MLB Draft 2025: Top 50 player rankings, led by Eli Willits and Ethan Holliday

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The 2025 MLB Draft is nearly here, with the first round beginning at 6 p.m. ET Sunday as part of this year’s All-Star festivities in Atlanta. The Washington Nationals hold the first overall pick, a decision that is all the more fascinating in the wake of the recent firings of general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez. But the Nationals aren’t the only team making potentially franchise-altering decisions next week, as the draft represents the biggest opportunity each year for clubs to add talent to their organizations — no matter where they’re picking.

A draft that has changed a fair bit over the past half-decade has undergone another transformation in 2025. For years, baseball’s draft was a three-day event, but this year, it’ll be compressed into two days. Sunday will feature the first three rounds, plus the two competitive balance rounds and all relevant compensation picks — 105 selections in total. The final 17 rounds will unfold Monday and be streamed on MLB.com, beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET. By the end of Round 20, 615 picks will have been made.

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Although the MLB Draft doesn’t carry the mainstream appeal of the NFL or NBA editions, MLB’s two most recent drafts have been a refreshing departure from the longstanding sentiment that baseball’s top draft picks are years away from being main characters in the big leagues. Paul Skenes’ meteoric ascent to ace status is the most emphatic example of an expedited path to stardom, but it’s not just generational talents: Eight other 2023 first-round picks have reached the majors, and five from last year’s draft are already in the bigs. All of those were selected from the college ranks, but some top prep picks, such as Detroit’s Max Clark and Pittsburgh’s Konnor Griffin, are racing through the minors and could debut in the next year. With this trend in mind, it’s easier to envision top picks making an impact in the near future, rather than as some far-off fantasy.

But that doesn’t make picking the right players any easier. Baseball’s draft remains a daunting challenge, considering the gigantic pool of eligible amateur players across North America and Puerto Rico competing against a huge range of opponents in the high school and college ranks. Sorting the pros and cons of drafting a high school shortstop from Arizona vs. a college pitcher from Maine is a complex endeavor — and the kind of decision currently being weighed by front offices.

In order to streamline the evaluation process for these rankings, I organize each draft class into four buckets of prospects: high school hitters, high school pitchers, college hitters and college pitchers. Beyond that, some natural groupings emerge based on the flavor of the class, allowing for more apples-to-apples comparisons that can help illustrate how certain genres of prospects stack up relative to their peers. My rankings are broadly organized with those subsets in mind and broken into a collection of tiers that reflect the conversations teams are having as they finalize their draft boards.

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All that said, here are my top 50 prospects for the 2025 MLB Draft. While my evaluations and preferences are factored into the order, the primary goal of these rankings is to paint a picture of how big-league teams view the players at the top of this year’s class. And in lieu of a mock draft, I hope these rankings serve as a broad preview of which players are most likely to hear their names called on Sunday, based on conversations with scouts and front office officials around the league.

The Sooner State superstars

1. SS Eli Willits, Fort Cobb-Broxton High School (OK)

Willits’ journey to the top of the class has been a bit more low-key than the high-profile path of Ethan Holliday. Yes, Willits is also the son of a former major-leaguer, and yes, he also has an older brother who plays ball. But Eli’s father, Reggie, played in parts of six big-league seasons, while Ethan’s dad, Matt, was a seven-time All-Star. Eli’s brother, Jaxon, just finished a strong sophomore season at Oklahoma, while Ethan’s brother, Jackson, is in the big leagues with Baltimore at age 21. The Willits are an impressive baseball family, but they are far from the household name the Hollidays have become — at least, for now.

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Eli’s familial ties are without question a critical part of his development into one of the best players available in the 2025 draft. Reggie has been on the Oklahoma coaching staff since 2022, and in those years, both Willits brothers have become staples at Sooners practices and scrimmages, even before Jaxon arrived on campus. But it was Eli who stood out when given the opportunity to compete against high-level college players as a 14- and 15-year-old. Modern teams tend to adore players who perform well against older competition, and Willits’ holding his own as a high schooler against college players serves as a meaningful data point when evaluating his overall feel for the game. And with his decision last summer to reclassify to be eligible, his youth remains a paramount part of his profile: He will not turn 18 until December, making him the youngest player in the entire class.

Physically, Willits doesn’t jump out as an especially noteworthy prospect. This is not a player who grabs your attention when he gets off the bus, even now that he has grown to more closely resemble the Sooners players he’s been sharing a field with. But the package of skills Willits packs into his fairly average 6-foot-1 frame — a switch-hitting shortstop with a slick glove, plus speed and a surprising amount of power — is downright exceptional. Add it all up, and Willits is the kind of player whose advanced aptitude provides a level of certainty that he can become a good major-league player of some kind. And his unparalleled youth offers the alluring possibility that he’s really only just getting started.

2. SS Ethan Holliday, Stillwater High School (OK)

As Jackson Holliday was surging up draft boards during his senior year at Stillwater in 2022, a common sentiment that percolated throughout the industry was something along the lines of, “Jackson’s pretty good, but wait ‘til you see his brother, Ethan.” It felt patently absurd at the time to lavish such lofty praise on a player who was just a high school freshman, especially as his older brother was barreling toward being selected No.1 overall. Yet here we are three years later, on the precipice of the younger Holliday hearing his name called at or near the top of draft as the latest in a legendary baseball family to go pro.

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For the most part, Holliday’s performance throughout his high school career sustained the outlandish hype, culminating in a resounding senior season in which he completely outclassed the middling Oklahoma competition, posting a laughable 2.046 OPS with 16 home runs in 118 plate appearances across 32 games. Holliday’s stock did stumble a bit last summer, when he swung and missed an inordinate amount at pitches in the strike zone — not just for a prospect at the very top of the draft but relative to virtually every other high school hitter in the first-round mix. This has since been explained as an untimely but temporary flaw with his swing mechanics and has already been corrected this spring; there’s reason to believe Holliday will be in an ideal position to make the necessary swing adjustments at the next level, considering the familial resources at his disposal. When you combine the anticipated ability to better dial in his approach with a physical frame that already resembles that of a big leaguer — at a strapping 6-foot-4, Ethan is already much bigger than his big brother — there are few, if any, hitters in this class who possess Holliday’s offensive ceiling.

Holliday’s uneven production in his final go-around on the showcase circuit was enough of a red flag to quiet the notion that he is the generational, can’t-miss prospect he seemed to be becoming, but this is still a special talent. His size could eventually prove prohibitive at shortstop, but in that case he projects as a strong third baseman whose expected offensive output would still make him a star. Although I’ve ranked him just below his natural rival and close friend Eli, Holliday still seems more likely to hear his name called first on Sunday.

The big three left-handers

3. LHP Kade Anderson, LSU

Anderson had Tommy John surgery during his junior year of high school, lessening his chance of skipping college and going pro despite his being well-regarded in the scouting community at that stage. Pitching for the Tigers was a wonderful alternative for the Louisiana native, and there’s no question that he maximized his two seasons in Baton Rouge. After showing flashes in his limited swingman role as a freshman in 2024, Anderson — a draft-eligible sophomore who turned 21 earlier this month — helped lead the Tigers to another national championship this spring, delivering multiple highly consequential performances in the postseason.

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Although he doesn’t light up the radar gun the way we typically expect with top pitching prospects, the depth of Anderson’s arsenal and his deft command have separated him atop this year’s class. Whereas the two arms ranked below leaned heavily on one or two offerings to keep opponents at bay, Anderson demonstrated uncommon comfort throwing all four of his pitches — a four-seamer that sits 93 but has been up to 97, an upper-80s slider, a tumbling, mid-80s changeup and a low-80s curveball — for strikes in a variety of situations. This trait gives teams confidence that Anderson can be a quality starting pitcher at the major-league level in short order, and some within the industry believe additional velocity could be unlocked with the right mechanical tweaks. Others might reasonably argue that teams should aim higher than a midrotation starter when picking this high in the draft, but it’s possible that Anderson’s upside is being discounted more than it should be. Regardless, he won’t have to wait long on Sunday to hear his name called.

4. LHP Liam Doyle, Tennessee

Before his three-schools-in-three-years odyssey en route to college baseball superstardom, Doyle was a high school pitcher in New Hampshire, hardly a state known for churning out big-league talent. He stood out relative to his peers in New England but needed to show much more in college to prove he had a future in pro ball. His stops at Coastal Carolina and Ole Miss were encouraging steps, with a healthy dose of strikeouts compensating for underwhelming run prevention. It wasn’t until he arrived in Knoxville and completely remade his body that Doyle unlocked a new version of himself, one that positively overwhelmed the competition in his junior season, as he struck out 42.6% of the batters he faced, the best mark in Division I.

The buzz that Doyle had leveled up started to build in the fall, and it didn’t take long this spring to recognize that his four-seam fastball had become one of the most special offerings in college baseball. His high-90s heater accounted for an astonishing 65% of his total pitches this season, with a balanced assortment of cutters, sliders and splitters mixed in. It’s difficult to blame Doyle for being so fastball-dependent when the pitch was performing so well, but it also presents an intriguing quandary for teams evaluating him at the top of the draft. An optimistic outlook suggests that his secondary pitches will only get better once he focuses on crafting them more in pro ball. A more bearish view wonders if his other pitches will ever be good enough and worries that it’ll be impossible for Doyle’s max-effort style and dependence on heaters to sustain at the big-league level against hitters who are less fazed by high-end velocity. Only time will tell what path Doyle takes, but for a pitcher who was considered a second- or third-round talent a year ago, the fact that he’s being discussed in this range is a massive win.

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5. LHP Jamie Arnold, Florida State

Among this trio, Arnold entered the spring with the most buzz following a sensational sophomore year in which he finished third in Div. I in strikeouts, behind top-five picks Chase Burns and Hagen Smith. Arnold attacks from an unusually low arm angle and release height, making for an extremely uncomfortable at-bat for opponents. And it’s not like he’s some funky southpaw who gets by on deception; the stuff is pretty damn good, too. With one of the best sliders in the class, a balanced diet of four-seamers and two-seamers and a rapidly developing changeup, Arnold has all the weapons necessary to stymie hitters based on what the situation calls for; that he can coax both whiffs and ground balls with high frequency is a separating trait. Arnold’s peripherals and underlying metrics weren’t quite as eye-catching this spring, though his ERA as a junior (2.98) was identical to his mark as a sophomore. Still, his bronze-medal placement in this tier of top arms says more about what the two guys ahead of him accomplished this spring than any of his shortcomings, and any team should be thrilled to land him.

The Corona boys

Thirteen years after Max Fried and Lucas Giolito were selected seventh and 16th out of Harvard-Westlake, another Los Angeles-area school is in position to set a new standard as a prep-to-pro pipeline. In all likelihood, Hernandez and Carlson will hear their names called even earlier in the draft than the memorable Fried-Giolito combo.

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6. RHP Seth Hernandez, Corona High School (CA)

Hernandez recently completed one of the most prolific senior seasons we’ve seen in quite some time en route to being named Gatorade National Player of the Year: .300/.371/.590 with seven homers in 33 games as a hitter and a 0.39 ERA in 53 ⅓ innings with 105 strikeouts and just 19 hits allowed as Corona’s ace. He’s a real threat in the batter’s box, but Hernandez’s future is undoubtedly on the mound, where his combination of high-octane present stuff (an upper-90s four-seamer, an advanced changeup and multiple sharp breaking balls) and an uncommon aptitude for how to best deploy his arsenal makes him the ideal teenage pitching prospect. His detractors point not to any specific flaw in his game but rather to all the highly drafted high school right-handers who have come before him and either failed to reach the big leagues or taken a maddeningly long time to provide their clubs value. In that regard, Hernandez is a victim of his demographic, but in terms of what he can control, he checks nearly every box you’d want from a high school pitcher and represents a worthy gamble for one team picking near the top of the draft.

7. SS Billy Carlson, Corona High School (CA)

Carlson has dabbled as a two-way player thanks to his rocket right arm, but it’s clear he belongs as a shortstop at the next level, a position where his cannon can shine with regularity. Already widely regarded as a plus defender, Carlson’s bat took a notable leap this spring, helping to separate him as one of the handful of elite prepsters who project to make a meaningful impact both at the plate and in the field. His slender frame suggests there’s room to add more strength in pro ball, and unlocking more power would only raise his considerable ceiling. His glove alone makes him highly coveted, but if the bat keeps progressing, Carlson could quickly become one of the game’s top prospects.

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The cream of the college hitter crop

8. SS Aiva Arquette, Oregon State

Arquette separated himself over the course of the spring as the premier collegiate bat in this class, a distinction that might not carry quite as much weight as last year, when college hitters accounted for seven of the top 11 players in my Top 50, but is still a testament to Arquette’s consistency and rare combination of skills. Arquette was intriguing enough as an athletic high school prospect in Hawaii to warrant an 18th-round selection by Arizona in 2022, but he wanted to elevate his game in college. He spent two years at Washington before heading to Corvallis as a junior, where he helped a proud Beavers program return to the Men’s College World Series for the first time since 2018.

It’s not just that Arquette looks likely to stick at shortstop despite being 6-foot-5; it’s that he’s capable of web gems that seem unfathomable for a player his size. His grace and explosive athleticism in the field also feature heavily in the batter’s box, where Arquette’s right-handed swing produces easy power to all fields, and he’s capable of executing impressively compact and direct cuts for someone with such long levers, though he’s likely to be known more for his slugging percentage than his batting average. Shortstops with this kind of juice are quite difficult to find, and Arquette’s drastic year-over-year improvement has teams confident that he’ll continue to trend in a positive direction in pro ball.

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Tier 2 high school hitters

9. SS JoJo Parker, Purvis High School (MS)

Last summer, it was JoJo’s fraternal twin brother, Jacob, who stood out to scouts as an outfielder with big left-handed power, and he remains a promising prospect who could hear his name called early on Day 2 or toward the end of Day 1. But with each successive showcase and especially once the brothers’ senior season began this spring, it was JoJo who started to skyrocket up boards, thanks to his elite bat-to-ball skills and an uptick in overall physicality. Although he’s still not as tall or physical as his brother, JoJo’s strength gains are a meaningful development for teams that weren’t quite sure how much power to project on top of his advanced hit tool. Parker now looks like the complete package in the batter’s box, and even if he has to slide to third base, there’s more than enough bat to be excited about.

10. SS Kayson Cunningham, Johnson High School (TX)

Cunningham’s profile resembles that of Kevin McGonigle, who fell to the Tigers with the 37th pick in the 2023 draft. For years, all the lefty-swinging middle infielder has done is hit and hit and hit some more, but because he’s a bit undersized and old for the class (he turned 19 last month), there’s a lack of enthusiasm about investing heavily in Cunningham at the top of the draft, especially if he’s a second baseman. Still, given the splendid start to McGonigle’s career, perhaps Cunningham will benefit from teams that wake up and realize that sometimes, the guys who have always hit will always hit.

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11. 3B Gavin Fien, Great Oak High School (CA)

Fien is a right-handed hitter without nearly as picturesque of a swing or as good a chance to stick at shortstop as the other two prep bats in his tier, but he has serious power and a knack for contact that was on display last summer, when he was one of the most productive hitters on the showcase circuit. He didn’t quite carry the momentum into his senior spring, leaving some scouts to sour on his outlook somewhat. But working in Fien’s favor is that most teams place more emphasis on how high schoolers perform against top competition in the summer than what they do against an uneven (or downright weaker) slate of opponents in the spring. Because of that, Fien is still expected to go in Round 1. His older brother, Dylan, a switch-hitting catcher, received a $550K bonus from the A’s in the seventh round last year; Gavin could net nearly 10 times that if the right team comes calling.

The top college right-handers

12. RHP Kyson Witherspoon, Oklahoma

Kyson and his identical twin brother, Malachi (a third-to-fifth-round prospect), began their collegiate careers at a junior college in Florida before taking their talents to Norman in 2024. Both brothers throw quite hard, but Malachi projects more as a reliever, while Kyson’s strike-throwing and depth of arsenal took huge leaps this spring. With a fastball up to 99 mph and three effective breaking balls (a high-80s cutter, a mid-80s slider and a low-80s curveball), Witherspoon thrived in conference play against elite competition, finishing top-three among SEC starters in innings pitched (60 1/3), ERA (2.98), WHIP (1.03) and OPS allowed (.614). Especially encouraging for his long-term projection as a starter were the gains Witherspoon made with his command: He walked just 5.9% of opposing batters this spring, down from 11.2% his first season with the Sooners. His athleticism and varied pitch mix provide teams with both a safe floor and an alluring ceiling worth targeting, perhaps as early as within the first 10 picks.

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13. RHP Tyler Bremner, UC-Santa Barbara

Bremner entered the spring alongside Arnold in the tippy-top tier of college arms, but a relatively rough first six weeks dropped him out of consideration to be selected in the first handful of picks. However, he got better as the season progressed, racking up 74 strikeouts in 41 ⅓ innings over his final seven starts, restoring his stock considerably. Bremner’s biggest strengths are his command (6.3% career walk rate in college) and his nasty changeup, which is one of the best off-speed pitches in the class and pairs well with his mid-90s heater. Improving his slider will be a crucial next step as Bremner enters pro ball and will likely help determine whether he’ll be a solid midrotation starter or a frontline arm you’d want starting a postseason game.

The top college outfielders

14. C/OF Ike Irish, Auburn

Some teams were eager to draft Irish out of high school, but he was set on attending Auburn. That decision is looking rather prudent, as he has mashed his way from a possible second- or third-round selection in 2022 to a top-half-of-the-first-round projection in 2025. Irish spent less and less time behind the plate as his college career went on, partially due to other options on the Tigers’ roster but also because of his lack of defensive polish. A likely corner outfield projection in pro ball keeps Irish below Arquette and some of the other high schoolers on this list, but from a strictly offensive standpoint, Irish has a convincing case as the best pure hitter in the class. His powerful and precise left-handed swing punished SEC pitching for three straight years, and he posted an incredible 1.322 OPS in conference play this spring. That bat will likely get him drafted earlier than where he’s ranked on this list.

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15. OF Jace LaViolette, Texas A&M

A lot went wrong for the Aggies this spring — they became the first preseason No. 1 team since 1991 to not qualify for the NCAA tournament — and one of the more interesting subplots was the decline in draft stock for LaViolette, who entered the spring as the favorite to be the first college position player off the board but now finds himself somewhere in the middle of Round 1. The titanic, left-handed power LaViolette has long been known for was still on display, but his offensive skill set is not for everyone. Despite the athleticism that has allowed him to play center field at 6-foot-6, 230 pounds, scouts see LaViolette as more stiff in the batter’s box, with a setup and swing that look less explosive now than they did earlier in his time at A&M and in high school. He slugged at a high level all three years in College Station, but the strikeout rate hovered around 25% the whole time, and his batting average plummeted to .258 this spring, both concerning marks for a collegiate bat being selected this early. LaViolette’s ability to draw walks helps mitigate the whiff risk, but his overall hit tool is considered rather rickety on the whole. The upside here is still sizable as a classic right-field slugger, but LaViolette is an extremely divisive prospect. I can’t wait to see which team takes a swing on him in Round 1.

16. OF Brendan Summerhill, Arizona

Whether Summerhill belonged at the bottom of this tier or the top of Tier 2 was one of the more difficult decisions in this process, but I received enough feedback that his advanced hit tool is a separator to keep him here. Indeed, Summerhill has the look of a plus left-handed hitter, and his .459 OBP with an 11.6% strikeout rate this spring is indicative of a well-rounded offensive approach. My hesitation is the noticeable lack of long balls — just 14 in 122 collegiate games — for a possible corner outfielder drafted this high (he played only right this spring after playing primarily center last summer). Summerhill’s advocates point to the fractured right hand that cost him some time and production, and there’s some optimism within the industry that he can play center and tap into more power at the next level. I’m a bit concerned about how much impact he’ll be able to make if just one or neither of those things happens in pro ball, but even so, the expectation is that he’ll go in the middle of Round 1.

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Tier 3 high school hitters

17. SS Daniel Pierce, Mill Creek High School (GA)

Pierce is an exceptionally well-rounded shortstop whose on-field ability and off-field makeup are both revered by evaluators. Somewhat lost in the shuffle last summer in this loaded high school hitting class, Pierce played his way into the first-round mix this spring as the definitive best prep player in Georgia. His glove is currently a tick ahead of his bat, and it remains to be seen how much power he’ll grow into, but Pierce’s balanced skill set warrants an early selection on Day 1.

18. SS Steele Hall, Hewitt-Trussville High School (AL)

When Hall announced in November that he was reclassifying to be eligible for the 2025 draft, he was considered a promising but not necessarily elite prospect, one who projected as a second- or third-round pick. But with teams zeroing in on Hall this spring, he made the most of the newfound attention and is now a likely first-rounder. With plus-plus wheels and a solid glove at shortstop, Hall’s headlining tools are impressive, but scouts are more split on his potential with the bat, as his feel to hit is still rather crude. Still, as a great athlete and one of the youngest players in the class, Hall should have plenty of suitors.

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19. 3B Xavier Neyens, Mount Vernon High School (WA)

Another annual staple on the summer showcase circuit, Neyens’ stock slipped a bit this spring, but he still offers enough upside to entice teams in the first round. At a well-built 6-foot-4, Neyens is an imposing, left-handed slugger who could one day be a popular pick to win the Home Run Derby. His prodigious power is the result of thunderous bat speed and a beautiful uppercut swing that enables a huge portion of his batted balls to be sent airborne. You can probably guess the primary concern: a whole lot of swing-and-miss. Although he discerns balls and strikes quite well, Neyens whiffs a ton on pitches in the zone, an obvious red flag for teams contemplating investing in a high school hitter in the first round. Whether teams view him as likely to stick at third or end up in an outfield corner will influence how early he hears his name called.

The Vols

20. 1B/3B Andrew Fischer, Tennessee

This is an aggressive ranking for Fischer compared to the rest of the industry, but in a relatively weak class of college bats, I’ll put Fischer’s résumé and trajectory up there with any of his peers, even if he does eventually settle at first base. A poster child of the transfer portal era, the New Jersey native starred at three schools in three years: Duke, Ole Miss and Tennessee, where he was teammates and roommates with Liam Doyle. Like Doyle, Fischer got better at each stop, culminating in a humongous junior campaign in which his strikeout rate dropped to a career-low 14.4% and his walk rate spiked to a career-high 21.6% while he hit more home runs (25) and posted a higher OPS (1.257) than any other qualified hitter in the SEC. His profile bears a striking resemblance to that of Michael Busch coming out of North Carolina in 2019, though Busch’s numbers as a Tar Heel pale in comparison to Fischer’s NCAA statline. If Busch’s breakout with the Cubs is any indication, playing almost exclusively first base is perfectly fine if you’re putting up monster offensive numbers in the big leagues. I think Fischer can do just that.

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21. 2B Gavin Kilen, Tennessee

Kilen was well regarded as a high school shortstop in Wisconsin, though not enough to divert him from going to Louisville as a top-tier recruit. Things didn’t click right away with the Cardinals — he had a .659 OPS with zero homers as a freshman — but a stronger sophomore year preceded entrance into the transfer portal as one of the more coveted bats available last summer. He joined the Vols and came out of the gate scorching hot this spring, suddenly looking like one of the best players in college baseball. A hamstring injury slowed Kilen in March, and it took him a while to heat back up, with a .712 OPS and a more uneven showing in SEC. He appeared at second and shortstop this spring but projects more favorably at the keystone in pro ball. While Kilen’s offensive track record is flimsier than Fischer’s, his jump to Knoxville paid serious dividends for his draft stock and has him positioned to hear his name called somewhere in the middle of the first round.

Tier 2 college shortstops

22. SS Wehiwa Aloy, Arkansas

This year’s Golden Spikes Award winner, Aloy put it all together for the Razorbacks this spring (1.107 OPS, 21 HR) as the face of one of the best teams in college baseball. Aloy lacked the physicality to secure a high-end Division I offer as a high schooler in Hawaii, but he clearly had the skills to become something special. It didn’t take long for Aloy to put himself on the map, with a breakout freshman year at Sacramento State before a high-profile transfer to Arkansas. He isn’t quite as physical as the other elite Hawaiian shortstop in Arquette, but Aloy offers a similar blend of impact offensive potential at the most important infield position. Aloy has never struck out at an excessive rate, but he does have a proclivity to chase pitches outside the strike zone, which has sometimes reduced his contact quality and made him a bit more pitchable than most collegiate superstars anchoring a lineup of Arkansas’ caliber. Still, this is a likely pro shortstop who hits the ball extremely hard and has been on an upward trajectory for a while; now seems like a pretty good time to buy in.

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23. SS Marek Houston, Wake Forest

A lighter-hitting, glove-first shortstop as an underclassman at Wake Forest, Houston’s power started to level up last summer with the collegiate national team and continued to shine this spring with the Demon Deacons; he launched 15 homers in 61 games after hitting just 12 the previous two seasons. There is still some skepticism about how much power output is realistic to expect, considering the homer-friendly home park in Winston-Salem, and Houston’s underlying batted-ball data does not suggest that he has suddenly become a hulking slugger. That said, he’s an even safer bet to stick at shortstop than Aloy — or most of the shortstops on this list, for that matter — and he has the plate discipline and contact skills to project as a useful hitter even if the pop turns out to be limited.

The guy who threw a 19-strikeout no hitter in the MCWS

24. RHP Gage Wood, Arkansas

Even before his epic performance against Murray State in Omaha — the first no-no in the Men’s College World Series since 1960 — Wood was one of the more challenging players on this list to evaluate. A reliever for his first two years in Fayetteville, the undersized right-hander entered this spring with the opportunity to prove that his electric arsenal could sustain over the course of a rigorous SEC schedule. In some respects, he succeeded, with a handful of dominant starts building up to a historic outing in Omaha. But Wood failed to demonstrate requisite durability, as shoulder issues sidelined him for all of March and kept his April and May outings abbreviated before he let loose in the postseason. The stuff — one of the most overwhelming four-seam fastballs in the class and an ultra-sharp curveball — is likely too loud to allow Wood to slip out of the first round, but a 6-foot righty with a sketchy injury history and only 108 collegiate innings to his name has some sizable risk attached.

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Tier 4 high school hitters

25. SS/3B Josh Hammond, Wesleyan Christian Academy (NC)

A two-way prospect last summer on the showcase circuit who appeared to be trending toward a future on the mound, Hammond flipped the script this spring, excelling with the bat and in the infield as the star shortstop for his high school team. It’s unlikely he’ll stick at short at the next level, but his plus-plus arm and ascendent slugging prowess should profile well at third base. You could argue he belongs in Tier 3, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him drafted accordingly.

26. OF Slater de Brun, Summit High School (OR)

Imagine if the Sprouse twins had a much younger brother who could absolutely rake — that’s de Brun. Here’s a more helpful reference: de Brun is this year’s Slade Caldwell, a speedy, compact center fielder with a terrific, left-handed swing who makes a boatload of contact and has more pop than you’d expect for someone his size. Given how Caldwell’s career has taken off since he was selected 29th overall by Arizona last summer — he has been one of the most productive teenage hitters in MiLB this season and was just named to the Futures Game — it’s easy to see why teams would be eager to add a similar player in de Brun to their organization.

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27. INF/OF Sean Gamble, IMG Academy (FL)

Born and raised in Iowa, Gamble spent all four years of high school at the prospect factory that is IMG and has been a staple on the annual summer showcase circuit, meaning he has been scouted about as much as any prep player in this class. He’s a fantastic athlete with a powerful lefty swing, albeit with an uneven track record of making contact. His future defensive home is tough to project because of how much he has moved around as an amateur. He spent some time at shortstop, mostly roamed center field last summer and primarily played second base this spring. Wherever his glove ends up, teams considering Gamble will be banking on his plus makeup and supreme athleticism to maximize what is currently a somewhat ambiguous profile.

Tier 2 high school pitcher

28. LHP Kruz Schoolcraft, Sunset High School (OR)

At a towering 6-foot-8 with a fastball up to 97 mph and as a powerful, left-handed slugger who is also considered a viable prospect as a hitter, Schoolcraft’s unique profile unquestionably belongs in its own tier. Exactly how high on the board he should be is a much more difficult riddle to solve, and some teams believe his commitment to the University of Tennessee shouldn’t be taken lightly if he isn’t selected early enough on draft day. Most teams seem to prefer Schoolcraft on the mound, which is how I’ve evaluated him here, as an imposing, young southpaw whose uncommon athleticism for his size should bode well for his ability to improve in pro ball. His changeup is especially advanced for a pitcher his age, and his slider has flashed plus. If Schoolcraft can dial in his command and hold his peak velocity deeper into outings, he could become an impact lefty starter.

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Tier 2 college outfielders

29. OF Ethan Conrad, Wake Forest

A complete unknown as a high schooler in upstate New York, Conrad stayed close to home for his first two years of college ball, starring at Marist. His national profile started to tick up last summer when he thrived in the Cape Cod league, and buzz continued to build once he transferred to Wake Forest and looked like the best player on the field during fall scrimmages, showcasing a smooth lefty swing with substantial raw power. Conrad continued to look fantastic this spring as Wake’s every-day center fielder and No. 3 hitter until he suffered an injury to his throwing shoulder while diving for a ball in mid-March, necessitating season-ending surgery. It was a disappointing turn of events for scouts eager to see how he would perform against a full slate of ACC competition, but it seems Conrad proved enough before the injury to warrant first-round consideration, even if he’s more likely a right fielder long-term.

30. OF Devin Taylor, Indiana

Taylor boasts one of the more thorough statistical résumés of any college hitter in the class: His OPS climbed each year in Bloomington (1.080 to 1.109 to 1.200), and his strikeout rate declined (18.9% to 13.3% to 11.2%), an impressive trend reflective of the possibility that he could be a plus hitter with plus power at the next level. His primary drawback is that he offers limited defensive value as a likely left fielder, and Big Ten competition is considered to be a notch below the other power conferences, which puts a minor damper on Taylor’s gaudy numbers. Dude rakes, though.

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31. OF Cam Cannarella, Clemson

Few players have amassed more star power at the college level than Cannarella has over the past three years, and he has a knack for elevating his game when the lights are brightest. His highlight reel in center field is extensive, to say the least, and he hit some dramatic, timely homers for the Tigers. The cloud hanging over his exciting profile has been a right shoulder injury that required surgery after his sophomore season, which seemingly sapped his power output as a junior, when he hit just five home runs in 61 games. His aggressiveness on the basepaths also mysteriously disappeared, as he stole just six bases the past two seasons (with all six coming in 2025) after swiping 24 as a freshman. His stellar glove, bat-to-ball skills and advanced approach give Cannarella a safe floor, but his ceiling will be dictated by how much he can tap into his power and speed at the next level.

The top college catchers

32. C Caden Bodine, Coastal Carolina

Bodine is a switch-hitting bat-to-ball maven whose power production strangely declined across his three years in Conway (11 HR as a freshman, nine as a sophomore, five as a junior) but whose secondary skills on both sides of the ball shined as the draft approached. He swung and missed at just 2% of fastballs he saw in the strike zone this spring, and his 7.9% strikeout rate in college is one of the lowest of any draft-eligible hitter. Behind the dish, Bodine is a framing savant, and his overall defensive chops earned him the Rawlings Gold Glove Award as the best catcher at the Division I level. His relative lack of slugging might scare off some teams, but with such a well-rounded skill set, Bodine remains in strong position to be the first catcher off the board.

33. C Luke Stevenson, North Carolina

Stevenson burst on the scene as an impact freshman in 2024 and is one of the top draft-eligible sophomores in this year’s class. His triple-slash with the Tar Heels this spring (.251/.414/.552) is similar to the one Stanford catcher Malcolm Moore posted last year (.255/.414/.553) before being selected 30th by Texas (also as a draft-eligible sophomore), and there are some parallels in their profiles as physical, lefty-swinging, power-and-patience catchers. Where they diverge as prospects is in their contact ability, as Stevenson whiffed far more than Moore as an amateur, and that’s the chief concern among evaluators regarding his future. At the same time, Stevenson is a more polished defender than Moore was at the time, which helps mitigate the potential pitfalls with the bat. All in all, Stevenson projects to hear his name called roughly in the same range as Moore did and perhaps even earlier than Bodine depending on the fit.

Tier 2 college left-hander

34. LHP Zach Root, Arkansas

Root was a promising but not-yet-ready-for-pro-ball high school prospect in Florida before heading to East Carolina for the first two years of his collegiate career. He transferred to Arkansas for his junior season and was able to raise his stock against SEC competition. Although his delivery is a bit unconventional and his stuff isn’t quite as loud as that of the star Razorback lefty from the top of last year’s draft, Hagen Smith, Root racked up a ton of strikeouts (126 in 99 ⅓ IP) this spring for an Arkansas team that reached the College World Series semifinals. His deep pitch mix and intense competitiveness inspire confidence from evaluators that he can be a starting pitcher at the major-league level.

More broadly, Root occupies an interesting place in this year’s draft class. No one thinks he belongs with the elite trio of Anderson, Doyle and Arnold, but he’s widely regarded as a notch above the next batch of college left-handers. As such, Root earns his own tier in the Top 50, but it’s tough to gauge when his name will be called on draft day.

Tier 2 college right-handers

35. RHP Riley Quick, Alabama

Quick offers an unusual combination of size and athleticism — listed at 6-foot-6, 255 pounds, Quick was also a top recruit as an offensive lineman in high school — and showed well in the Crimson Tide rotation this spring after Tommy John surgery wiped out his sophomore season. With a penchant for coaxing grounders with his high-velocity sinker, Quick could become a midrotation workhorse and perhaps more than that if he can find a way to miss more bats.

36. RHP Patrick Forbes, Louisville

A two-way player as a freshman, Forbes ditched the bat last year and saw his talent on the mound take off in a big way. That said, this spring, his first year in the Cardinals’ rotation, was a mixed bag of tantalizing highs and troubling lows. The red flags — a flexor strain that cost Forbes a few starts in the middle of the season and a handful of outings in which his command completely abandoned him — hint at a possible future in the bullpen. But Forbes’ fastball is as electric as it gets in this class, and if he can dial in the control and refine his secondaries, his upside as a starter is significant.

37. RHP Marcus Phillips, Tennessee

Phillips was mostly focused on hitting growing up, from starring for the Sioux Falls team that made it to the 2017 Little League World Series to playing both ways at a junior college in Iowa in 2023. But his outstanding arm strength always portended a future on the mound, and he has blossomed as a pitcher since transferring to Tennessee last year. His stats weren’t as eye-popping as those of some of the other pitchers in this tier, but he’s primed for exciting developmental strides if he finds a home with an organization that excels at getting the most out of pitchers.

38. RHP Anthony Eyanson, LSU

Another portal success story, Eyanson seized scouts’ attention last summer with the collegiate national team and then transferred to LSU after two years at UC San Diego. He was a worthy co-ace alongside Kade Anderson, thriving in SEC play and in the postseason, and he started the game in Omaha that secured LSU’s eighth national title. Eyanson’s fastball rates as the worst of this tier in terms of velocity (93 mph average) and movement, but his secondaries are some of the best, especially his wipeout slider.

39. RHP JB Middleton, Southern Miss

Plus velocity and command enabled Middleton to overwhelm the Sun Belt competition as the Golden Eagles’ ace, posting a 2.31 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP (second-lowest in Div. I) across a sizable workload (105 ⅓ innings pitched, fourth in Div. I). As a 6-foot righty, Middleton doesn’t offer the physical frame of the other arms in this tier, but his athleticism and pitchability make him arguably the safest bet to remain a starter long-term.

The other Golden Spikes Award finalist

40. SS Alex Lodise, Florida State

Barely scouted as a high schooler in the Jacksonville area, Lodise has undergone quite the glow-up across his three years of college baseball, culminating in ACC Player of the Year honors and being named one of the three finalists for the Golden Spikes Award, alongside Doyle and Aloy. Although Lodise isn’t considered a slam-dunk first-rounder like Aloy, the two shortstops have charted similar developmental paths and share some key traits as prospects. Lodise emerged as a freshman at a smaller school (North Florida) before transferring to a premier program in hopes of proving himself against stronger competition. He took his sophomore season to get settled (.833 OPS) before exploding into a top-tier prospect as a junior (1.167 OPS). Like Aloy, he offers rare bat speed for a shortstop but is often undone by his overeager swing decisions that result in an unsavory amount of chase and whiffs. Still, if Lodise can continue to do damage on pitches in the zone, there’s a clear path to being an impact player, especially as one who projects to stay on the left side of the infield. Note: Alex’s cousin Kyle, a shortstop at Georgia Tech, should also hear his name called at some point on Day 1.

Tier 3 high school pitcher

41. RHP Aaron Watson, Trinity Christian Academy (FL)

For as loaded with high school hitters as this year’s class is, it’s more muddled when it comes to prep pitchers. After Hernandez and Schoolcraft, it’s a considerable drop-off to the next batch of high school hurlers who could secure signing bonuses north of $2 million, and it’s tough to identify who’s in the best position to do so. With that in mind, Watson projects as the next high school pitcher likely to land somewhere in the first 50 picks, as the young arm with the most promising combination of now-stuff and polished pitchability. Sitting 92-95 mph with his heater, he doesn’t throw as hard as some of his peers, but with a sturdy 6-foot-5 frame and a smooth delivery, Watson checks all the boxes of a pitcher whose stuff should continue to trend up in pro ball. Add a slider that’s already plus and a rapidly developing changeup, and there’s a lot to like here. Watson recently switched his college commitment from Virginia to Florida after long-time Cavaliers head coach Brian O’Connor departed for Mississippi State. But at this stage, Watson making it to campus in Gainesville feels like a long shot.

Tier 5 high school hitters

42. OF Jaden Fauske, Nazareth Academy (IL)

43. SS Tate Southisene, Basic Academy (NV)

44. SS Ryan Mitchell, Houston High School (TN)

The clear strength of this draft is high school hitters, which means there’s a slew of prep bats in the mix for the last few spots on the top 50. I settled on this trio because their hit tools stand out relative to their peers. Scouts would’ve loved to see Fauske continue to spend time at catcher, like he did last summer, but even as an outfielder only, which he was this spring, he’s one of the more polished prep bats in the class. Southisene is a more physical version of his older brother, Ty, who received a $1 million signing bonus from the Cubs in the fourth round last year. Tate might not stick at short, but his promising power projection gives him a great chance to secure a larger bonus than his brother. Mitchell is probably a second baseman long-term, but his left-handed swing has produced consistent hard contact dating to last summer, a positive trend that has him in the late-first-round mix.

Tier 3 college outfielders

45. OF Charles Davalan, Arkansas

Teams that believe Davalan can play center field might consider him closer to Cannarella in Tier 2, but a more likely left-field projection keeps him with this group. The Quebec native does not have nearly the juice of the three sluggers ranked below him in this tier, but he comfortably outpaces them in the hit tool department, which is far more important when projecting success at the next level.

46. OF Mason Neville, Oregon

Neville has enjoyed quite the power breakout the past two seasons in Eugene after barely getting any playing time as a freshman at Arkansas. Even more impressive than the fact that he started nearly every game in center field for the Ducks this spring and hit 26 home runs (tied for the national lead) was the degree to which he cut his strikeout rate, from 33.5% as a sophomore to 23.6% as a junior.

47. OF Brandon Compton, Arizona State

Compton raked for two straight summers in the Northwoods League and then the Cape Cod League, and he put on an absolute show in batting practice at the MLB Draft Combine, registering elite exit velocities with nearly every swing. That his stupendous power has always been on display with wood bats gives teams confidence that his offensive output can translate to pro ball and makes it easier to overlook what was a relatively underwhelming spring with the Sun Devils.

48. 1B/OF Ethan Petry, South Carolina

Petry was a force-of-nature as a freshman and by far the most productive hitter on the Cape last summer, but a shoulder injury from crashing into the outfield wall at the end of April completely derailed his junior season. His stats were still solid, and he had some big moments early — a homer off a 98-mph Liam Doyle heater is a nice feather in his cap — but some teams are apprehensive about investing heavily in right-handed college bats that offer minimal defensive value. Others view Petry as having shades of Pete Alonso and could target him on Day 1.

Boom or bust

I’ll round out the Top 50 with two of the most volatile prospects in this class, prepsters with mind-blowing physical ability counterbalanced by the monumental risk associated with their profiles.

49. SS Quentin Young, Oaks Christian School (CA)

The nephew of former first-round picks and long-time major leaguers Delmon and Dmitri, Young is a 6-foot-5 shortstop with outrageous raw power, which has been loudly on display in games and showcase settings over the past year. The combination of his big-league bloodlines and potential to stick in the infield at his size makes him extremely appealing to certain clubs. What’s not to love? Young has swung and missed so much over the past two years that some teams have minimal conviction that he’ll hit enough for his physical gifts to shine through. He did make modest strides in contact this spring, but it’s still the kind of hit-tool risk that could be exposed immediately in pro ball — to the point that the bottom falls out on his entire prospect profile. Still, it seems he has enough supporters around the league that some team will scoop him up before he heads to Baton Rouge, where he’s committed to play for the Tigers.

50. LHP Jack Bauer, Lincoln-Way East High School (IL)

Bauer grabbed headlines in April when he touched 102 mph at a highly scouted tournament, which would be a pretty big deal if he were throwing right-handed and was a truly ridiculous display considering that only three major-league left-handers (Aroldis Chapman, Tarik Skubal, Mason Montgomery) have cleared that threshold this season. It’s simply unprecedented velocity from a prep pitcher, but Bauer struggled to demonstrate that he could throw enough strikes over extended outings, and his secondary offerings lag considerably far behind his special heater. Add the injury risks associated with pitchers who throw this hard this young, and many teams will be unwilling to invest in him at this stage. Of all the high school players on this list, Bauer is the likeliest to go to college; he’ll have the chance to prove he’s more than just a flamethrower at Mississippi State. And in case you’re wondering: Yes, he wears No. 24.

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