He was the third right-handed pitcher the Boston Red Sox drafted last July, but Anthony Eyanson is quickly proving he's nobody's second fiddle.
After an impressive spring training in which he showcased steep velocity gains, the LSU product made mincemeat of High-A competition in his first five starts of the season. Already sensing how special the 21-year-old has the potential to become, the Red Sox quickly made the move to test him against better competition.
Eyanson was promoted to the Double-A Portland SeaDogs after the conclusion of Sunday's minor-league action, according to multiple outlets. Chase Ford of MiLB Central was the first to report the news of Eyanson's promotion on Sunday.
The numbers have been eye-popping so far, even if they only tell part of the story. Eyanson has allowed just one earned run in his first 20 1/3 innings as a professional. He's struck out 34 batters, walked three, and allowed only seven hits. That's a .104 opponent batting average, 0.49 WHIP, and 15.1 strikeouts per nine innings.
There will be more players Eyanson's age at Double-A than there were in High-A, so it will be a big test for the fireballing right-hander. But the fact that the Red Sox are promoting him this aggressively is an excellent sign for his prospects of arriving in the majors sooner rather than later.
Last season, the Red Sox started 2024 draftee Payton Tolle in High-A, and he didn't make it to Double-A until June. Yet there he was at the end of August, making his major league debut for a team in playoff contention.
This seems to be a very different season for the Red Sox at the major league level, but Eyanson will make his way to the big leagues quickly if he keeps shutting down the competition at the next two levels of the minors at anything close to the rate he was for the Greenville Drive.