A Review of the First Round of the 2025 MLB Draft
IBWAA's co-director looks at the best picks and the questions after the first day of the 2025 MLB Draft
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Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
. . . Sixty years ago, Rick Monday was selected first overall in the first MLB Draft by the Kansas City Athletics out of Arizona State University. While Monday was not a Hall of Fame player, he had a tremendous career, playing 19 seasons, appearing in nearly 2,000 games, with two All-Star nods and one season receiving MVP votes. Statistically, Monday was a solid player, with a 125 OPS+ over his career with 241 home runs, and he won a World Series with the 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers.
. . . Fifth selection Liam Doyle led to an interesting discussion about the future of the game. Doyle pitched for three different major programs in his three years of college (Coastal Carolina, Mississippi, LSU). In the age of NIL money for college athletes and open transfer portal rules, it is still rare to see a player move among three elite programs as a player with top-ten talent. It will be interesting to see how this
Leading Off
2025 MLB Draft Review
By Benjamin Chase
Rounds four through 20 of the 2025 MLB Draft will take place today, but last evening, the first three rounds took place. Let’s take a look at the first round specifically and examine who did well, who might have reached, and what players are still on the board as things begin today.
Who Went Number One?
The Washington Nationals won the draft lottery last winter and had the choice between an elite high school shortstop and a top college lefty at the top of the draft. In the end, the Nationals chose Eli Willits, an Oklahoma high school shortstop who became the youngest player ever selected as the top player. Willits is the son of former big leaguer Reggie Willits. Willits is an elite athlete, but he’ll likely need time to develop.
Best Pick/Team Fit
The third and fourth picks are both picks that I really liked for their fit with the organization. Kade Anderson, a left-handed pitcher from LSU, is a perfect type of pitcher to excel in the Seattle pitching development system, and he could move quickly. The fourth selection was the top-ranked prospect in the draft, Ethan Holliday, who is the son of Matt Holliday and the brother of top overall selection Jackson Holliday. Holliday has the most natural raw power in the high school class and could put up Todd Helton numbers at the plate in Colorado while also playing on the left side of the infield.
The…Interesting…Picks
The first big shock of the draft was the Los Angeles Angels selecting righty Tyler Bremner. While I’m a fan of Bremner, he’s a guy with an elite change and a plus fastball who needs work with developing his breaking ball further. The right organization could have made a strong starter out of Bremner, but the Angels are not known for their development.
The Tigers had two very interesting picks, selecting Florida high school shortstop Jordan Yost with the 24th pick and New York prep catcher Michael Oliveto in the competitive balance round, 34th overall. Oliveto was definitely the most interesting pick, as he was ranked the 219th prospect by MLB Pipeline predraft and 117 by Baseball America, which indicates the wide variety of opinion on him, but that 34 was significantly higher than most had him pegged.
Records Broken
We already mentioned that Willits became the youngest player drafted first overall. Other records were set in the first round. While colleges had more players selected in a single draft before the second round, no high school had ever had three players selected before the second round, and Corona did just that, with Seth Hernandez selected sixth, Billy Carlson picked tenth, and Brady Ebel selected 32nd.
The draft also broke a record for the most shortstops selected in the first 30 picks. Previously, the record was 10, set in 2021 and matched in 2023. This year, that number was broken before the 20th selection of the round. In the end, there were fifteen shortstops picked in the top 30 selections.
Who Is Still On the Board?
If a player was a consensus top 25-30 player and is still on the board as we start the fourth round, he’s most likely heading to college, but some teams do have some significant signing pool room that could come into play today. Still, it’s not surprising that the top 10 guys left according to MLB.com’s predraft top 250 list are all high schoolers. Let’s see who the best players available are:
Jack Bauer, LHP, Illinois HS
Mason Neville, OF, Nevada HS
Matthew Fisher, RHP, Indiana HS
Alec Blair, OF, California HS
Cameron Appenzeller, LHP, Illinois HS
Brock Sell, OF, California HS
Briggs McKenzie, LHP, North Carolina HS
Zack Strickland, RHP, California HS
Coy James, SS, North Carolina HS
Uli Fernsler, LHP, Michigan HS
The draft will continue today, beginning at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, streaming on MLB.com.
Benjamin Chase is one of the co-directors of the IBWAA. In his non-baseball work, he is the managing editor for a rural newspaper in South Dakota. He writes for his Medium site, Chasing Baseball Greatness, and podcasts with the Pallazzo Podcast network, focusing on prospects. He can be found on most social media networks under the handle biggentleben.
Extra Innings
On the MLB draft theme, the highest-drafted MLB player born today is Earl Williams, who was selected sixth overall in the 1965 draft by the Milwaukee Braves, the final year the organization was in Milwaukee. Williams developed slowly in the minors until he exploded in 1969 with 33 home runs in A-ball. The next season, the catcher rocketed up the top two levels of the Braves’ system, and in 1971, he was the National League Rookie of the Year, hitting 33 home runs. The Braves traded Williams after the 1972 season for a package that included second baseman (and future manager) Davey Johnson. Unfortunately, injuries and struggles to make consistent contact had Williams out of the majors with only eight seasons, hitting 138 home runs. Williams passed away in 2013 from leukemia at the age of 64.
The date on this interview with Williams is a broadcast date, recorded in early November 1972, before Williams was traded at the end of the month.
The Angels aren't known for their development? I wasn't crazy about this pick, but you've got to admit they have been right with Neto and Schanuel, already everyday starters. Even Adell, a top pick from a past Angel regime, seems to have found it this season. Now I still don't understand that draft where they picked only pitchers, but just think the results are more mixed than all bad.