Craig Breslow continued his bolstering of the Boston Red Sox farm system's young pitching depth with his first pick of the 2025 MLB Draft.
The Red Sox selected right-handed pitcher Kyson Witherspoon with the 15th pick of Sunday's draft. Witherspoon, 20, pitched two seasons at the University of Oklahoma, ranked 10th on MLB Pipeline's draft prospect rankings and No. 7 on Baseball America's list. He's the first pitcher the Red Sox have drafted in the first round since they took Tanner Houck with the 24th overall pick in the 2017 draft.
Witherspoon is most known for his blazing fastball, which earned a 65 on MLB Pipeline's scouting scale — it sits in the mid-90s and touches 99 miles per hour. Andrew Bailey and the Red Sox pitching coaching staff are known to steer away from fastballs unless they're elite, and Witherspoon could eventually be in that camp. For now, though, according to player development analyst Lance Brozdowski, Boston targeted him for the potential of his slider and cutter, which both scored 60 by MLB Pipeline's metrics. He uses his slider and cutter almost equally.
After his 2025 season with the Sooners, Witherspoon emerged as one of the top college righties in the draft. Dan O'Dowd, on MLB Network's draft panel, noted that he may have the most upside of any of the pitchers drafted to that point. Witherspoon posted a 2.65 ERA with 124 strikeouts and 23 walks over 95 innings pitched.
Red Sox take righty pitcher Kyson Witherspoon with No. 15 pick in 2025 MLB Draft
With the 15th pick in the 2025 #MLBDraft, we have selected RHP Kyson Witherspoon from the University of Oklahoma. pic.twitter.com/6wB5KTtRfM
— Red Sox (@RedSox) July 13, 2025
Witherspoon represented the United States on the 2024 collegiate national team. He fanned six batters, walked two, and didn't allow a run over 3.2 innings. He also pitched nine innings for the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod League, where he allowed one run and struck out 10 batters.
Witherspoon has a twin brother, Malachi, who also suited up for Team USA and hopes to be drafted this year. The Diamondbacks took Malachi in the 12th round of the 2022 draft, but he did not sign. He pitched for Oklahoma in 2025, to the tune of a 5.09 ERA in 74.1 innings. He was formerly the more highly-touted prospect of the two brothers, but Kyson surpassed him in recent seasons.