Red Sox land 4 prospects -- 3 pitchers! -- on Top 100 list

BOSTON -- After years of position players stealing most of the accolades in the Red Sox’s farm system, the tables have turned to the pitching side.

And never was that more apparent than when MLB Pipeline unveiled its Top 100 prospect list in an MLB Network special on Friday night.

Boston has four players on the coveted list, and three are pitchers.

Lefties Payton Tolle (No. 19) and Connelly Early (No. 56) and righty Kyson Witherspoon (No. 84) could be a trio in the Red Sox’s starting rotation before long.

In fact, Tolle and Early both got thrown into the fire during the pennant race last season, making their postseason debuts in the AL Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium.

Shortstop Franklin Arias (No. 31) rounds out the quartet of Boston prospects in the Top 100.

The entrance Tolle made to the Major Leagues was unforgettable. In a Friday night matchup at Fenway Park, Tolle faced off against eventual NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes.

The big lefty allowed three hits and two runs over 5 1/3 innings, walking two and striking out eight. He walked off to a thunderous ovation.

“My goodness. Chills. A lot of chills,” Tolle said that night. “I came off the mound after the first [inning], and I couldn't feel my feet.”

That experience was part of Tolle’s eight-appearance (including postseason) apprenticeship to the Major Leagues. Thus far, it has been a swift rise for the 2024 second-round Draft pick out of TCU.

Now, Tolle is aiming to win a spot in the rotation in Spring Training so he can find out what a full Major League season is like.

“I’m hungry,” Tolle said earlier this month at Fenway Fest. “I got a little nibble, but I’m hoping to get the whole steak this year.”

Early knows the feeling. Though he came up with less fanfare, he actually outperformed Tolle in his first taste of life in the Majors.

In four September starts, Early had a 2.33 ERA, four walks and 29 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings.

And when the Wild Card Series went to a deciding Game 3, the Sox turned to Early to face off against Yankees fireballing phenom Cam Schlittler.

Early matched Schlittler with three scoreless innings before defense and fatigue led to his knockout in the fourth inning of a 4-0 loss.

However, it is an experience Early will long remember.

“I think just having that opportunity to take the ball in such a meaningful game at a rival stadium was great,” he said.

Witherspoon, taken in the first round of the 2025 MLB Draft (15th overall) out of Oklahoma, hopes opportunities like that aren’t that far away for him.

“I want to get here as fast as possible,” he said in July, as he sat in the home dugout at Fenway Park. “Oh yeah, I can see it.”

Now that Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell have graduated beyond prospect status and are looking to play even bigger roles in their second Major League seasons, Arias is the position player most worth following in the Boston farm system.

“One of the things we’ve talked to him a lot about is his physicality,” said Red Sox senior director of player development Brian Abraham. “Continuing to add strength, add size so he can impact the baseball. Obviously, [he's] a really good defender with really good range. Consistency in the field. Swing decisions have been phenomenal. At the end of the day, him impacting the baseball consistently as he gets to the upper levels is really important.”

The 2025 season was an impressive one for Arias, as he started at Class A before a promotion to High-A and then another bump up the ladder to Double-A Portland, where he played 10 games.

What is his goal this year?

“To make it to the big leagues,” Arias said.

What will he need to do to make that a reality?

“Take advantage of every opportunity that the team gives me,” Arias said. “When you’re focused on doing the little things that everybody talks about and taking care of those details, I feel like everything else will take care of itself.”