Overview

• Boston used the No. 15 overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft on Oklahoma right-hander Kyson Witherspoon, marking its first first-round pitcher since Tanner Houck in 2017.
• MLB Pipeline ranked Witherspoon as the No. 10 prospect, praising his mid- to high-90s fastball and five-pitch mix for major-league readiness.
• As a junior at Oklahoma, he went 10–4 with a 2.65 ERA, struck out 32% of batters and maintained a 6% walk rate over 95 innings.
• The pick is Boston’s highest selection of a college hurler since Tom Fischer went 12th overall in 1988 and signals a strategic pivot toward pitching under chief baseball officer Craig Breslow.
• Boston followed Witherspoon with the selection of Tennessee righty Marcus Phillips at No. 33 to further bolster its emerging pitching depth.