MLB · Biography
Kyson Witherspoon
Pitcher (RHP) · Baltimore Orioles · MiLB · active · OU 2024-2025
Consensus All-American ace traded for Adley Rutschman
Kyson Witherspoon grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, and played at Fletcher High School in Neptune Beach, where Perfect Game ranked him as a shortstop prospect. He started college at Northwest Florida State, posting a 3.10 ERA with 72 strikeouts in 2023, then transferred to Oklahoma with his twin brother, Malachi.
In 2024 he led OU's starters with a 3.71 ERA, went 8–3 with 90 strikeouts in 80 innings and helped the Sooners win the Big 12 regular-season title. That summer both twins made the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. In 2025, as OU's Friday-night starter, he became one of the best pitchers in the country: 10–4 with a 2.65 ERA (second in the SEC) and 124 strikeouts in 95 innings, plus a complete-game shutout of Vanderbilt. He was a consensus first-team All-American and a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist.
The Boston Red Sox drafted him 15th overall in 2025 and signed him for $5 million. On August 3, 2026, Boston traded him to the Baltimore Orioles in the deal for catcher Adley Rutschman. He struck out 20 in 14.1 innings in his first three starts for Single-A Frederick.
As of October 8, 2026, Witherspoon is a pitcher in the Orioles organization.