MLB Mock Draft 2025 and Breakdown of Top 1st-Round Prospects
The Washington Nationals are, for all intents and purposes, on the clock.
They hold the first pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, which starts at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday (ESPN and MLB Network).
It's been unclear which direction the Nationals will go, and that was true even before their recent decision to split from longtime president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo. Having a shakeup of this magnitude occur so close to the start of the talent grab adds yet another element of mystery to this pick and all the others that will follow.
And yet, we won't shy away from all the question marks. Instead, we're here to make educated guesses as to how they'll play out with mock predictions for the first round before spotlighting a couple of the top prosects in this class.
Mock First Round
1 of 3
Let's break out the crystal ball and see what it thinks will be in store for the first 27 picks of the draft (all but the supplemental selections).
- Washington Nationals: Kade Anderson, LHP, LSU
- Los Angeles Angels: Liam Doyle, LHP, Tennessee
- Seattle Mariners: Seth Hernandez, RHP, Corona HS (CA)
- Colorado Rockies: Ethan Holliday, SS, Stillwater HS (OK)
- St. Louis Cardinals: Eli Willits, SS, Fort Cobb-Broxton HS (OK)
- Pittsburgh Pirates: Aiva Arquette, SS, Oregon State
- Miami Marlins: Billy Carlson, SS, Corona HS (CA)
- Toronto Blue Jays: Jamie Arnold, LHP, Florida State
- Cincinnati Reds: Ike Irish, C/OF, Auburn
- Chicago White Sox: JoJo Parker, SS, Purvis HS (MS)
- Athletics: Tyler Bremner, RHP, UC Santa Barbara
- Texas Rangers: Daniel Pierce, SS, Mill Creek HS (GA)
- San Francisco Giants: Brendan Summerhill, OF, Arizona
- Tampa Bay Rays: Steele Hall, SS, Hewitt-Trussville HS (AL)
- Boston Red Sox: Marek Houston, SS, Wake Forest
- Minnesota Twins: Kyson Witherspoon, RHP, Oklahoma
- Chicago Cubs: Wehiwa Aloy, SS, Arkansas
- Arizona Diamondbacks: Caden Bodine, C, Coastal Carolina
- Baltimore Orioles: Gavin Fien, 3B, Great Oak HS (CA)
- Milwaukee Brewers: Jace LaViolette, OF, Texas A&M
- Houston Astros: Xavier Neyens, 3B, Mount Vernon HS (WA)
- Atlanta Braves: Tate Southisene, SS, Basic HS (NV)
- Kansas City Royals: Kruz Schoolcraft, LHP, Sunset HS (OR)
- Detroit Tigers: Slater de Brun, OF, Summit HS (OR)
- San Diego Padres: Kayson Cunningham, 2B/SS, Johnson HS (TX)
- Philadelphia Phillies: Jaden Fauske, OF, Nazareth Academy HS (IL)
- Cleveland Guardians: Luke Stevenson, C, North Carolina
Kade Anderson, LHP, LSU
2 of 3
Anderson, who feels close to a coin flip for the No. 1 pick with prep shortstop Ethan Holliday, left quite the final impression on the scouting community by earning Most Outstanding Player honors at the College World Series.
He was, as you might expect, absolutely filthy in the series. After holding Arkansas to a single run over seven frames, he finished with a 130-pitch shutout against Coastal Carolina in the championship round, fanning 10 while allowing only three hits.
Drawing a Max Fried comparison on the final mock from B/R's Joel Reuter, Anderson makes full use of a four-pitch arsenal that features a mid-90s fastball, mid-80s slider and changeup and an upper-70s curveball. All four offerings are above-average with the chance to become even better, and he understands how to utilize his full array to keep hitters off-balance.
There wasn't a better pitcher in college baseball this season, and that was true even before his big-stage heroics. He led all hurlers with 180 strikeouts over his 119 innings.
Liam Doyle, LHP, Tennessee
3 of 3
Doyle pitched for three schools over his three-year college career and was ferocious at each of his three stops (first Coastal Carolina, then Mississippi and finally Tennessee). His ERA sometimes got away from him, but he was a strikeout machine.
Powered primarily by a mid-90s fastball that touches triple-digits, he averaged a wholly absurd 15.4 strikeouts per nine innings this past season. For reference, Kade Anderson, whom we just referred to as college baseball's best pitcher, averaged 13.6.
Doyle's arsenal is technically just as deep, as he'll work in a mid-80s slider, an upper-80s splitter and upper-80s cutter. His secondary offerings aren't always located where he wants, but they're still helpful to have when batters have so much to worry about with that electric heater.
He may not have the highest ceiling in this class, but he could be the first player in this class to reach the big leagues. His fastball could make MLB hitters look foolish right now.
