Red Sox select Christian Foutch with fifth-round pick

With the 148th overall pick in the 2025 MLB First-Year Player Draft, the Red Sox selected Christian Foutch, a right-handed pitcher out of the University of Arkansas. He is ranked No. 231 in MLB.com's top 250 and No. 258 in Baseball America's Top 500.

Foutch, 21, was not drafted out of high school in 2022 despite establishing himself as Colorado's top prep pitching prospect. The Littleton native instead took his talents to Arkansas and is coming off a junior season in which he posted a 4.09 ERA (1.09 WHIP) with 31 strikeouts to 10 walks over 21 relief appearances (22 innings) for the Razorbacks. He recorded a team-leading four saves and held opposing hitters to a .182 batting average.

Standing at 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds, Foutch sits at 98 mph and reaches 100 mph with his fastball. The burly righty also features a whiff-inducing 87-88 mph splitter and a mid-80s slider, though he shelved the latter earlier this year due to a lack of command. Baseball America notes that Foutch "has below-average control and he will scatter pitches above, below, and to the arm side, but he has made steady improvement in locating his fastball." MLB.com, on the other hand, tabs Foutch with a "at least setup man ceiling but has a lot of work to do to get there."

Foutch, who does not turn 22 until December, is the fourth SEC product to be drafted by the Red Sox thus far, joining fellow righties Kyson Witherspoon (Oklahoma), Marcus Phillips (Tennessee), and Anthony Eyanson (LSU). The full slot value for the 148th overall pick in this year's draft is $479,800.