“It was somewhat of a surprise,” Hayden Mullins said as he thought back to the day he was drafted. “My agents called me a couple picks before I got picked.”

Mullins, who was the Boston Red Sox’s 12th-round pick in 2022, has dealt with injuries since his senior year of high school. At one point thinking of entering the draft as a teenager, an injury his senior season saw his chances of being picked crater. Thus, he instead chose to play baseball at Alabama.

Unfortunately, things did not get much better on the health front. Mullins’ freshman season was cut short due to COVID-19 canceling the college baseball season. He appeared in five games in relief. His sophomore season was also cut short, as he made just seven appearances before another injury ended his season.

Finally, it seemed like his junior season was the mark of a new dawn. Making 11 appearances, including eight starts after getting moved to the rotation, Mullins pitched 34 2/3 innings and struck out 43 batters. Then, injury struck once more as he required Tommy John surgery. By the time he went under the knife and had the surgery, his college baseball career was over; by the time he would be able to get back on the mound, his senior season would have ended. And so he chose to enter the draft.

“I didn’t get surgery until July 14 and I tore my elbow on April 29. I was trying to rehab it and get back to pitch for the postseason. I realized I would not get to pitch my senior year and that weighed into the decision,” Mullins explained. Despite the surgery, the southpaw was still taken by the Red Sox as the team decided to gamble on his raw talent.

“It was awesome. I’m sitting there in an elbow brace, three days out of surgery. So I’m sitting there hoping a team takes a chance, and I’m grateful it was the Red Sox,” Mullins continued when asked about his draft experience.

 

Unfortunately for the left-hander, he was unable to get into any games until the tail end of the 2023 season. At that point, he made four appearances, tossing a combined 6 1/3 innings between the Complex League and Low-A Salem. It was the 2024 season when he started to really showcase his talents, as shown by his 118 strikeouts in 89 innings with High-A Greenville. Mullins credits the bump in strikeouts to the organization’s extensive planning with each pitcher.

“You’re receiving reports, this is what you do well. This is what you don’t do so well. These are the things we’re going to work on. Once you go into a game, you’re not really thinking about it, but it just plays a part in a lot of success.”

Some significant changes have also been seen in his arsenal, the left-hander having tweaked his pitch repertoire since being drafted.

“I’ve always thrown fastball, slider, changeup for most of my life. Now, the grips, we can alter them to make the ball move a little bit more downward or horizontal. Adding the sweeper was a big step — I added it in the offseason of ’23. This past season I added a cutter. And I think those will be two really good drivers of success because they’re two different shapes and one is a little bit harder and the other is softer.”

Much like Blake Wehunt, who we interviewed earlier in the offseason, Mullins felt that the addition of a cutter will play nicely against his natural, arm-side-run four-seamer.

Mullins dominated in 2025, going 8-2 in 22 appearances (21 starts) and tossing 101 2/3 innings with an ERA of 2.21. In that span, he struck out 123 batters, splitting his time between Greenville and Portland. He spent most of the season in Portland’s rotation and would finish the season as the Sea Dogs’ Pitcher of the Year.

In all likelihood, the 25-year-old will open the 2026 campaign in Triple-A Worcester, though with their currently loaded rotation, it wouldn’t be out of the question to see him work out of the bullpen (especially since the major-league team is in need of potential left-handed options out of the bullpen). With his ability to rack up strikeouts, Mullins could be a potential late-game option down the road if he can stay healthy. The left-hander has talent to succeed at every level of the sport, and it should be just a matter of time before he makes his major-league debut.