2025 MLB Draft Room ~ Thread, Mocks, Discussion, Draft Boards

[Strummer Jones]

Caught a Texas-Mizzou game on Friday.

Taken with a LARGE grain of salt because they played Mizzou...but Texas looks to have some ballers on their team. It was pretty funny, almost all of the boys on Mizzou were probably about my height (5'8, 5'9ish) and it seemed like all the players on Texas were absolute beefs. Big fellas. Whoever their Friday night starter was was in the mid-90's his whole start.

The Mizzou starter (Lohse?) got rocked, but also seemed to have good strike-out stuff. Seemed like if he was going to get any outs, they had to be on a K. Those Texas guys seemed to square him up good. Though, in his defense, the wind was blowing out pretty well to the outfield. Get anything up in that air and it's going to carry a long way.

I think the requirement to be in the Texas starting lineup is 6'2" or higher . Gasparino comes in at 6'6" and change.

Their right fielder was a mountain of a dude, too.

And several beanpoles in the bullpen.

[craviduce]

#7 LSU faced off against #10 Oklahoma tonight on ESPN2. It was dandy of a pitching matchup, too...and they both delivered.

LHP Kade Anderson (LSU) and RHP Kyson Witherspoon (OU), both considered 2 of the best pitchers in College today. Both show up in the Mid 1st round on most mocks, and both of their stocks are rising, with Witherspoon appearing in a few Top 10 mocks

Anderson threw a complete game, 9 IP shutout...on the road in Norman.

Anderson ~ 9 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 14 K

Witherspoon ~ 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K


Links to their season stats, which won't include tonight's performance...until tomorrow 4/4/25

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/kade- ... position=P Anderson

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/kyson ... position=P Witherspoon


I like both of them. Anderson has a low to mid 90's fastball, really good curve with lot's of spin, a Sweeper/Slider, and a seldom used change up. The FB and Curve are his best pitches. He had both the Sweeper and Curve working well tonight. Pretty lanky frame, could use a few more pounds, so he might add some velocity.

Witherspoon sits around 95-96mph with his fastball, will touch 99mph a few times throughout a game, has touched Triple digits a few times. He has really good slider, and I don't honestly don't know what his 3rd pitch is...change up maybe?


-----------------

This draft for our pick location...it's highly frustratiing. I wish we had the impact hitters that 2024 had. It's feeling like 2021 all over again....a Ton of Raw SS with lot's of projection, and College Pitchers that project as mid to back of the rotation.

A few college hitters are standing out...but not how you want, not with the #5 pick. The ones I currently like are Taylor, Summerhill, Petry, Houston (has cooled off a bit), Killen (hamstring injury). LaViolette has seen a few midweek games go his way recently. If he can get more Texas State like opponents, he could very well salvage his season. Kentucky (having a horrible season) helped a smidge last weekend, too. I'm not ready to put him on my wish list at #5. He has to be able to hit in the majors. He'll be able to slug, I have no doubt, but even now, this season, he can't slug vs. good competition.

I'm warming up to the College Pitchers...and of course Seth Hernandez, I'd take the plunge at #5 with the Highschool Phenom....only 2 walks this year, 0 Runs allowed.

Tyler Bremner....that's a HARD PASS, he's having a bad year....for him. I hope the Cards pass on him.

[craviduce]

I consider the 2021 draft a huge bust so far. I mentioned the SS crop, they just haven't produced, and the pitchers have been underwhelming.

MLB.com likes to do a redraft after so many years. I can't wait to see them do 2021. Jackson Merrill will go 1st instead of 27th....after that, it's up in the air.

could this year be a repeat?

[ramfandan]

I am more as casual observer on draft. I do subscribe to Baseball America but do not follow the college gsmes weekly .
Living about an hour from Knoxville, I do get UT Vols info on TV sports.


My question for you…
If the first 4 picks. Are mostly pitchers would the Cardinals select Ethan Holliday at No. 5 if he is there ?
Projecting he would be 3rd baseman long term or even 1st base when WillyCon leaves .

[craviduce]

I am more as casual observer on draft. I do subscribe to Baseball America but do not follow the college gsmes weekly .
Living about an hour from Knoxville, I do get UT Vols info on TV sports.


My question for you…
If the first 4 picks. Are mostly pitchers would the Cardinals select Ethan Holliday at No. 5 if he is there ?
Projecting he would be 3rd baseman long term or even 1st base when WillyCon leaves .

I would say "yes". But I would be extremely concerned with his inability to hit much better competition this past summer with a wooden bat. That being said, his swing is more than likely fixable. The power is legit. His dad had his swing fixed once he was drafted. My only hesitation would be, if I were in the draft room, "Do we possess the ability to fix and support a massive swing change for a top 5 pick?" We need a hitting lab in bad way.

[Shady]

I am more as casual observer on draft. I do subscribe to Baseball America but do not follow the college gsmes weekly .
Living about an hour from Knoxville, I do get UT Vols info on TV sports.


My question for you…
If the first 4 picks. Are mostly pitchers would the Cardinals select Ethan Holliday at No. 5 if he is there ?
Projecting he would be 3rd baseman long term or even 1st base when WillyCon leaves .

I would say "yes". But I would be extremely concerned with his inability to hit much better competition this past summer with a wooden bat That being said, his swing is more than likely fixable. The power is legit. His dad had his swing fixed once he was drafted. My only hesitation would be, if I were in the draft room, "Do we possess the ability to fix and support a massive swing change for a top 5 pick?" We need a hitting lab in bad way.

Will LaViolette actually be available at #5? A college slugger at #5 might be a preference over a high school slugger for the Cardinals.

[craviduce]

Liam Doyle, LHP, Tennessee... a bit of a major bounce back for him vs. Texas A&M last night. He held the Aggies and Jace LaViolette hitless last night.

6 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K

Dylan Loy picked up the last inning with no hit relief as the Vols no-hit the Aggies in a 7 inning, Run Rule win.

Doyle runs his season stats to 5-1, 2.53 ERA, 81 K's, 14 BB, 42 IP

[ramfandan]

Thanks Duce for replying regarding Holliday .
Wondering if the experts on TV would say that Holliday ‘fell’ to St. Louis at no. 5 comparing it to JJ being available at 7 last year ?

[craviduce]

Thanks Duce for replying regarding Holliday .
Wondering if the experts on TVwould say that Holliday ‘fell’ to St. Louis at no. 5 comparing it to JJ being available at 7 last year ?

the problem with Holliday and a few others, are they Top 5 or Top 10 at the moment? Pundits, as they get up to speed on current events, seem to be saying "no" to Top 5.

So, Ramfandan, does he actually "Fall" to us, once we get to #5? I assume because of his pedigree the Cards will consider him #5, but that might be a reach come July (Draft Date)

[craviduce]

https://medium.com/@oliver.mitsuo/top-1 ... cba94acba2

Boctor formerly wrote for Future Star Series, and handled the draft portion for them. He's really good.

Love his write ups, and this Draft Board is extremely detailed, up-to-date, too.

we have 4 pics in the Top 90, Day 1 of the draft. Take a look at the 40-100 rankings and analysis, it can't hurt to get familiar

Hopefully, we avoid, Short, Oft-Injured players of all types with our 2nd, 3rd, 4th picks....and buck our recent trend from the last 3-4 drafts.

Oh...and if the kid won a HR derby at some circuit thing last summer....Pass...Hard Pass.....we have bad experiences with those.

[craviduce]

https://medium.com/@oliver.mitsuo/top-1 ... cba94acba2

Boctor formerly wrote for Future Star Series, and handled the draft portion for them. He's really good.

Love his write ups, and this Draft Board is extremely detailed, up-to-date, too.

we have 4 pics in the Top 90, Day 1 of the draft. Take a look at the 40-100 rankings and analysis, it can't hurt to get familiar

Hopefully, we avoid, Short, Oft-Injured players of all types with our 2nd, 3rd, 4th picks....and buck our recent trend from the last 3-4 drafts.

Oh...and if the kid won a HR derby at some circuit thing last summer....Pass...Hard Pass.....we have bad experiences with those.

Anyways....Boctor's draft board starts to align with mine...weird, not patting myself on the back.

I have Carlson in my top 5, with Hernandez. I have Kyson Witherspoon in my current Top 10, but not as high as Boctor. I don't have Bremner in my Top 10 anymore, Boctor has at 6th I think.

[craviduce]

90 second talk about RHP Seth Hernandez and his chances of going high in the draft. HS pitchers usually don't go Top 5, it's very rare.

I like Hernandez a lot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g878Sb0_Ihw

[Strummer Jones]

90 second talk about RHP Seth Hernandez and his chances of going high in the draft. HS pitchers usually don't go Top 5, it's very rare.

I like Hernandez a lot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g878Sb0_Ihw

I would definitely not rule out Hernandez. I think he's got fair potential to be the best pitcher in the draft.

[RunSup]

I am more as casual observer on draft. I do subscribe to Baseball America but do not follow the college gsmes weekly .
Living about an hour from Knoxville, I do get UT Vols info on TV sports.


My question for you…
If the first 4 picks. Are mostly pitchers would the Cardinals select Ethan Holliday at No. 5 if he is there ?
Projecting he would be 3rd baseman long term or even 1st base when WillyCon leaves .

I would say "yes". But I would be extremely concerned with his inability to hit much better competition this past summer with a wooden bat. That being said, his swing is more than likely fixable. The power is legit. His dad had his swing fixed once he was drafted. My only hesitation would be, if I were in the draft room, "Do we possess the ability to fix and support a massive swing change for a top 5 pick?" We need a hitting lab in bad way.

If I'm in the Draft room, I'm gonna take Holliday and run at #5. Bloom is supposed to be fixing the hitting lab and development engine.

Do we get to see him with wood bats again before the draft? Cape Cod league starts June 14. Northwoods league starts May 24.

[craviduce]

I am more as casual observer on draft. I do subscribe to Baseball America but do not follow the college gsmes weekly .
Living about an hour from Knoxville, I do get UT Vols info on TV sports.


My question for you…
If the first 4 picks. Are mostly pitchers would the Cardinals select Ethan Holliday at No. 5 if he is there ?
Projecting he would be 3rd baseman long term or even 1st base when WillyCon leaves .

I would say "yes". But I would be extremely concerned with his inability to hit much better competition this past summer with a wooden bat. That being said, his swing is more than likely fixable. The power is legit. His dad had his swing fixed once he was drafted. My only hesitation would be, if I were in the draft room, "Do we possess the ability to fix and support a massive swing change for a top 5 pick?" We need a hitting lab in bad way.

If I'm in the Draft room, I'm gonna take Holliday and run at #5. Bloom is supposed to be fixing the hitting lab and development engine.

Do we get to see him with wood bats again before the draft? Cape Cod league starts June 14. Northwoods league starts May 24.

there's nothing stopping him from jumping on a summer circuit with wooden bats in June, but I don't think his people will let him. He'll showcase himself in batting practice with a wooden bat at the Combine.

I think the issue lies beyond Wooden Bats for Holliday last summer....it was better pitching....much better pitching. THat's a bit concerning...especially for a Top of the Draft prospect

[craviduce]

https://www.mlb.com/news/podcast-visual ... -mlb-draft

I was dreaming of Jo Jo or Jacob Parker in the 2nd round or our CB pick after the 2nd round back in December, but Jo Jo is tearing it up this Spring. Purvis High Shcool, Purvis, MS....the brothers were a force on the summer circuit and in the many All-Star extravaganzas. J

Jo Jo has been moving up draft boards all spring, a recent one had him cracking the Top 30. This forecast has him in the Top 10...you can't hide him now . He's on everyone's radar.