‘Man, I think I do have a shot to actually make it,’” Garcia said.
Garcia spent his 2025 season with the Sea Dogs until hitting coach Chris Hess and defensive coach Kyle Sasala pulled him aside for a conversation. It had been a slow week for the outfielder — not a week you’d want to hear about from your coaches. But Garcia has had similar chats during similar slumps throughout his minor league career, all of which ended with good news. This time would be no different. Hess and Sasala gave their outfielder the best news of his professional career up to that point.
Garcia called his sleeping mother, who did not answer. He then called his father and implored him to wake her up. Once his mother awoke, Garcia told his parents that he had been promoted to Triple-A Worcester — just one stop away from the big leagues.
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“[She] started crying, happy for me,” Garcia said through translator Iggy Suarez, a defensive coach for the Worcester Red Sox. “It was a good moment for us.”
These phone calls with his parents are a frequent part of Garcia’s life. Not all of those calls come with big news. Most of them are ordinary conversations with his father, who used to sacrifice so much time to help Garcia grow as a baseball player. As Garcia continues this growth thousands of miles away from his hometown, his father still takes time nearly every day to talk with him.
“Him just being there … and having conversations with me after every game or in the mornings, that has meant a lot,” Garcia said through Rivera.
It didn’t take long for Garcia’s bat to crack in Worcester. His first Triple-A hit was a three-run home run during his debut game. That was one of the two home runs and 10 hits he notched in his first homestand with the WooSox, which he ended with a 1.148 OPS. Not many pitchers could decipher The Password during that first week. His team is optimistic that they’ll be guessing for a while.
“He’s a very good outfielder [and] deserves a chance to be here,” WooSox manager Chad Tracy said.
Garcia was a fan favorite and a Top 10 Red Sox prospect even before his impressive debut with the WooSox. He said in early May that he appreciates the attention, but it doesn’t fluster him. It’s just a bonus that comes with the success he could have only hoped for as a sixteen-year-old kid in Venezuela, who just wanted a team to start a professional career with.
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Now, the idea of a potential major league appearance one day starts to feel more secure with each stellar performance. This potential reality took time, strenuous effort, and emotional stress before Garcia could believe it, but he’s earned that belief. Maybe he will soon reach the end of his journey through the minor leagues, one that started six long years ago, when the Red Sox accepted The Password.
“Every once in a while, you do definitely reflect and say, ‘Man, I’ve sweat a lot to get to where I am,’” Garcia said through Rivera. “But it’s not done.”
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