What Prompted Change To Red Sox First-Round Trend? Exec Weighs In

The selection of Kyson Witherspoon caps a first-round trend that’s been building inside the Boston Red Sox organization.

Boston drafted Witherspoon with the 15th overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft on Sunday night. It marked the first time since Tanner Houck in 2017 that the Red Sox selected a pitcher instead of a high-upside bat.

Red Sox director of amateur scouting Devin Pearson weighed in on the selection and said it was a product of a pitcher-heavy class.

“It wasn’t a topic of conversation,” Pearson told reporters, per MLB.com’s Ian Browne. “I think just with this class, it was pitcher-heavy, and we thought there was a good chance (we would take a pitcher first). Then it turned out to be the case.”

There’s reason to believe Boston might not have expected Witherspoon to be on the board at No. 15. After all, the Oklahoma product was Baseball America’s No. 7 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 10 prospect. At the very least, the Red Sox got good value with the selection.

Boston’s run of drafting first-round bats over arms led them to Marcelo Mayer, Triston Casas as well as a pair of prospects in Braden Montgomery and Kyle Teel that were traded for 2025 MLB All-Star Garrett Crochet. The addition of Witherspoon comes at a time the ballclub already has 2022 second-rounder Roman Anthony and 2023 fourth-rounder Kristian Campbell, too.

The organization feels Witherspoon will only add to its collection of young talent.

“Kyson is a guy we valued highly entering the Draft, and we believe he is one of the top college arms in the class,” Pearson said. “We think he fits in nicely with our development strengths and has the right makeup to pitch at Fenway Park. We couldn’t be more excited to welcome him to Red Sox Nation.”

The 2025 MLB Draft continues Monday afternoon.