Analyzing Experts' 2025 MLB Mock Drafts Ahead of SEC, ACC Baseball Tournaments

With the college baseball season winding down, MLB draft season is heating up.

While the actual talent grab won't arrive until the middle of July, many of the top prospects will soon start one of their biggest auditions for it during their upcoming conference tournaments. Succeed on this stage, and it could propel them toward late spikes up the draft boards.

Before those fluctuations start, though, let's take a lay of the land with a closer look at some of the latest expert mock drafts.

ESPN's Kiley McDaniel

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Along with a refreshed top-150 prospect ranking, McDaniel dropped a mini-mock draft with projections on the first 14 picks.

It's a prep-heavy group at the start with high schools comprising four of the first seven selections. McDaniel opened with Stillwater High School (Okla.) third baseman Ethan Holliday—son of seven-time All-Star Matt Holliday and brother of Baltimore Orioles middle infielder Jackson Holliday— but cautioned that "this one is still wide open."

Florida State southpaw Jamie Arnold was next off the board, followed by Corona High School (Calif.) right-hander Seth Hernandez. Two more college lefties go next, Tennessee's Liam Doyle and LSU's Kade Anderson, before Hernandez's teammate, shortstop Billy Carlson, and Fort Cobb-Broxton High School (Okla.) shortstop Eli Willits.

Two collegiate position players—Oregon State shortstop Aiva Arquette and Texas A&M centerfielder Jace LaViolette—come off the board, followed by Oklahoma righty Kyson Witherspoon. This mini-mock finally closes with another prep shortstop, JoJo Parker out of Purvis High (Miss.).

MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo

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Mayo's mock ran 27 players deep, with college hurlers and high school middle infielders featuring prominently at the top.

If you're looking for differences from McDaniel's mock, they come few and far between. In fact, the 11 players listed there make up the first 11 picks here, albeit in slightly different order.

Mayo also opened with Holliday and Arnold, but Doyle went No. 3 and Arquette climbed to No. 4. Mayo mentioned the possibility of the Colorado Rockies perhaps grabbing a college pitcher with the fourth pick, but added if they want a college hitter, "Arquette would be the choice as a shortstop with 17 homers and an OPS north of 1.100."

In Mayo's mock, Anderson slipped to the Pittsburgh Pirates at No. 6, with the analyst noting "the right-handed high school demographic historically scares teams off." That said, Mayo called Anderson "one of the top-ranked prep players in the country" and noted he's "behind only Holliday" among high-schoolers.

Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter

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Reuter's mock was the only of the three not to open with Holliday. Instead, it featured Arnold in the top spot, citing how he "offers the best combination of potential, floor and proximity to the majors of anyone in the class as a sure-fire MLB starter who could fly through the minors."

Holliday didn't land in the Nos. 2 or 3 spots, either. Those were instead held by Arquette and Hernandez. Reuter credited Arquette's climb to the "huge start to his junior campaign," improved walk and strikeout rates and move from second base to shortstop. On Hernandez, Reuter felt he "checks all the boxes to be the game's next elite pitching prospect."

Holliday went No. 4 to the Colorado Rockies, with Reuter crediting the youngster as "a potential offensive superstar" and noting he "profiles more like his power-hitting father than his contact-oriented brother." A new name entered the fray at No. 5 with Wake Forest shortstop Marek Houston (Mayo's No. 15 pick), with Reuter writing "his well-rounded game and high floor make him a safe bet to go off the board inside the top 10."

The other new entry to the top 10 was Reuter's 10th overall pick, UC Santa Barbara righty Tyler Bremner (Mayo's 17th pick). Rueter noted that Bremner's "stock slipped a bit during an inconsistent start" but he was "once again trending up" and could be a candidate for the Chicago White Sox, whom Reuter felt "will likely go the best-available route in the early stages of a rebuild."