Baseball America announced its new top 100 prospects list, which includes six Boston Red Sox minor leaguers. Of the names, Boston's first-round pick, right-handed pitcher Kyson Witherspoon, makes his debut at No. 66.
Witherspoon was a pick of circumstance for the Sox. They had hoped to draft a bat with their pick, but the players they were targeting had come off the board, and Witherspoon, a projected top 10 pick, had fallen into their laps. The junior from Oklahoma was considered the top right-handed pitcher in the entire draft.
Witherspoon, making his debut in the post-draft update, makes it three straight years of Red Sox first-rounders debuting in the post-draft update. Kyle Teel debuted at No. 95 in 2023, and Braden Montgomery at No. 63 in 2024. All three were players projected to go in the top 10 of their respective drafts, but ended up falling to Boston in the teens. Twelve 2025 draftees were included on the top 100, Witherspoon was the seventh highest of them, and the fourth highest pitcher.
The 20-year-old likely isn't going to make his organizational debut until 2026, but is considered one of the most likely of any of the 2025 draftees to quickly rise through the minors and make the MLB. He has a plus fastball with three above-average breaking balls, helping him to find his way to the No. 66 spot.
Six Red Sox prospects named to Baseball America's post-draft top 100 list
Baseball America dropped a new Top 100 Prospects list:
— Gordo (@BOSSportsGordo) July 28, 2025
11. Marcelo Mayer
49. Payton Tolle
57. Franklin Arias
66. Kyson Witherspoon
81. Brandon Clarke
95. Jhostynxon Garcia pic.twitter.com/D7HGVyNvOi
The other Red Sox on the list are Marcelo Mayer (No. 11), Payton Tolle (No. 49), Franklin Arias (No. 57), Brandon Clarke (No. 81), and Jhostynxon Garcia (No. 95).
Tolle continues to receive praise from the baseball community, as he jumped 39 spots up from No. 88 on June 4. The lefty starter was the Sox's second-round pick in 2024 and has quickly worked his way through the minors. He didn't pitch in the minors after being drafted, started this season in High-A Greenville, and after just 11 starts, got promoted to Portland.
Arias also slid up a few spots from No. 65 to No. 57. The 19-year-old shortstop started the season in Low-A Salem and hit .346 over 19 games. He was then called up to Greenville, and although the production hasn't been repeated over his 60-plus games, he has shown good underlying metrics, showing potential as an everyday shortstop.
Clarke also climbed a couple of spots from No. 90 to No. 81. The 2024 fifth-round pick followed Arias from Salem to Greenville this season and has shown a lot of promise. He allowed one earned run in 9.2 innings in Salem while striking out 17 before the call-up. Since the step up, he has an ERA just under four in 25.1 innings and has held opponents to an OPS under .500.
Garcia only moved up four spots in this update from No. 99 to No. 95 despite crushing Triple-A since his call-up. Through his first 48 games in Worcester, he is hitting .291 with 11 home runs and an OPS just under .900. The man known as "The Password" is an interesting prospect to watch over the next few days and months as he could be Boston's top trade chip either at the deadline or during the offseason.
Mayer comes in as Boston's top prospect at No. 11. Mayer was three at-bats shy of losing prospect status and not being eligible for this list. For now, he dropped four spots from No. 7 since their June 4 update.