The Boston Red Sox have not been shy about adding pitching through the MLB Draft the last two seasons. Three of their first four selections in the 2025 draft were pitchers.
All three of those pitchers appeared in the Spring Breakout game on March 20. First-round pick Kyson Witherspoon had some highlights but wasn’t perfect. Then, second-round pick Marcus Phillips came in and was more of the same story.
Finally, it was Anthony Eyanson’s turn, and he stole the show. Eyanson managed to do something no one expected of him when he was drafted.
When the Red Sox drafted Eyanson, they were getting a pitcher who averaged around 93 MPH on his fastball and topped out at 97.7 MPH. The secondary pitches were a big selling point.
Red Sox prospect Anthony Eyanson hits new highs in Spring Breakout game
However, there was also the hope that the Boston pitching lab could add some velocity to make his fastball a bit more dangerous. Even the most optimistic projections likely didn’t have such good results so quickly.
Eyanson pitched in the eighth inning of the Spring Breakout game. We had heard some rumblings that the organization was thrilled with how he looked this spring, but we hadn’t really gotten to see anything of him. On Friday, we saw.
Eyanson had the lone clean appearance for the Red Sox (Seidis Rena did as well, but only faced one batter). The right-handed pitcher faced three batters and set them all down on strikes.
Eyanson threw his fastball, curveball, and cutter in the game. He threw the fastball five times. His slowest fastball registered at 97.8 MPH. He also hit 98.6, 98.8, 99.9, and 100.2.
That’s right — the guy who was averaging 93 MHP and topped out at 97.7 MPH a few months ago just averaged 99.1 MPH (in an admittedly small sample size). It wasn't a solely fastball performance, though. The curveball, in particular, looked great and was actually the pitch he used to finish out the AB for all three strikeouts.
Anyone would’ve told you that there’s a lot to love and a lot to be excited about when it comes to Eyanson as a prospect. A development like this certainly accelerates things, though.
We need to remember that this was just five fastballs, and we’ll need to see Eyanson hold the velocity in the regular season to know how legitimate it is.
No matter what, though, the 21-year-old has shown he has 100 MPH in the tank. He’s shown that the pitching program is working for him and that he has room to grow. When the Red Sox drafted Eyanson in 2025, it was easy to see the vision. Just a few months later, that vision’s never been brighter.
As far as a single inning is concerned, it’s hard to imagine any raising the stock of a player as much as that Spring Breakout inning did for Eyanson.