Former Red Sox prospect Anthony Eyanson was named the 2026 Eastern League Pitcher of the Year by Minor League Baseball on Monday. Like his one-time teammates Franklin Arias and Brooks Brannon, he was also selected as an Eastern League All-Star.
Eyanson, the top prospect the Red Sox sent to the Orioles as part of the Adley Rutschman trade on August 3, made quite an impression in his first full professional season.
Selected by the Red Sox with the 87th overall pick in the 2025 draft out of Louisiana State via UC San Diego, Eyanson signed for a well-over-slot $1.75 million last July. Fresh off playing a key role in LSU’s national championship run, the California native did not immediately debut for an affiliate after signing.
Instead, as noted by The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, Eyanson embraced “the team’s strength and conditioning program as well as velocity training,” while also raising his arm slot “to create an average release height of about 6 1/2 feet.” Those adjustments paid dividends when Eyanson arrived in Fort Myers for his first spring training.
After earning All-Spring Breakout Second Team honors, Eyanson broke camp with High-A Greenville. The 21-year-old right-hander allowed just one earned run in five starts (20 1/3 innings) for the Drive, netting April’s South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Month award before being promoted to Double-A Portland in early May.
Though he was not as dominant, Eyanson still managed a 1.69 ERA with 60 strikeouts to 23 walks in 11 outings (10 starts) spanning 48 innings for the Sea Dogs. He was selected to participate in the All-Star Futures Game on July 12, where he earned the win. Nineteen days later, he recorded the first 10-strikeout game of his professional career. Three days after that, he was one of five players dealt to the Orioles in the Rutschman blockbuster.
Eyanson remained in the Eastern League with Double-A Chesapeake after joining the Orioles organization. The young righty then closed out his 2026 campaign by posting a 2.03 ERA with 47 strikeouts to nine walks in six starts (31 innings) for the Baysox.
Between Portland and Bowie, then, Eyanson forged a sparkling 1.82 ERA with 107 strikeouts to 32 walks in 17 outings (16 starts) spanning 79 innings in which opponents batted .192 against him. Among 46 Eastern League pitchers who threw at least 75 innings this year, he led in ERA, strikeout rate (34.6%), swinging-strike rate (17.9%), and xFIP (3.26). He also ranked second in opponents’ batting average, third in FIP (3.30) and WHIP (1.08), fourth in strikeouts per nine (12.19), and seventh in groundball rate (51.5%), according to FanGraphs.
Overall, Eyanson posted a 1.54 ERA (2.93 FIP) with 141 strikeouts to 35 walks in 22 total outings (21 starts) and 99 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A this season. Opposing hitters slashed .175/.255/.277 in 380 plate appearances against him altogether.
Eyanson, who turns 22 next month, is currently ranked by MLB Pipeline as Baltimore’s No. 2 prospect and the No. 46 prospect in baseball. The 6-foot-2, 208-pound hurler was up to 92-95 mph with his fastball this season after reaching triple digits with it in spring training. He also features a tight mid-80s slider, an upper-70s curveball, an upper-80s cutter, and a mid-80s splitter.
In addition to winning Eastern League Pitcher of the Year, Eyanson is also up for Minor League Baseball’s 2026 Pitching Prospect of the Year and Minor League Debut of the Year. The winners will be determined as part of next Monday’s fourth annual MiLB Awards show.
(Picture of Anthony Eyanson: Al Bello/Getty Images)
