From Boston on down, several Red Sox pitching prospects have stood out in the early stages of the 2026 season. One name that may be flying under the radar, though, is Dylan Brown.
Brown made this week’s Baseball America Hot Sheet as a prospect with “helium” after his most recent start for Low-A Salem last Thursday. In a season-high 5 2/3 innings against Fredericksburg at home, the 21-year-old left-hander allowed four runs (one earned) on three hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts. He threw 83 pitches (56 strikes) and generated 19 whiffs, the most at the Low-A level that night.
Through four starts for Salem to begin his professional career, Brown has forged a 3.06 ERA with a staff-leading 25 strikeouts to 10 walks over 17 2/3 innings in which opponents have batted just .190 against him. That includes a .211/.318/.316 line against left-handed hitters and a .182/.294/.205 line against right-handed hitters.
“The most impressive aspect of Brown’s game so far is his ability to get right-handed hitters out,” Baseball America’s Ian Cundall (formerly SoxProspects.com’s director of scouting) wrote on Monday. “He neutralizes any platoon advantage with his changeup, which had a 42% whiff rate in college, and its bat-missing ability has carried over to pro ball.”
Among 24 qualified Carolina League pitchers entering play Tuesday, Brown ranks third in groundball rate (56.8%), fourth in FIP (2.69), strikeouts per nine innings (12.74) and strikeout rate (34.2%), fifth in batting average against, ninth in swinging-strike rate (14.3%) and xFIP (3.69), and 10th in ERA, per FanGraphs.
A Pennsylvania native, Brown was selected by the Red Sox in the eighth round of last July’s draft out of Old Dominion. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound southpaw received an at-slot $229,000 signing bonus and entered 2026 ranked by SoxProspects.com as Boston’s No. 60 prospect before making his pro debut on April 2. In addition to a lower-80s changeup, he features a lower-90s fastball that has reached 95 mph this year, an upper-80s cutter, and a lower-80s slider.
As noted by Cundall, Brown — who turns 22 in June — “has the size the Red Sox look for in a starting pitcher.” If he maintains this level of performance at Salem, he could emerge as a candidate for a promotion to High-A Greenville “in short order.” That timeline could accelerate further if pitchers ahead of him — such as fellow 2025 draftees Kyson Witherspoon, Marcus Phillips, and Anthony Eyanson — move up to Double-A Portland in the near future.
(Picture of Dylan Brown: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)
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