FORT MYERS, Fla. — In a Boston Red Sox player development meeting with recently drafted pitching prospects this spring, a picture of Payton Tolle and Connelly Early popped up on the screen.

Tolle and Early were in minor-league camp this time last year, debuted in Boston late last season and pitched meaningful innings down the stretch and into the postseason, thanks to their heavy buy-in to the Red Sox’s pitching development program. They were, quite literally, the program’s poster boys.

“It’s easy to say, ‘Hey, we had two guys sitting in these seats that pitched the big leagues last year in very impactful roles,’” director of player development Brian Abraham said. “‘We don’t know what your path looks like, but that could be you.’”

The revamped pitching program instituted under chief baseball officer Craig Breslow when he was hired at the end of 2023 has borne early fruit in Tolle and Early, but the Red Sox hope there’s more on the horizon. Three promising 21-year-old right-handers from the 2025 draft lead the way: Kyson Witherspoon, a first-rounder out of Oklahoma; Marcus Phillips, selected in the Competitive Balance Round A from Tennessee; and Anthony Eyanson, a third-rounder out of Louisiana State.

“Seeing those new guys drafted, incredibly talented arms, electric stuff, all SEC guys, big guys,” Tolle said. “I think they have it all out there in front of them and I know everybody on that player development side is excited about them.”

There’s not much hiding the excitement. All three pitched in Saturday’s Spring Breakout game and flashed their immense potential — particularly Eyanson, who topped out at 100 mph, striking out the side.

Witherspoon, the top-ranked pitching prospect in the system behind soon-to-graduate Tolle and Early, is the closest to big-league ready, featuring a strong mix of a high-90s four-seamer, cutter, slider and curveball. Major-league evaluators suggest he could be a No. 2 or 3 starter in the future, and The Athletic’s Keith Law ranks him as the No. 62 prospect in the game.

Red Sox 2025 1st rd pick Kyson Witherspoon threw 2 innings on the backfields today. FB 95-98, CT 89-92, SL 84-86, CB 81-83. Athletic delivery, short arm action. Strong pitchability. Advanced feel for spin. SL & CB both impressive. Here’s a backdoor cutter at 92 for a K looking. pic.twitter.com/pNFY4FI2BQ

— Ian Cundall (@IanCundall) March 13, 2026

Eyanson has shown perhaps the greatest improvement since joining the Red Sox’s system last summer with a four-pitch mix, strong spin and increased velocity. Phillips, the biggest of the three at 6-foot-4, 245 pounds, is the rawest but features a 101 mph four-seamer.

“I’m hesitant to say the ‘big three,’ we’ve already used to that one,” Abraham said, referencing their star-studded position player group from a couple of years ago: Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell. “But they spent a ton of time together. They push each other.

“Do I think they’re more advanced than some of our other pitchers that we’ve had over years past? Certainly,” Abraham added. “But I think that the college landscape has changed that significantly. So these guys are getting here years beyond maybe we saw five, six, seven years ago.”

That makes them perfect candidates for the club’s pitching development program, one that’s seen a few changes since last season. The Mets hired former Red Sox director of pitching Justin Willard, a key piece in guiding Tolle and Early to hit their benchmarks last year, as their major-league pitching coach. In his place, the Red Sox promoted Ben Buck, who joined the organization last year as a pitching coordinator. Now, Buck will be in charge of overseeing the whole pitching operation. Despite the loss of Willard, Tolle gave Buck a strong endorsement, having worked closely with him in Double A.

“I really like how he talks, how he communicates with guys, he’s one of the smartest guys I’ve ever seen on a baseball field,” Tolle said. “He’s an incredible fit. He listens to the guys really well. He understands the ups and downs of the training process.”

The Red Sox added Quinn Cleary as an assistant director of pitching; he’ll focus more on rehabbing big leaguers with some pitch design responsibilities. Former assistant general manager Paul Toboni, who’d played a key role in player development, was hired as the Washington Nationals’ president of baseball operations in September. The Red Sox did not hire to replace Toboni’s role, but Abraham remains as overall player development director. Breslow will take on some of the development oversight responsibilities as well. Ryan Otero, with whom Breslow worked to retool the Chicago Cubs’ pitching development before coming to Boston, has joined Breslow as a special advisor with an emphasis on pitching. Driveline founder Kyle Boddy returns this season as a special advisor.

“I think what we’ve been able to do is collect some really good pitching minds and pitching expertise,” Breslow said. “When there’s a humility and curiosity and understanding of how each person fits into the bigger picture, that’s got a chance to really help our players, which is, of course, what we’re after.”

As Tolle did after Boston drafted him in the second round in 2024, Witherspoon, Eyanson and Phillips reported straight to the JetBlue Park complex in Fort Myers after they signed in July to start their indoctrination into the Red Sox’s system. A big part of the program is building a strong foundation before even taking the mound, so none of them have pitched yet for a minor-league affiliate. The summer and fall in the pitching program were monotonous but imperative to development.

“Lifting four times a week, throwing six times a week,” Phillips said. “Pretty much every day was the same. I didn’t face a hitter in a game until I got back down here for spring training.”

Turning college pitchers into professionals requires a different level of education on what it takes to get big-league hitters out.

“I’d say my focus has been — and I think it’s pretty similar for all of us — just trying to get our pitches to be as optimized as frequently as possible,” Witherspoon said. “Trying to have our pitch clusters on the pitch maps be as tight as possible. Being effective to both sides of the plate and trying to be a more complete pitcher.”

The roughly six-week summer camp (which includes drafted position players working toward their own offensive and defensive goals) runs from late July through early September and aims to educate players on the Red Sox’s process: plans for how to improve individual pitcher performances while working in a controlled setting on pitch design, velocity improvement and mechanical tweaks, among other things. The slower setting helped each pitcher to elevate their games rather than worrying about results on the mound if they’d reported straight to an affiliate after signing.

“We’re having those meetings with all of our pitchers, both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking,” Abraham said. “We ask these guys to go out on the field, throw plyo balls, weighted balls, throw hard, throw pull-downs, all these different things that might be a little bit different than they’ve experienced in the past to increase their velo, to work on pitch shapes, and all of these do all those things, so we need to explain to them why we’re asking them to do that.”

The transition from college to professional ball can be steep, but the Red Sox are trying to ease that transition.

“It’s a different vibe because last year, being in college, there’s class going on, non-baseball people around,” Phillips said. “But this is my job now. I’ve definitely come to love what it is here.”

Red Sox RHP Marcus Phillips showed off an intriguing arsenal today. FB 94-97, SL 84-88, CH 92-93. Two distinct fastballs: power cutter & heavy sinker. Had a great sequence where he got a whiff on a 96 mph sinker & followed up w/96 mph cutter for K looking. Really impressive stuff pic.twitter.com/XIgTyPmHed

— Ian Cundall (@IanCundall) March 13, 2026

“I feel like it’s kind of more of a business aspect,” Witherspoon added. “More like you show up to your job, not saying it feels like a job because I love this game, but I think it’s a bit more serious. You definitely need a lot more accountability for yourself (compared to) college.”

Their shared experiences have bonded Witherspoon, Phillips and Eyanson. They lived together last summer, getting to know Fort Myers quite well, and have continued rooming together this spring.

“Just having guys like-minded, trying to get better every day and push each other, it’s really good,” Eyanson said.

Following the summer camp, each pitcher went home for a couple of weeks, then returned to Fort Myers for the organization’s offseason training program (OTP) that ran from October through late November, at which point MLB institutes a mandatory dead period for minor leaguers through the end of the calendar year.

The OTP followed a similar setup as the summer camp with an emphasis on building strength, refining pitch arsenals, throwing bullpens and some batting practices, but no game competition.

“I think from a development standpoint I’ve got a lot to learn,” Phillips said. “And, and I’ve already learned so much.”

After the holidays, each pitcher reported once again to Fort Myers in January to begin their ramp-up for spring training.

“I think they have made significant strides,” Abraham said. “It’s normal now to be better entering spring training, whereas I think maybe in the past (with less structured offseason camps) you hope they are. I think the expectation is, ‘You should be stronger. You should be swinging the bat faster, throw the ball harder to raise your floor,’ and to me, that is what development is. I think the culture that we have created here is that this is the norm.”

Even during the down period, players are still pushing to get better. Witherspoon spent a limited amount of time at Driveline in between Red Sox camps, and a video of him learning a sweeper went viral. Including Boddy, the Red Sox employ several former Driveline employees and are always supportive of players pushing themselves.

We taught this first-round pick a new pitch in under 30 seconds pic.twitter.com/xNgrSpwpZq

— Driveline Baseball (@DrivelineBB) January 19, 2026

“Whether it be at Tread or Driveline, we have pretty constant communication with a lot of those (coaches) at the facilities and our players are communicating with us as well,” Abraham said. “So I think we encourage our players to try different things, challenge themselves. They are trying to get hitters out, so the more they can learn, the better it is. But at the end of the day, it’s making sure that we are moving in the right direction, and the reality is we can make an adjustment, but it generally changes something else.”

No one in player development is pressuring the three pitchers to follow the same path Tolle did, debuting 14 months after he was drafted. In fact, Abraham made a point to highlight Early’s process, too. Drafted in 2023, Early spent the entirety of his first two offseasons with the organization in Fort Myers, adding 25 pounds and working his way through each step of the minors. He refined a deep five-pitch mix, debuted in September when an injury in the Red Sox rotation necessitated a call-up, and pitched well enough for the Red Sox to trust him in October when another injury arose.

“It was a bit of a slower burn for Early,” Abraham said. “I think their end outcome was the same, but different paths to get there. What one is better? I don’t know, but I think it shows like it doesn’t have to happen overnight like Payton.”

The newest wave of Red Sox pitching prospects has a blueprint to follow, and results early in camp have been promising.

At 6-foot-2, 206 pounds, Witherspoon’s biggest focus has been gaining strength; gaining power on the mound has led to more consistency in his delivery.

“I think he probably was the most refined and mature of the three,” Abraham said. “Already has a pretty good pitch mix. His velo jumped up to 97, 98. I think just making sure he’s utilizing his pitch mix optimally, using his best pitches at the best times while also still being able to develop his other pitches.”

Similarly, Eyanson (6-foot-2, 208 pounds) gained strength with a dedicated weight-training program in the summer and fall, leading to a noticeable velocity increase in the Spring Breakout game.

“His velo has already jumped up 3, 4 miles per hour and he has a really good feel to spin the baseball along with strong secondaries,” Abraham said. “Now that fastball velo is at 97, 98, he’s a completely different pitcher.”

Red Sox 2025 3rd rd pick Anthony Eyanson’s stuff is up across the board from where it was at LSU. FB 95-98, SL 86-89, CH/SP 88-92, CB 80-82. Polished arsenal. Feel for spin. Missed bats w/all pitches. Here’s a 98 mph FB for a strikeout today. His FB averaged 93.1 at LSU in 2025. pic.twitter.com/uEiGXzWL9t

— Ian Cundall (@IanCundall) March 13, 2026

Phillips, the biggest of the three, already has the projectable frame, but having only transitioned to pitching full-time in 2024 at Tennessee when he transferred from Iowa Western Community College, he has more development on his plate.

“He hasn’t pitched for that long, so I think it’s really working on making sure the shape of his fastball is consistent, working on his secondaries and just pounding the strike zone,” Abraham said.

Abraham pointed out others in the pitching program who have stood out, particularly right-handers Juan Valera and Blake Wehunt and lefty Hayden Mullins.

The 19-year-old Valera, who signed as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2023, pitched at High-A Greenville last year, but spent some time on the injury list with elbow soreness. Now healthy, he’s turning heads once again in camp.

“Just because of the age, I think the power, the consistency of his ability to maintain velocity and throw secondaries,” Abraham said. “He throws a ton of strikes. You usually don’t see that for someone who’s that young and has that much velo.”

The pitching development program won’t work miracles; the players have to do the work, and they know that. But the Red Sox have seen their system succeed so far, and they plan to keep pushing their pitchers.

“It’s preparing these guys for the season, allowing them to develop, but also education in terms of what we value, why we value it,” Abraham said. “And what’s going to allow them to be a sustainable and successful major league pitcher.”