The Red Sox saw meteoric rises from Kristian Campbell in 2024 and Payton Tolle in 2025.
Campbell transformed from a 2023 fourth-round compensation pick into a top five Baseball America prospect in one season.
Tolle, a 2024 second-round draft pick, went from an unranked prospect to No. 38 on Baseball America’s Top 100 prospect list during the 2025 season.
Below are five Red Sox breakout prospect candidates who could see their prospect stock increase considerably in 2026.
Henry Godbout: Boston drafted the 21-year-old shortstop with its second round compensation pick (75th overall) in the 2025 MLB Draft.
He has some similarities to Kristian Campbell. Both were known for their excellent contact rates in college. Godbout’s Baseball America scouting report noted that he had an ”86% overall contact rate and a 91% in-zone contact rate for his career with strong hand-eye coordination and a tremendous feel for the barrel.”
Like Campbell, Godbout didn’t hit for much power in college with 20 home runs in 157 games over three seasons at Virginia. Campbell dropped in the 2023 draft because of concerns over his ability to impact the baseball but he added that aspect to his game with changes to his swing.
It should be interesting to see how Godbout develops with swing characteristics being emphasized under Boston’s hitting program. That could mean trading some of his elite contact ability in order to hit for more power.
Like Campbell, Godbout made it to High-A Greenville in the year that he got drafted and hit well in a small sample size. Godbout went 15-for-44 (.341) with a .473 on-base percentage, six doubles and more walks (nine) than strikeouts (six).
Barrett Morgan: The Red Sox drafted the 20-year-old right-handed pitcher in the 11th round (328th overall) out of Cowley Community College in Arkansas City, Kan. Boston signed him to a $500,000 bonus, the third highest signing bonus among the 11th round picks.
He’s one of only 15 draft picks from Rounds 6-11 who received a bonus of $500,000 or higher. It was obviously enough to convince him to turn pro instead of keeping his commitment to Texas A&M.
He has already moved away from primarily being a fastball-curveball pitcher. His repertoire now consists of a fastball, cutter, sweeper and slider.
One reason he could move quickly through the system is if the Red Sox commit to him as a reliever, although that’s not been decided yet. Boston’s initial plan for most pitchers is to stretch them out in some capacity to maximize their development opportunities.
That said, all 33 of his appearances at Cowley Community College came out of the bullpen and he thrived. He posted a 0.42 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, four saves and 40 strikeouts in 21 ⅓ innings this past season. He reached 97 mph and had “good fastball metrics,” according to MLB.com’s Jim Callis.
Kyson Witherspoon: The righty, who turned 21 on Aug. 12, could move quickly through multiple levels of the system next year like Tolle did in 2025 when he reached the majors five months after beginning the year at High-A Greenville.
Baseball America actually named him one of 12 draft prospects who could make his MLB debut in 2026. He said his goal is to make it to Boston “as fast as possible.”
Witherspoon is already No. 62 on Baseball America’s Top 100 prospect list. He was up to 99 mph at Oklahoma while maintaining high fastball velocity throughout his starts.
Former director of amateur scouting Devin Pearson, who left the organization earlier this month for the Phillies, said on draft night, “Whether it’s his cutter, slider, a lot of upside there to continue to maximize his mix. But a strike thrower with high velo and interesting secondary shapes.”
Baseball America graded both his fastball and curveball 60 (plus), and his cutter 55 (above average) on its 20-80 grading scale. Meanwhile, MLB Pipeline graded his fastball 65 and his curveball, slider and cutter all 60.
Witherspoon’s secondary pitches already are ahead of where Tolle’s were heading into 2025. Boston has made no pitch mix adjustments yet.
Jorge Rodriguez: MLB Pipeline ranks Rodriguez No. 30 on its Red Sox top 30 prospect list and he’s someone who could make a considerable leap in the rankings in 2026.
The 19-year-old catcher already made a leap in 2025, after signing for only $10,000 out of Venezuela in January 2024 as a 147-pound 17-year-old.
MLB Pipeline praised Rodriguez for being the best defensive catcher in the Florida Complex League in 2025. It wrote, “Rodriguez is very agile behind the plate and moves well laterally to block balls in the dirt. He has good receiving skills for a teenager and some evaluators grade his arm strength as double-plus. He regularly turns in sub-1.90-second pop times and erased 38 percent of FCL base stealers.”
Rodriguez batted .289 with a .359 on-base percentage, .410 slugging percentage, .769 OPS, three homers, one double, 17 RBIs, 10 runs, eight walks and 17 strikeouts in 28 games (92 plate appearances) for the Florida Complex League Red Sox.
MLB Pipeline wrote, “Rodriguez has a quick right-handed swing and hits the ball surprisingly hard for a player his size. He improved his swing decisions in his second pro season and did more damage at the plate. His approach is overly pull-heavy at this point and he’ll need to learn to lift more balls in the air to reach his 15-homer upside.”
His SoxProspects.com scouting report noted, “Sneaky power for his size. Hits a lot of balls in the air and produces quality exit velocities for his age.”
Mason White: While Godbout has elite contact skills but lacks power, White has big power but too often swings at pitches outside of the strike zone.
The 22-year-old middle infielder — who Boston drafted in the fourth round in 2025 — crushed 49 homers in 177 games at the University of Arizona, including 20 home runs in 65 games this past season as a junior.
His Baseball America scouting report notes, “While his raw power is obvious, it comes with a boom-or-bust offensive approach that sees him expanding the zone to an extreme degree at times, with a 25.2% career strikeout rate. He posted a modest 75% contact rate and chased at a 32% clip.”
His strikeout rate decreased slightly this year, dropping to 21.5%. The Red Sox focuses heavily on swing decisions and that’s an area where White must improve. If he does, he could take a considerable leap. SoxProspects currently has him listed as Boston’s No. 40 prospect.
He received a small taste of pro ball in August and September, slashing only .238/.319/.287/.606 in 26 games (113 plate appearances) between Low-A Salem and High-A Greenville.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
