Former GM Calls Red Sox Winners of MLB Draft Night One

Former GM Calls Red Sox Winners of MLB Draft Night One originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

The Boston Red Sox had a few picks on night one of the 2025 MLB Draft. They picked two players inside the top 35, with picks at 15 and 34. After taking two pitchers, Boston drew a lot of attention from a former general manager.

According to former MLB general manager Jim Bowden in The Athletic, the Red Sox were among the night-one winners for the 2025 MLB Draft. Bowden loved both selections of Kyson Witherspoon and Marcus Phillips with their top 35 picks, and thought Boston did "really well" on day one of the draft.

"Witherspoon and Phillips should be relatively quick to the majors." Bowden wrote. "And, with the Red Sox's strong pitching coach and analytics staff, both have large runways to improve over the next couple of years."

Both pitchers drew a lot of praise from Bowden, as they're both capable of rising through the Red Sox's farm system thanks to strong pitching development throughout the organization.

Witherspoon, selected at 15th overall out of Oklahoma, has four pitches. He has a fastball, a curveball, a slider, and a cutter. And as Bowden writes, Witherspoon also has "an improving changeup."

The potential five-pitch mix should help the Oklahoma righty stay a starter as he works his way up through the minor leagues. "he gets hitters to chase out of the strike zone and has compact arm action with little effort," writes Bowden.

For Phillips, the righty from Tennessee, impressively struck out 98 batters in 83 innings of work. Phillips has a three-pitch mix of a fastball, slider, and changeup.

The former Volunteers starter could work his way to the Majors quickly, as Bowden believes both he and Witherspoon have the potential to rise through the organization.

Night one started strong for the Red Sox, with Witherspoon and Phillips being potential major leaguers in the coming seasons after performing well in College. They capped off the night by taking infielder Henry Godbout and righty Anthony Eyanson, from Virginia and LSU, respectively.

It was an all-College first day for the Red Sox, and with the team's young core impacting the majors this season, the window for Boston is seemingly wide open.

At the end of he night, Bowden viewed what the Red Sox did as one of his winners from night one of the MLB draft. Boston added nice pitching talent, and one's that could rise through the organization quickly.

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 14, 2025, where it first appeared.