AL East 2025 draft report cards: Blue Jays take top prep bat; Red Sox go with arms

With the 2025 MLB Draft now in the books, here’s my look at each American League East team’s draft class. I focus on the top 10 rounds, since those are the picks that count toward each team’s bonus pool. Players taken after the 10th round may be paid up to $150,000 without counting against the bonus pool, so the best prospects taken in Rounds 11 through 20 rarely end up signing.

The number in parentheses after each player’s name indicates the round in which he was taken; a letter (A, B, or C) after a number indicates that it was a supplemental pick between rounds, either for losing a free agent or from the competitive balance lottery. I do assume that all players taken in the top 10 rounds will sign, although each year there are roughly two to five players who don’t for various reasons. I also skipped over college seniors who were probably selected as money-saver picks, agreeing to bonuses under their slot figures so their teams can go over slot for other players, or other players who appear to be more about under-slot bonuses than major-league potential.

Finally, I don’t give letter grades for drafts. I think that whole idea is absurd. The best I can offer is to tell you that I think teams did well or not well based on what I know about the players available at those picks, and in general, I prefer to talk about specific picks rather than try to sum up months of work for each scouting department in a pithy line or two.

(Note: Scouting grades are on a 20-80 scale. Click here for my top-100 draft prospect list.)

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Baltimore Orioles: Extra picks net four first-round talents, but how will the pool be spent?

On the one hand, the Orioles had a slew of extra picks and may have landed four first-round talents, which makes this an extremely promising haul of talent for a system that has started to thin out in the past year. On the other hand, they also had the largest bonus pool of any team, and I can’t figure out where all that money is going, because they only took one high-ceiling high schooler, and they’re not going to have to go wildly over slot for him.

Their first pick was Auburn outfielder and quondam catcher Ike Irish (1), who should have gone much higher as he is one of the best bats in the draft class. Irish moved out from behind the plate due to injury early in the spring, and while he’s going to need a lot of reps in the outfield, his bat is going to play anywhere. He makes a lot of very hard contact and uses the whole field exceptionally well. I heard some questions about whether the way he uses the opposite field means he can’t or won’t pull the ball, but as far as I’ve seen, he hits it where it’s pitched and it’s working for him.

Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy (1A) makes a ton of hard contact as well, although he’s not as disciplined a hitter as Irish is and needs to improve his swing decisions — which is something that has bedeviled the Orioles’ 2024 draft class so far. He’s probably a shortstop, or he could end up a plus defender at third.

Catcher Caden Bodine (1A) is the opposite sort of hitter, as he doesn’t swing the bat much at all and his strikeout rates were under 10 percent in 2024 and 2025. He’s a solid-average receiver with a plus arm, needing refinement but with no questions about whether he’s a catcher. There’s probably not much power here, although a catcher who hits for average with nothing else can still be an All-Star.

Oregon high school outfielder Slater de Brun (1C) could easily end up the best player in their group, as he has the most upside but has more risk as a high schooler and because he’s rather fun-sized, listed at 5-foot-10 but likely shorter than that. He’s a definite center fielder and there’s broad consensus that he’s going to hit, with raves about his makeup and how he plays. It’ll probably come down to power, and I’m inclined to think he’ll have enough to be an above-average regular or better.

Michigan State lefty Joseph Dzierwa (2) has a stiff, no-windup delivery, working with a plus changeup that generates whiffs in or out of the zone. His fastball is in the low 90s and he has a fringy curveball that doesn’t even miss lefties’ bats. I wonder if the O’s will try to give him a slider of some sort so he can be better against left-handed batters, which would take him from more of a back-end starter to a mid-rotation one.

Georgia right-hander JT Quinn (2B) sits 94-96, up to 98, with a downward-breaking slider that can miss bats but that often drops right into a left-hander’s bat path. He doesn’t use a changeup and lefties slugged .500 off him, but beyond that it’s a starter look and delivery. He dominated in three starts in the Cape Cod League, striking out 43 percent of batters and walking 3.4 percent.

Vanderbilt centerfielder RJ Austin (3) joins his former teammate Enrique Bradfield Jr. in the Orioles’ system. Austin is a 70 defender and 60 runner who doesn’t strike out, but he has very little pop and his approach isn’t conducive to getting on base, either. I think it’s a fourth outfielder ceiling, whereas Bradfield has the potential to be more on both sides of the ball.

UC Irvine shortstop Colin Yeaman (4) has average power and can hit a fastball, with a mature body that pushes him to third or maybe first. This was the right range for him, as he does enough things well (like a 55 percent hard-hit rate and a low chase rate) but there’s some risk in the position and lack of top-end power.

Arizona high school shortstop Jaiden Lo Re (5) did not look ready for pro ball when I saw him, and didn’t do any showcases in 2024, so seeing him in the top 10 rounds was a shock. He doesn’t run, doesn’t have power, and probably moves to second base in pro ball. Every scout I talked to about him thought he’d attend Brigham Young instead of turning pro.

USC lefty Caden Hunter (6) works with a bucket of average pitches, including a low-90s fastball that flattens out in the middle of the zone and a changeup that’s his best offering. He needs a better breaking pitch to get lefties out, as they hit .300/.372/.490 off him this year. The delivery works enough for him to start and he should have better command and control than he showed.

Right-hander Hunter Allen (7) was a senior at Division II Ashland, working 94-96 and touching 100 as a starter with at least an average breaking ball, kind of a hard slurve. It’s an extremely long arm swing that I don’t think anyone on earth could repeat, but the Orioles love these weird-delivery college guys with stuff — Braxton Bragg, Nestor German and Trey Gibson all come to mind. I would put Allen right into a relief role, though. Across all 20 rounds, the Orioles took two Cadens, a Brayden, a Braeden and a Kailen.

Boston Red Sox: Kyson Witherspoon a strong start to a pitcher-heavy draft class

The Red Sox dramatically changed course in this year’s draft, taking pitchers with 14 of their 21 selections, including first-rounder Kyson Witherspoon (1). The Oklahoma right-hander had a tremendous season and was the top righty on my board, working at 95-97 and holding his velocity deep into games. He has a five-pitch arsenal that includes a slider, cutter and an underused changeup that I think will be an above-average pitch for him. Some teams were scared by his unorthodox delivery, which is very short and has a weird move after he separates his hands, but so far he’s had no issues repeating it or throwing plenty of strikes. He looks like at least a mid-rotation starter.

Tennessee right-hander Marcus Phillips (1A) was the Vols’ No. 2 starter this spring behind Liam Doyle; he’s a lower-slot guy who works mostly with a sinker at 95-98 and a hard slider that’s at least above-average, with some platoon split already that is exacerbated by pitch selection. He has a fringy changeup that he doesn’t use much, throwing the slider and cutter more to lefties and giving up more hard contact. There are some similarities in the profile to Tanner Houck, who improved when the Red Sox gave him a splitter, although Phillips is bigger and more athletic.

Virginia second baseman Henry Godbout (2C) was a draft model darling because he doesn’t strike out and rarely whiffs on fastballs. There’s more power in there than he’s shown — he never hit 10 homers in any season in college — and I bet Boston has plans to rework his swing to get him to his 15-18 homer-potential.

LSU righty Anthony Eyanson (3) was another draft model darling, this time because of pitch shape data on his breaking stuff, notably his plus slider. He’s 93-94 and has hit 98, but the fastball plays down because it’s very straight. I still think this is tremendous value in the third round because of the slider and the success he had in the SEC this year, even if the Red Sox need to try to give him a sinker or cutter.

Arizona shortstop Mason White (4) swings at everything, but when he hits it, he hits it hard, ending the season with 20 homers and a 50 percent hard-hit rate. He might stick at shortstop as well if he can moderate how he plays, as he has the physical tools to do it, just playing too aggressively and making mistakes as a result. Arkansas righty Christian Foutch (5) is 96-98 and has hit 100 in the Hogs’ bullpen, with a 55 changeup his primary offspeed pitch. It’s probably 45 control in the end, and he has late-game reliever upside.

Georgia right-hander Leighton Finley (6) worked as a starter this year but averaged less than five innings per appearance, with a 4.85 ERA and 12 homers allowed in 68 innings. It’s a high-effort delivery with no windup, definitely a reliever in the future, and he’s sat 93-95 with an above-average slider and fringy changeup. I believe I read that he was sent down from Eton after Gussie Fink-Nottle dared him to pinch a constable’s helmet as they walked alongside the Thames.

Texas A&M’s Myles Patton (7) is a finesse lefty who sat 89-90 for the Aggies with a fringy slider as a starter, giving up too much hard contact, especially to fellow lefties. Old Dominion lefty Dylan Brown (8) is also a finesse guy, with a little better command than Patton and a better slider, gaining some deception from some slight crossfire action in the delivery.

LSU righty Jacob Mayers (9) has been up to 102 with a slider up to 90, coming from a high three-quarters slot, but he barely pitched this spring because he can’t find the plate — he walked 20 in 15 innings for the Tigers, and six more in six innings in summer ball.

Kansas State shortstop Maximus Martin (10) transferred from Rutgers to Georgia State to KSU. He hit .320/.420/.612 this year for the Wildcats and tripled his career home run total. He struggles against anything that’s not a fastball, with whiff rates of 40 percent and up against sliders, curves and changeups.

Boston took just one high schooler, outfielder Fabian Bonilla (19) from Puerto Rico, and one JUCO player, Barrett Morgan (11), along with 19 players from four-year colleges.

New York Yankees: Dax Kilby gives the system another high-upside middle infielder

The Yankees’ first pick was bumped back 10 spots because the cheap owners run MLB these days.

They took Georgia prep shortstop Dax Kilby (1A) with that selection, going for a demographic where they’ve had some recent success (Anthony Volpe, George Lombard Jr.). He has a simple approach and a direct swing that produces a ton of contact, projecting to average power when he fills out. He’ll go out as a shortstop with a move to second or third more likely, as he’s a 45 runner and doesn’t have the actions of a Lombard to stick at short.

Texas A&M shortstop Kaeden Kent (3) is 2000 NL MVP Jeff Kent’s son, a future second baseman who takes a huge hack and tries to pull too many pitches, resulting in more whiffs and groundballs to second and not enough hits the other way. There’s a better hitter in there if he can improve his approach, with utility infielder the most likely outcome.

Mississippi State lefty Pico Kohn (4) comes from a low three-quarters slot with an average fastball and a sharp-breaking slider that’s his primary out-pitch. The fastball gets hit too hard, and he may need to try another shape or perhaps just use his average changeup more often so hitters can’t guess fastball as successfully. He has enough command and control with that arsenal to see a potential back-end starter, more likely a No. 5 than a No. 4.

Utah shortstop Core Jackson (5) is a senior who had some unusually high exit velocities that don’t line up with the swing or body, certainly, including a 90th percentile EV that ranked in the top 1 percent of the class. He also chases pitches out of the zone too often and will have to bring that down for any power to play.

Notre Dame right-hander Rory Fox (6) works 91-93 with a solid-average slider that gets righties out, but he allowed a .345 OBP to lefties and left too many fastballs in the upper-middle part of the zone. He at least has reliever upside because of his effectiveness against same-side hitters.

Alabama outfielder Richie Bonomolo Jr. (7) hit .311/.416/.526 in his first year with the Tide after two years at junior college. He’s at least a 60 runner and has fringy power to the pull side, with a swing that gets the ball in the air a ton. He doesn’t look projectable, but if he gets a little stronger, there could be 15 homers in there.

Right-hander Blake Gillespie (9) transferred from Georgia to UNC Charlotte and ended up having one of the best years of any Division 1 pitcher, with a 2.42 ERA in 100 1/3 innings, a 34 percent strikeout rate, and a 4.9 percent walk rate. He does it by throwing his slider 60 percent of the time, with a bizarre, short-armed delivery that I can’t imagine will work in the rotation.

Tampa Bay Ray: Daniel Pierce leads high school-heavy draft class

Georgia high school infielder Daniel Pierce (1) is a no-doubt shortstop, one of the best defenders in the class (albeit not in Billy Carlson’s league), and he’s a 70 runner with a 70 arm as well. He makes good swing decisions and has shown the exit velocities to get to 55 or even 60 power, although that doesn’t always show up in games. Scouts loved his instincts and overall feel for the game on both sides of the ball. He has a utility infielder floor, with All-Star upside if that raw power comes into games more.

Outfielder Brendan Summerhill (1A) had a down spring exacerbated by a fractured hand, after which he didn’t hit as well and lost much of his power. He’s hit-over-power, with very strong zone awareness and a chance to hit for high averages. He will end up in an outfield corner.

The Rays were connected to California prep shortstop Cooper Flemming (2) all spring. The left-handed hitter has a very short swing with no load that produces a ton of contact and low whiff rates, but limits him to below-average power right now. He’s most likely going to end up at third base and could get to average or better power when he fills out if the Rays can get some more leverage into the swing.

IMG Academy outfielder Dean Moss (2A) can run and probably sticks in center, with a slappy tin-bat swing that doesn’t use his lower half at all, producing weak contact. He’ll need a swing overhaul to try to at least drive the ball to the gaps. He turned 19 in April.

Iowa prep catcher Taitn Gray (3) has plus power already, making a ton of hard contact, but the switch-hitter tends to fly open at the plate and roll over his front foot, especially when he’s hitting left-handed. He’s probably going to end up in right field, with the power to profile there as long as he hits enough to get to it.

NC State lefty Dominic Fritton (4) made 34 starts for the Wolfpack in the past two years, improving significantly from 2024 to 2025 by cutting his walk rate and home run rate — the latter from 22 homers allowed last year to 14 this year, despite throwing 13 more innings. He picked up about a mile and a half in velocity, with his arm visibly faster, and started using his slider more and his changeup, where he slows his arm too much, far less. He could be a back-end starter, with the lack of a clear plus pitch the reason he doesn’t project as more.

George Mason outfielder James Quinn-Irons (5) is a plus runner with plus power and a 40 hit tool who beat up on bad pitching in the Atlantic 10 Conference. His exit velocity data is superb, but decent pitching has eaten him up and he can take some ugly swings on fastballs in and breaking stuff down. The upside here is tantalizing, with very low probability that he’ll hit enough for it.

Fresno State righty Aidan Cremarosa (8) has an extremely short arm action but still has a plus curveball and above-average changeup. His fastball is light at 90-93 without life to it, and he gave up 15 homers just on that pitch.

Toronto Blue Jays: JoJo Parker a pure hitter; Jake Cook a fascinating development project

The Blue Jays landed one of the best pure hitters in the draft class in Mississippi prep shortstop JoJo Parker (1), who almost never swings and misses and controls the zone as well as anyone in the class. He drifts out over his front side a lot of the time, which cuts off some of his potential power, but he’s strong enough that the Jays may be able to get more power out of him with that one adjustment. He’s a shortstop now and has a plus arm and soft hands, but he’s got average range and isn’t that quick, so he probably goes to third or second in the long term.

They returned to Mississippi for their next pick, Southern Miss outfielder Jake Cook (3), who was one of the fastest players in the draft. He was a pitcher until this spring, then hit .350/.436/.468 with a 6.7 percent strikeout rate in his first year as a full-time position player. It’s a handsy swing that doesn’t generate any power, although he looks like he should be able to impact the ball more, and he hasn’t learned how to translate that speed into basestealing yet. He’s kind of like a high schooler in a college player’s body, with a ton of upside if player development can turn him into a complete player. The contact ability is a huge start.

Right-hander Micah Bucknam (4) hails from New Zealand by way of Canada, LSU and finally Dallas Baptist, where he got a chance to start for the first time in college and struck out 29.4 percent of batters he faced. He’s 94-95 with a short arm action and can really spin the ball, with the slider and curveball at least 55s when he lands them. His changeup is too firm and he’ll need to soften it up or try another weapon for lefties in the minors. If he does that and maybe gets another half-grade of control, he could be a fourth starter or better.

The Jays took outfielder Tim Piasentin (5), who hails from Alberta, as a third baseman, although I think ultimately he’ll end up in right. He’s strong and shows good bat speed, with more power potential if the Jays get him to use his legs more, as right now he’s very upright and stiff, even with a moderate stride.

They took a pair of Auburn players in rounds six and seven with infielder Eric Snow (6) and right-hander Dylan Watts (7). Snow rarely strikes out and doesn’t miss strikes, with a whiff rate under 6 percent on pitches in the zone this spring. He has just fringy power that’s further held back by a flat swing that doesn’t get the ball in the air enough. He does make hard enough contact to see a possible regular here if the Jays can help him get some more loft to his swing so he hits more line drives. They announced him as a shortstop, but he played mostly third and second this year.

Watts posted a 7-plus ERA in each of his two years for the Tigers, with all of his 17 outings this year coming in relief. His stuff is good, sitting 95 with plenty of fade on the changeup and some cutter-like break to the slider, but he’s been awful with men on base because it looks like he rushes through his delivery. Despite the results in college, I’d see if he can start, given the arsenal.

Lefty Jared Spencer (11) started out this year well enough to see him going in the first or comp round, but he had shoulder surgery that ended his season. Prior to that he was 93-97 with a full arsenal that featured a plus slider and above-average changeup. His control was probably a 45 and there’s effort to the delivery. He’s a no-risk pick here in the 11th round, with real starter upside if he comes back well from the operation.

(Top photos of JoJo Parker: Hannah Mattix / Clarion Ledger and Kyson Witherspoon: Sarah Phipps / The Oklahoman / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)