BOSTON -- It was a rough start to the season for Boston Red Sox 2025 first-round pick, right-handed pitcher Kyson Witherspoon, as the 21-year-old right-hander posted a 7.18 ERA in his first seven starts with High-A Greenville, causing him to fall out of Baseball America's top 100 prospects update in June. However, a recent hot stretch has caused his stock to climb once again. 

After the rough start to the season, Witherspoon has appeared to turn a corner over the last two months, posting a 2.64 ERA in 30.2 innings over his last six starts, while striking out 10.4 batters per nine innings. 

The 21-year-old is coming off what was arguably the best start of his young career on Friday night, allowing only one run on five hits while striking out seven and walking only one across a career-high six innings. 

After the hot stretch, Witherspoon has found himself back in Baseball America's rankings, checking in at No. 94. 

"It's just the comfort of pro ball, getting into the five, six-day start routine," Red Sox Senior Director of Player Development Brian Abraham told WEEI's Baseball Isn't Boring Show on Sunday about what has led to Witherspoon's hot stretch. "It's obviously a fine line because you want guys to have success, you want guys to go out and compete... but you also want them to improve... I think Kyson's found that middle ground to be able to go out and compete, compete every pitch, trust in his stuff, but also continue to work on the things he needs to improve on," he continued. 

Even during his recent stretch of strong outings, the 21-year-old has struggled with two things in particular, walks and home runs. Entering Wednesday, Witherspoon has walked 4.42 batters per nine innings, the 14th-highest mark among all South Atlantic League pitchers with at least 50 innings of work, while his home runs allowed per nine innings of 1.11 are tied for the 22nd-highest mark in the league. 

Despite the struggles with command, Witherspoon has remained one of the best strikeout pitchers in the league, striking out 25.4 percent of the batters he faces, the 12th-highest rate. 

The Red Sox selected Witherspoon with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft out of the University of Oklahoma, signing him for $5 million. He is currently the No. 3 prospect in the Boston system according to SoxProspects.com. Overall, he is 2-3 with a 4.74 ERA in 13 starts for High-A Greenville. 

Witherspoon is joined on Baseball America's top 100 prospect list by the top two prospects in the Red Sox organization, shortstop Franklin Arias (No. 3) and right-handed pitcher Anthony Eyanson (No. 33). Both Arias and Eyanson will represent the Red Sox organization in the Futures Game, which kicks off MLB's All-Star week in Philadelphia on Sunday, July 12. 

Noticeably absent from the July update to the top 100 is hard-hitting outfielder Justin Gonzales, who made his debut on the list at No. 88. The 6'5" righty struggled to a .183/.370/.310/.680 line in June, which caused him to fall out of the rankings. 

Meanwhile, back in Boston, the Red Sox fell to the Washington Nationals 10-2 on Wednesday afternoon to drop the three-game set at Fenway Park. They'll be off on Thursday before heading out west to kick off a nine-game road trip that leads into the All-Star break, which gets underway in Anaheim on Friday night. Jake Bennett (2-3, 3.27 ERA) will get the start for the Red Sox, while the Angels have yet to name a starter. First pitch from Angel Stadium set for 9:38 p.m. ET. on Friday night. 

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