The Red Sox used 15 of their 21 picks in the 2025 MLB Draft on pitchers, including 10 from the SEC. All 15 are 6-foot-2 or taller.
It continued chief baseball officer Craig Breslow’s trend of prioritizing pitchers. Twenty-nine of his 41 picks over two drafts have been hurlers.
“Big frame, big velo and stuff — that’s kind of how we prioritize pitchers as we work throughout the draft and certainly got a lot of those guys,” Red Sox director of amateur scouting Devin Pearson said Monday during a Zoom after wrapping up the second and final day of the draft. “I know there’s a lot of SEC players this year. That was, I guess, where all the big guys with stuff and velo are.”
Twenty of Boston’s 21 picks this year were college players. (See the Red Sox’ full draft results here).
“I think we had targeted a group of college pitchers that we really liked, and I think a lot of the bats that we liked as well went early,” Pearson said. “We were able to get a couple bats that we had valued highly throughout the draft. But we were really intentional with what bats we circled. And we’re lucky to get a lot of the college pitchers that we like.
“There were certainly a group of high school hitters that we really liked that but either didn’t have the money to access them or they went earlier and kind of just fell that way,” Pearson added.
Fifth rounder Christian Foutch, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound right-handed pitcher out of Arkansas, certainly meets the big velocity/frame criteria. His MLB Pipeline scouting report notes, “Foutch’s fastball averaged 98 mph and topped out at 100 this year.”
“Big body, big stuff,” Pearson said. “His mix has changed at times and we saw some optimization opportunities there. But definitely the velo, definitely the size and just the chance to get to really good secondaries and pair that all together could give him a shot to be pretty interesting.”
Ninth round pick Jacob Mayers, a righty out of LSU, is another big velo/big frame project. he 6-foot-5, 205-pounder ‘regularly’ throws 100 mph and has reached up to 101.8 mph, according to SoxProspects.com.
“Really exceptional fastball velocity,” Pearson said. “Went to the draft league and pitched there. That’s where we kind of tracked him throughout the last couple months or a month, however long he’s been there. And I think we just saw some things that we can help him get to better positions and throw more strikes. Just a fun arm with some upside and we were excited to get him.”
Boston used its 13th round pick on a local kid, Jack Winnay out of Wake Forest. Winnay is from Newton and graduated from Belmont Hill School in Belmont.
“We’ve known him for a long time. And I think he was a guy that even last year we had some draft interest in,” Pearson said. “And just being able to get him this year when we did, we’re super excited.”
The 22-year-old third baseman crushed 35 homers in 119 games as a sophomore and junior at Wake.
“He wanted to be a Red Sox. We wanted him here and it worked out that way,” Pearson said. “So a fit for both sides.”
Boston’s lone high school pick was outfielder Fabian Bonilla, who was just four months old during the Red Sox’ 2007 World Series victory. Boston selected him in the 19th round out of Christian Military Academy in Puerto Rico.
“The credit there goes to our area scout, Wallace Rios,” Pearson said. “He’s located in Virginia but also covers Puerto Rico, where he’s from. Just had established a relationship with Fabian. We’ve had him at our workout. See a lot of upside with some power potential and the overall athlete. And was a good fit where he wanted to be with us and we wanted him to be here.”
Boston began Day 2 by selecting a college shortstop, Mason White, in the fourth round. White slashed .327/.412/.689/1.101 with 20 homers, 17 doubles, eight triples, 73 RBIs, 63 runs, 25 walks and 65 strikeouts in 65 games (302 plate appearances) for Arizona this season.
“He was a guy we were pumped to get,” Pearson said. “I think the defense, he’s been really good at shortstop. Cut down on his whiff rate a lot, has just continued to get better. Gets the ball in the air to the pull side with some power. Just fits what we do here well. And especially at a premium position, he was a guy we didn’t want to miss on.”
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