Malachi Witherspoon

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #93 prospect in 2025 draft
  School: Oklahoma Drafted/Committed: D-backs ’22 (12)
  Age At Draft: 20.9
  
  BA Grade: 45/High
  
  Witherspoon is the twin brother of projected 2025 first-rounder Kyson Witherspoon and the pair followed the same baseball path: first Fletcher High in Neptune Beach, Fla., then Northwest Florida State JC and finally Oklahoma. Malachi brings plenty of electric arm talent to the mound. The 6-foot-3, 211-pound righthander pitched to a 5.09 ERA with 91 strikeouts to 32 walks in 74.1 innings. Witherspoon’s 96 mph fastball reaches triple digits at peak and he has some of the best fastball velocity in the 2025 class. He complements the fastball with two distinct breaking balls: a high-80s slider and a low-80s curveball, both of which consistently generated whiffs throughout the season. He throws from a low three-quarters slot which adds deception and tough angle for righthanded hitters. Witherspoon also has a firm upper-80s changeup but rarely throws it. While the raw stuff is undeniable, Witherspoon has poor feel for both command and control. He struggles to consistently land his fastball or spin breaking balls for strikes, which limits his ability to turn over lineups or work deep into outings. That creates plenty of reliever risk, though teams most excited about his athleticism and pure upside might give him a chance to start in pro ball. He’s talented enough to be picked inside the first five rounds.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 60 | Slider: 60 | Curveball: 55 | Changeup: 30 | Control: 40.
• Ranked #78 prospect in 2025 draft
  School: Oklahoma Committed/Drafted: D-backs ’22 (12)
  Age At Draft: 20.9
  
  BA Grade/Risk: 45/High
  
  Malachi is the twin of fellow 2025 righthander Kyson Witherspoon and has followed the same baseball path, going from Fletcher High in Neptune Beach, Fla. to Northwest Florida State JC and then Oklahoma. A 6-foot-3, 210-pound righthander Witherspoon has tremendous arm talent but little feel for command and control. He averaged more than 95 mph on his fastball in 2024, has been up to 98 and has a pair of high-spin breaking balls that have plus potential and huge movement profiles that he struggles to throw for strikes.
  
  
• Ranked #122 prospect in 2022 draft
  School: Fletcher HS, Neptune Beach, Fla. Committed/Drafted: Jacksonville
  Age At Draft: 17.9
  BA Grade: 45/Extreme
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 50 | Curveball: 55 | Slider: - | Changeup: 50 | Cutter: | Control: 45
  Relatively new to pitching full time, Witherspoon didn’t focus on his game on the mound exclusively until the fall of 2021, when he was throwing a fastball in the 89-91 mph range and showing flashes of a good breaking ball. He has a mature body at 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, but is young for the class and will still be 17 on draft day. Witherspoon continued to flash impressive pure stuff this spring and at times he was throwing a fastball in the 90-95 mph range with a hammer curveball that had spin rates in the 3,000 rpm range. He also showed a changeup with impressive tumbling action, though his strike throwing with the pitch has been inconsistent. Witherspoon would at other times throw a fastball more in the 89-92 mph range with a changeup that showed less potential. Like his breaking ball, his fastball is also a high-spin offering, though it is a dead-zone fastball that gets hit at times currently. There are plenty of positive indicators for Witherspoon moving forward and untapped potential between his youth and relative inexperience on the mound. He’s a high-risk, high-reward sort of projection righthander who is committed to Jacksonville but could be selected in the fourth-to-sixth round range.