Malachi Witherspoon Scouting Report

Malachi Witherspoon Scouting Report

Background: Malachi Witherspoon was a highly regarded pitching prospect coming out of Duncan U. Fletcher High School in Neptune Beach, Florida. He was ranked among the top 150 draft prospects in the 2022 class to both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, and the Arizona Diamondbacks selected him in the 12th round. Witherspoon did not sign and instead attended Northwest Florida State College along with his twin brother Kyson. The brothers then transferred to Oklahoma, where Malachi pitched exclusively in relief as a sophomore. He moved to the rotation in 2025 and posted a 5.09 ERA in 74.1 innings covering 15 starts, with 91 strikeouts and 32 walks. The Detroit Tigers selected him in the 2nd round of the 2025 draft, with the 62nd overall pick. His brother Kyson was taken 15th overall by the Boston Red Sox.

Physical Description: Witherspoon appears slightly shorter than his listed height (6-foot-3), but that may be a bit of an illusion because he’s a muscular and well-proportioned 211 pounds. He is relatively young for a college draft pick (born 8/12/04), but there isn’t much physical projection remaining here. In college he worked exclusively from the stretch, with an early hand break and relatively simple drop-and-drive mechanics that result in good extension and a low release height.

Fastball: 55

Witherspoon’s fastballs generally sit at 97-98 MPH in the first few innings of starts before settling in to the 94-96 MPH range. He can hold that lower velocity band past 100 pitches, and still has the capability to ramp it back up on occasion. He has touched triple digits in shorter stints. His four-seam fastball plays below his pure velocity because of its average shape, and it gets hit hard in the middle of the zone. His two-seamer does show promise, particularly when he starts it on the inner-third of the plate and lets it run in on the hands of right-handed hitters.

Slider: 55

Witherspoon throws two distinct breaking balls, with his slider sitting in the 86-89 MPH range. At its best it shows sharp, two-plane break that generates whiffs. He can also tighten it up a bit to look more like a cutter at 90-91 MPH.

Curve: 55

The curve was Witherspoon’s primary swing-and-miss offering in college. It’s generally in the 82-84 MPH range, and the shape varies from a 12-6 downer to a more slurvy pitch that looks like a slower version of his slider.

Changeup: 40

Witherspoon does have a firm changeup in the 87-90 MPH range. He rarely used it in college (his coach called pitches), and it is predictably inconsistent. At times it shows solid fade, but at others it looks like a BP fastball.

Command: 40

The biggest issue for Witherspoon in college was his poor command. He has trouble syncing up his delivery and finding a consistent release point. At times he loses the strike zone completely, with uncompetitive pitches sprayed wildly to either side of the plate. When he is in sync he shows some feel for locating to the edges, but he is just as likely to leave offerings in the middle of the zone.

Overall: Malachi Witherspoon offers an interesting development challenge for the Detroit Tigers. His pure arm strength and feel to spin the ball give him a realistic floor as an MLB middle reliever. But the Tigers likely drafted Witherspoon in the 2nd round with designs on keeping him as a starter. To do so they must help find him a consistent delivery that produces more strikes, alter his fastball shape and/or usage, and get him more comfortable throwing changeups. That’s more development hurdles than is ideal, but if everything comes together Witherspoon could develop into a #3/4 starter in his prime. The most likely outcome here is still probably a reliever, but possibly one with late-inning ability.