Brock Beauchamp

Signing with the Boston Red Sox as an international free agent in 2025, Dorian Soto received the highest bonus of their entire class. Thanks to his ability to play shortstop and penchant for producing solid contact, many viewed Soto as a rising prospect before he signed. The 18-year-old played his first professional season in the Dominican Summer League last year, appearing in 47 games and showcasing his tremendous bat. In that span, he managed to hit .307/.362/.428 with 10 doubles, two triples, two home runs and 18 RBIs. As a hitter, Soto bats from both sides of the plate and displays solid bat speed along with strong barrel control for someone of his age. Scouts have viewed Soto’s swing decisions as being quite advanced, while his contact skills remain one of his premier skills. Soto’s 90th percentile exit velocity reached 102 mph as a 17-year-old thanks in part to his ability to generate bat speed with a sometimes long swing. While aggressive, the shortstop has strong bat-to-ball ability which allowed him to have a strikeout rate of just 16% despite being aggressive at the plate. Though he's a true switch hitter, Soto showed better results as a left-handed batter as he slashed .311/.372/.432 compared to a stat line of .294/.324/.412 as a right-handed batter. Whether a wrist injury that limited his ability to bat from the right side of the plate had an effect on his production is yet to be known. Soto has shown average raw power in his first season, though scouts expect that to inflate as he grows older. His 6-foot-3 frame is impressive, and he still has room to grow and fill out, which will add more power to his game. Defensively, Soto is primarily a shortstop, but it is unknown if he will be able to stick there considering he’s already 6-foot-3 and still growing. Last season, he showcased natural movements at shortstop but also saw some time at both third base and second base. Should he be moved off of shortstop, third base seems to be his likely landing point due to his strong arm and potential power. The only real negative about Soto at the moment appears to be his speed, as it’s been viewed as his worst tool that could drop to below-average territory as he continues to grow. Soto is very young and it’s hard to project what he could end up as, but his potential is through the roof. In a best-case scenario, he'll be batting in the middle of the Red Sox's lineup in a few years. Of course, that all depends on how he develops over the next few seasons. Soto will begin 2026 in the Florida Complex League as he adjusts to playing stateside for the first time in his career. The young infielder could very well follow in Justin Gonzales’ footsteps of playing very briefly (Gonzales played exactly one game) in the Complex League before heading to Low-A Salem.

The Red Sox were lauded for a strong performance during last year's annual amateur player selection process, especially during the first day of the draft. The biggest steal of that day could be argued as any of the three pitchers the Red Sox drafted, however, none stand out more than the first player who fell right into their laps. Drafted 15th overall, Kyson Witherspoon was viewed as a consensus top-10 talent prior to the event. Fortunately for the Red Sox, the right-handed pitcher from Oklahoma State slipped and ended up available right in the middle of the first round. Witherspoon dominated in his final season at Oklahoma to the tune of a 10-4 record and 2.65 ERA in 16 starts. In that span, he threw 95 innings and struck out 124 batters, thanks in part to his velocity and secondary pitches that have scouts drooling over his potential. Witherspoon, who turned 21 in mid-August, made significant strides during his college career and is already implementing some changes in Boston. One of the more notable alterations to his profile was the addition of a sweeper he worked on over the winter with Driveline, and the pitch is already flashing some impressive break. No prospect with the Red Sox averaged close to 20 inches of horizontal break with a sweeper, but Witherspoon’s managed that after one offseason of working on the pitch. The rest of Witherspoon’s arsenal is made up of a fastball, cutter, slider, curveball and changeup. Unlike other pitching targets by the Red Sox, his extension is under six feet (averaged around 5.7 feet). However, he’s able to repeat his delivery easily and hides the ball well throughout his throwing motion. His fastball averaged 95 to 97 mph in college, which he maintained during his first two innings of game action in minor-league spring training. His velocity seems to have improved since being drafted (in terms of maintaining upper-echelon consistency), which will pair well with his strong command. However, the pitch gets its bat-missing ability from its velocity and not its shape. His cutter was used often in college as a pitch he threw for consistent strikes. Velocity-wise, it averaged between 88 and 91 mph, though it's shown an ability to miss bats while also inducing batters to chase outside the zone. Likewise, his slider is a pitch he was able to use to generate whiffs, especially against right-handed batters. Both pitches have plus tendencies and are viewed as being potentially above average. The curveball, on the other hand, is seen as a middling offering, and that's if he learns to consistently land it in the zone. In college, it sat 78 to 82 mph and is considered to have good depth on its break. When he’s able to command and control it he can generate a few whiffs. His changeup is certainly the one that needs the most development (ignoring the new sweeper). The pitch has managed to reach the low-90s, but it was his least used offering in college and lacks the fade/tail to really dominate lefties down and away. Overall, Witherspoon has a chance to join the likes of Payton Tolle and Connolly Early as pitchers who moved through the system quickly. He's got a projectable mid-rotation future, though there's no denying the ace upside occasionally flashing in his profile. His fastball, despite being viewed as his best pitch, could also be in line for some tweaking should the Red Sox want it to have a different shape. Witherspoon, barring a surprise placement, will open the season in Greenville much like Tolle did the year prior. Though, should he dominate High-A batters, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he is promoted to Portland by some point in June. The Red Sox have been aggressive the last few years when it comes to promoting prospects that are performing well, and it shouldn’t be any different with the draft class of 2025.

Unlike other publications, Talk Sox enables all users to contribute to our top prospect rankings. Anyone with a Talk Sox account can participate and give their input on who they think should be in the Red Sox's top prospects list. Before you vote, you can hit our top prospects page for the latest stats and news on Red Sox prospects, while on the voting page, every name is a clickable link that brings up their current stat card. Voting is simple, just follow the instructions below! Here's the rundown on how to participate: 1. You must have an account and be logged in to vote. If you don't have an account, click here. It literally requires 60 seconds to create an account. 2. Review our current top 20 prospect list, catch up on stats, rankings, etc. (you can do so from the voting page link below) 3. Have your prospect list in your filthy little paws? Then flip on over to the new prospect voting page (after reading the rest of this, please). https://talksox.com/prospect-voting 4. Voting is super simple; you drag and drop players in the order you wish them to be. After you move a prospect, the list automatically renumbers so you don't lose track of the order. This works on mobile devices, but it's a *vastly* better experience on desktop. Sorry, that's just how this kind of thing works. There's no excellent way to make something like this as awesome on a phone screen. 5. Each prospect has a comment section where you can add any commentary you have on that player. At the bottom of the list, there is a general comment section to explain over-arching things you'd like to mention. 6. Don't see a prospect you want to put on the list? Just pop back here and give me a mention (in a comment, start typing @Brock Beauchamp and select my name after it appears). Please mention the prospect you would like added, and I will do so as soon as possible. 7. Once you're done with all of it, click Save. You've now voted! 8. When the voting closes, a new thread will automatically generate in this forum with all of your rankings and comments for everyone to read and talk about. 9. You can only vote once. If you have voted in error, pop back here and tag Brock, asking to have your vote deleted. It will be removed, and you can vote again. Voting closes Tuesday, July 22nd.