2025 MLB Draft Review: Minnesota Twins

Full list of draftees

While many teams played games with their bonus pool, the Twins went a little more straight up and stuck around slot value for nearly every pick. Minnesota targeted a wide variety of skill sets, from glove-first to big power to power arms, but size was a common thread. Their first six picks were 6'6" on average. Yes, 6'6" on average, including the tallest player in the entire draft in the 6'11" Jason Reitz. I like what they did here overall and I think this will be a strong class.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.
Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. For example, "2-50" would indicate that a player was taken in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.

1-16: SS Marek Houston, Wake Forest
Slot value: $4.93 million. Signing bonus: $4.5 million ($432,100 below slot value).
My rank: #16. MLB Pipeline: #15. Baseball America: #14.
Previously known for drafting power bats early, Minnesota has moved off of that strategy a bit in recent years (besides Walker Jenkins in 2023) and certainly went a different route with Marek Houston. He's one of the more interesting prospects that got drafted in the first round this year. Recruited as a light hitting shortstop, he took the reins at the premium position for Wake Forest as a true freshman in 2023 despite hitting just .220/.328/.307 in 65 games (the most ever appearances for a Wake Forest freshman). When his bat took a step forward to the tune of a .326/.433/.516 line as a sophomore, scouts took notice. Then when he homered in his first three games of the 2025 season (while picking up ten hits in his first four games), igniting a red hot start to the season in which he carried a .400 batting average through 28 games into late March, his name rocketed towards the top of the draft. At one point he reached as high as #4 on my board, making him the top college bat in the class, but a mid-season slump in which he hit .154/.302/.192 over a 14 game stretch gave his stock a little market correction, bringing him back to the middle of the first round where he probably belonged. Houston stands out first for his glove. He is as slick as they come on the dirt, with all of the actions, body control, and twitch you look for in a plus major league shortstop. With an above average arm, he'll certainly stick there and provide value. The Tampa-area product has always been a competent hitter, with a great combination of patience and pure bat to ball to give him an above average hit tool. The approach played up in the Cape Cod League, too, where he hit .306/.465/.329 with an impressive 22.8% walk rate. In 2025, Houston traded some of his contact for power and managed to send fifteen baseballs over the fence, nearly doubling his previous career high of eight, and now looks like he could hit 10-15 home runs annually in the big leagues at peak. His power shows up almost exclusively to the pull side and plays much better with metal than with wood bats, so that piece of his game does remain a question mark. Overall, Minnesota will look to strike a balance between his previous line drive-oriented approach and his newer one in which he gets a little more coil in his load and a little more uppercut in his bat path, though he still posted very healthy contact rates with the new power-oriented approach. Houston's glove buys his bat significant slack and if he can continue to show impact with wood bats in pro ball, he should be Minnesota's every day shortstop in short order.

CBA-36: RHP Riley Quick, Alabama
Slot value: $2.69 million. Signing bonus: $2.69 million.
My rank: #33. MLB Pipeline: #38. Baseball America: #35.
Minnesota went big righty in the competitive balance round. We regularly hear about draftees starring in other sports – as quarterbacks, wide receivers, shooting guards, and sprinters – but we don't often get offensive linemen making the transition to the diamond. That's exactly what the 6'6", 255 pound Riley Quick did with such success that he earned four star recruiting grades in high school, but he's a pitcher now. The big guy missed most of the 2024 season with Tommy John surgery but was a reliable starter for Alabama in 2025 while showing big stuff to match. His fastball parks in the mid 90's with ease, touching 99 in short stints with sink though he can manipulate the shape into a more traditional four seamer or a cutter. His slider has taken a step forward this year and projects as comfortably above average, often. flashing plus with power snap. The changeup is a bit behind, but again he's working hard to gain consistency there and it should be a reliable third pitch at the big league level if a bit firm. Quick combines his size and athleticism to generate nice extension down the mound and make his already power stuff jump on hitters quicker. His command has come and gone, but it has improved with more consistent time on the mound and with a little fine tuning he could get to average in that regard. Ultimately, the ceiling here is that of a big, durable, hard throwing starting pitcher with two plus pitches and enough command to pitch deep into starts. If the changeup comes along and he holds his command, he has #2 starter upside.

2-54: SS Quentin Young, Oaks Christian HS [CA]
Slot value: $1.76 million. Signing bonus: $1.76 million.
My rank: #65. MLB Pipeline: #37. Baseball America: #56.
Here is the big power bat that we were waiting for. Quentin Young can tout Dmitri and Delmon Young as uncles, and he can swing it with both of them. Already listed at 6'6", 225 pounds, he possesses some of the loudest power in the prep class and he's shown it off everywhere he's gone. Using a big, pull-oriented swing aimed at sending the ball over the left field foul pole, he has launched pitches from high level pitchers on the showcase circuit and at home in Southern California into the stratosphere on more than a few occasions. His operation consists of a high handset, a subtle but tight coil in his hips, a slow leg kick, then a violent unwinding in which he gets his foot down about as late as any hitter I've seen. The moving parts in his swing combined with the violence in his operation does lead to fringy bat to ball, and his approach at the plate could use significant polish as well. Right now, he has the look of a 30+ home run bat with plus-plus power that could be derailed by strikeouts if he doesn't clean things up. Minnesota will work to get him more disciplined around the zone while perhaps streamlining his operation a bit to help him keep his prodigious power without selling out. Drafted as a shortstop, he almost certainly winds up at third base at some point given his size and his average speed that figures to regress a bit as he ages. Young has somewhat heavy feet that limit his range and his actions overall are somewhat raw, and his throws can get inaccurate when he's on the move. At the hot corner, he could more easily channel his massive arm strength (he has been up to 98 on the mound) and potentially become an average defender. The power and bloodlines are the real treat here and Young brings one of the more boom-or-bust profiles in this draft class. Pulling him away from an LSU commitment for slot value in the second round is nice value as well, even if I had him ranked a bit lower than most other boards.

3-88: RHP James Ellwanger, Dallas Baptist
Slot value: $893,000. Signing bonus: $1 million ($107,000 above slot value).
My rank: #91. MLB Pipeline: #76. Baseball America: #94.
James Ellwanger has been one of the better young arms in Texas for a while now, and he has done just enough to maintain that status while not fully putting things together. Elbow issues limited his freshman season at Dallas Baptist in 2024 but he put up a 2.77 ERA and an excellent 40% strikeout rate in the Cape Cod League over the summer, making up any prospect ground he lost in the spring and more. Dallas Baptist handled him very carefully this spring, and he didn't throw more than 75 pitches in a start until mid-April nor more than four innings until May. While he started strong, he hit a rough patch in the middle of the season to temper expectations until some excellent starts against Kennesaw State (6 IP, 2 ER, 1 H, 8 K) and Jacksonville State (6 IP, 1 ER, 12 K) in May gave teams something to work with. His mid 90's fastball touches 99 at peak, coming in with big riding life to blow past hitters. His hard slider has looked like his best out pitch at times in his college career, though his truer curveball seemed to eclipse that in 2025 and gives him another swing and miss offering. While he'll need to iron out the consistency, there is no question that he can spin the baseball well. His firm changeup is a fourth pitch. Ellwanger moves extremely well on the mound, showing a clean delivery that produces electric stuff when he's on with strong extension down the mound. The 6'4" righty still comes with additional projection even as a college arm, and overall if you see him on his best days you'd think he could be a #2 starter. However, his command has been very inconsistent throughout his career and his 13.8% walk rate in 2025 was well above what most teams look for. Given that he has also dealt with some nagging injuries that may have impacted his operation in ways we can't see, he'll need more consistent time on the mound to find his command. He certainly has the delivery and athleticism to get there. If Minnesota can keep him on the mound and get him throwing more strikes, the stuff is electric. It could play up even further in the bullpen.

4-119: RHP Jason Reitz, Oregon
Slot value: $635,700. Signing bonus: $633,200 ($2,500 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #191. Baseball America: #232.
The 6'11" Sean Hjelle grew up in the Twin Cities and has carved out a career for the San Francisco Giants. The 6'11" Jason Reitz grew up in the Bay Area, and now he'll look to follow the reverse path to the big leagues back in Minnesota. Reitz began his career at Saint Mary's and while he managed just a 6.85 ERA over two seasons, Oregon loved the size and brought him up north. He was blown up by Rhode Island in his second appearance and struggled with inconsistent command throughout much of the season, but seemed to hit his stride over the second half and was trending up in the lead up to the draft. Reitz doesn't look real on the mound. His towering frame struggles to stay in the camera frame if it's too zoomed in, while his rail-thin build accentuates some of the longest limbs you've ever seen. Should he reach the majors, he would tie Hjelle and Jon Rauch as the tallest pitchers of all time. Reitz' fastball sits in the low to mid 90's and touches the upper 90's, while he frequently cuts it into the upper 80's to avoid barrels. He can turn it over into a truer slider, though neither pitch stands out as a true swing and miss weapon. Reitz relies heavily on a solid changeup that can really slide off the table when he gets it right, though it can be inconsistent. Despite the long legs, he mostly just steps and throws from an upright delivery, so instead of extending way down the mound and releasing in front of the hitter's face, he instead comes straight down from the clouds. The ultra steep angle creates a unique look hitters that they don't often see or practice and gives all of his pitches downward plane. If Minnesota can help him continue to improve his command while perhaps pushing a secondary pitch forward, he could be a back-end starting pitcher. Given the higher bonus than many expected, they clearly believe they can get there with some of the most unique clay in the draft.

5-149: RHP Matt Barr, SUNY Niagara JC [NY]
Slot value: $475,000. Signing bonus: $762,500 ($287,500 signing bonus).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #136. Baseball America: #223.
The highest drafted JuCo prospect in this year's draft, Matt Barr signed for late third round money rather than attend Tennessee. Scouts don't usually go out of their way to watch Upstate New York JuCo ball, but every time Barr took the ball at SUNY Niagara, it became more and more apparent that they needed to make it happen. The NJCAA Division III Pitcher of the Year, he absolutely carved through the opposition up there with a 1.74 ERA and 94 strikeouts in just 57 innings. The fastball sits in the low to mid 90's and touches 97 with running action from a low slot, overpowering velocity for the competition he faced and enough to fit right into pro ball. He can really rip through a breaking ball, showing both a curve and a slider that have a chance to be above average with more consistency. For now, they stand out more for their high spin rates than their finish, and he also can drop his arm to get around the slider. At this point, Barr throws with significant effort in his low three quarters delivery and needs to tune up his command, but he is only 19 years old and has plenty of time to get thing streamlined. Meanwhile, the Buffalo-area native is extremely projectable at 6'6" and could easily hold the same velocity while easing up on his delivery as he fills out and gets stronger. It's a reliever-y profile at present, but given his age and projection, there is a ton of upside for Minnesota to tap into. Riley Quick is a stud, but Barr has a chance to be the best pitcher in this Twins class if things break the right way.

6-179: SS Bruin Agbayani, Saint Louis HS [HI]
Slot value: $361,600. Signing bonus: $380,600 ($19,000 above slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #234. Baseball America: #405.
The second of two high school bats taken by Minnesota, Bruin Agbayani is a very different player from Quentin Young. The son of former Met Benny Agbayani, a valuable outfielder around the turn of the century, Bruin brings a track record of performance and simply impressing scouts. His simple, direct left handed swing (albeit with some slight bat wrap) produces hard line drives around the field with consistency, playing up against strong showcase pitching even if he doesn't face the strongest competition back home in Hawaii. While the power is fringy for now, the ball is starting to jump off his bat a bit more and he could grow into average power as he fills out his 6'2" frame. It's a well-rounded offensive profile that projects to produce consistent if unremarkable numbers for the major league club. Defensively, he played shortstop in high school and figures to see time there at the outset of his pro career, but he figures to move to second base or left field in the long run. The arm strength is fringy and likely won't play on the left side of the infield, while his thicker lower half may cause him to slow down a hair as he ages. If he can stick at second base, he projects nicely as a bat-first starter there who can get on base and provide perhaps 10-15 home runs per season, though he'll be fighting an uphill battle if he is forced to the outfield where there would be more pressure on his bat. Agbayani had previously been committed to Michigan.

12-359: RHP Kolten Smith, Georgia
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $200,000 ($50,000 against bonus pool).
My rank: #172. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #330.
This is a buy low selection. Kolten Smith flashed a nice combination of stuff and pitchability over his first two years at Georgia even if his ERA began with a five in both, and coming into his junior season he was considered a top two to three round prospect. Unfortunately, the command stagnated in 2025 and he battled inconsistency on his way to his third straight 5+ ERA season, though he did run a nice 31.4% strikeout rate while again seeing time both in the rotation and bullpen. The fastball sits in the low 90's and peaks around 96, and he can work in different variations of running or riding life but overall it's an average pitch. More often than not, he'll cut the fastball a bit around 90 to keep it off barrels, and indeed he gets better results doing so. Beyond the cutter, Smith works in a full spectrum of breaking balls with a tighter slider and a truer curveball, giving him plenty of weapons with which to attack hitters. There's a changeup too, though it's fringy. There was hope that if he could maintain average command, his deep arsenal and strong 6'3" frame would make him a solid #3 or #4 starter. Instead, with his command remaining shaky and his fastball looking a bit generic, he projects more as a long reliever. There are a lot of building blocks here that could still bring the Central Florida native towards that ceiling as a back-end starting pitcher.

2025 MLB Draft Review: Chicago Cubs

Full list of draftees

Chicago seems to have revolved its draft not around its first picks but around later picks. They went massively under slot value with their first three picks and poured that money into two massive over slot bonuses for preps – righty Kaleb Wing in the fourth round and slugger Josiah Hartshorn in the sixth round, both of whom signed for the two highest bonuses in the Cubs' class outside of first rounder Ethan Conrad. While four of the first six picks were bats, it was overall a pitching-heavy class that included nine arms in a ten pick stretch from the seventh through the sixteenth rounds.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.
Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. For example, "2-50" would indicate that a player was taken in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.

1-17: OF Ethan Conrad, Wake Forest
Slot value: $4.75 million. Signing bonus: $3.56 million ($1.19 million below slot value).
My rank: #30. MLB Pipeline: #28. Baseball America: #23.
The Cubs saved a ton of money with their first pick, giving #17 overall pick Ethan Conrad just under the slot value of the #25 pick and saving nearly $1.2 million in the process. He's a very interesting case that teams doubtlessly had widely varied opinions on given his somewhat unique path, and it's likely the Cubs see him as a mid-first round talent for the price of a late first rounder. An Upstate New York native, he began his career near home at Marist and turned into one of the best hitters in the MAAC, even setting the NCAA single game record with four triples against St. Peter's in 2024. Amid a torrid run through the Cape Cod League in which he hit .385/.433/.486, he transferred to Wake Forest and hoped to follow the Seaver King route to the top ten. While he started red hot (.372/.479/.744), he made it just 21 games before going down with a shoulder injury. Conrad does a lot of things well on the baseball field. He is built like a power hitter at 6'3", 220 pounds, but employs more of a balanced approach aimed at making high rates of contact and it works. He keeps his strikeout rates low and had no issue with advanced pitching on the Cape, while posting healthy exit velocity data under the hood that points to at least average power in pro ball, perhaps above average if he can consistently elevate. Additionally, despite his size he can show plus speed once he gets going, giving him a shot to play center field at the next level if he can maintain his conditioning. Given the size, there is probably a better chance he fits in an outfield corner, with the potential to be an average right fielder or an above average left fielder. All in all, the profile actually reminds me a lot of a bigger JJ Wetherholt with a physical build, sneaky athleticism, coordination, and high baseball IQ helping all of their tools play up. Conrad has a shot to hit 15-20 home runs annually, perhaps peaking in the 20's some years at his ceiling, with high on-base percentages and a few stolen bases. Ian Happ is not a bad comp either, though Conrad is a bit bigger and more athletic.

2-56: OF Kane Kepley, North Carolina
Slot value: $1.68 million. Signing bonus: $1.4 million ($280,000 below slot value).
My rank: #76. MLB Pipeline: #84. Baseball America: #60.
Going back to the college ranks, the Cubs picked up a leadoff type in Kane Kepley. Spending his first two collegiate seasons at Liberty, he became known as one of the toughest outs in the Atlantic Sun Conference and put up a robust .461 on-base percentage over two years as an underclassman. Transferring to UNC for his junior season, his production took a step back but most teams attributed that to luck more than anything else, with the Cubs in particular seeing every bit of the second round prospect he was projected to be. Kepley stands just 5'8" and is often the smallest guy on the field, but his baseball IQ is off the charts. He is extraordinarily disciplined at the plate and walked (14.2%) twice as often as he struck out (7.1%) in 2025, flat out refusing to chase bad pitches out of the zone. That was true against elite pitching in the Cape Cod League last summer as well, where he walked 21.6% of the time and struck out just 11.4%. Kepley's quick, flat swing helps him make contact at an enormous rate, giving him a true plus hit tool overall and perhaps plus-plus if you isolate simply contact quantity from contact quality. Now as you may expect, there isn't much power in the profile. While he popped for nine home runs at Liberty in 2024, he hit just three at UNC in 2025 and registered below average exit velocities. The North Carolina native's size limits the raw power and his flat swing limits the game power, so he likely tops out around 5-10 home runs annually in the big leagues and instead relies on ultra high on-base percentages. Meanwhile, he is a plus runner who stole 45 bases (fourth-most in NCAA Division I) and was caught just four times, good for an elite 91.8% success rate. Just as with his hitting, Kepley's baserunning instincts are excellent and that carries over to defense as well, where he plays at 110 miles per hour in center field with no fear of crashing into walls. If he can find enough gaps to rack up doubles and triples, he has a chance to be a big league leadoff hitter. If he struggles to hit for impact and pitchers start to attack him in the zone and force him to rely on poking the ball through holes, he may profile more as a fourth outfielder whose below average arm precludes him from right field.

3-90: RHP Dominick Reid, Abilene Christian
Slot value: $865,500. Signing bonus: $649,125 ($216,375 below slot value).
My rank: #142. MLB Pipeline: #209. Baseball America: #366.
Dominick Reid marks a third consecutive under slot pick as well as a third consecutive transfer, though while Ethan Conrad and Kane Kepley transferred from smaller programs to bigger ones, Reid went the opposite direction. He spent two years at Oklahoma State, where he pitched just 19.1 combined innings on a deep Cowboys pitching staff. Transferring to Abilene Christian for the 2025 season, he immediately stepped into a much larger role and rewarded the coaching staff's faith, dominating an admittedly weaker schedule with 112 strikeouts over fifteen starts. Highlights included a fifteen strikeout masterpiece against Prairie View A&M in March as well as three dominant starts against Tarleton State, Cal Baptist, and Utah Valley (18 IP, 1 ER, 28/1 K/BB) to end the season. Reid sits in the low 90's and touches 96 with his fastball, but it plays up with carrying action from a lower slot. He works between a running two seamer or a cutter in the opposite direction, keeping off of barrels. Unlike most strikeout pitchers, he does not have a reliable breaking ball at this point, with his slider often backing up on him and spinning softly over the plate without the finishing action to get under barrels. However, he makes up for it with a plus changeup with excellent fading action to miss a ton of bats and make hitters look silly. The Dallas-Fort Worth product has an easy, athletic delivery that lends well to average command, and he especially throws the changeup with a ton of conviction to land it where he wants it. Reid clocks in at 6'3" with an ideal pitcher's frame and some projection remaining, lending confidence he can remain as a starter and perhaps add a tick of velocity. Chicago will tinker with his breaking ball to unlock something usable, and that may ultimately be the difference in whether he can get through a big league lineup multiple times. Ultimately, he should be able to pitch off the fastball and changeup alone in a bullpen role if he can live closer to the mid 90's. This is a fun project for Chicago and exactly the kind of sleeper that could surprise people.

4-121: RHP Kaleb Wing, Scotts Valley HS [CA]
Slot value: $623,300. Signing bonus: $1.5 million ($876,700 above slot value).
My rank: #117. MLB Pipeline: #87. Baseball America: #201.
After saving almost $1.7 million over their first three picks, the Cubs dumped about half of those savings into fourth rounder Kaleb Wing, recipient of the third highest bonus in the team's class. In fact, Wing's $1.5 million bonus was close to the slot value of the #61 pick and functioned to keep him from a Loyola Marymount commitment. He reminds me a bit of Billy Carlson, another West Coast two-way prep who went tenth overall to the White Sox, though unlike Carlson, Wing will stick on the mound. He has a low 90's fastball that touches 96, though it has been pushing higher and higher in the velocity department and plays up with significant running action. He drops in a big, two plane curveball with plenty of finish, diving across the plate when he spins it right. While it can pop out of his hand at times and hang up in the zone, it has a chance to be plus in time as he adds power and consistency. Wing has a similarly promising changeup that dives towards the plate, but it can get too soft at times and he'll need to find more consistency. More recently, he has added a slider to the mix to make for a high upside four pitch mix. The 6'2" righty is an excellent athlete that plays a solid shortstop and repeats his delivery well, though he is on the skinnier side and may have less projection than other similarly lanky prep arms. Key for Wing will be continuing to add power across his arsenal, which he has been doing, and getting more consistent with his secondary stuff. There is a chance for three plus pitches in this arsenal if he can do so, and the Cubs are banking on added bulk helping him hold his stuff over a long professional season.

5-151: OF Kade Snell, Alabama
Slot value: $465,400. Signing bonus: $200,000 ($265,400 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #227. Baseball America: #200.
This is a really nice value pick for the Cubs, who got a really good hitter in Kade Snell for ninth round money here in the fifth round. Snell, who turned 23 shortly after the draft, has had a long, winding college career. He began at Auburn as a pitcher in 2021, but never got into a game due to injuries and transferred to Wallace State JC for two seasons as a two-way player. Returning to the SEC, he joined Alabama in 2024 and again worked as a two-way player, but gave up pitching for his redshirt senior season in 2025 and responded with a huge season at the plate. Snell is a metric monster. When Baseball America released its data through mid-April, he was one of just four hitters to post a contact rate above 90%, with the other three all getting drafted in the top 81 picks. Not only that, but he had the highest 90th percentile exit velocity of any BA 500 hitter with a contact rate above even just 84%, smoking the competition. He has a flat swing that gets long through the zone and is designed to rope line drives around the field, which he does with plenty of authority showing very solid-average top-end exit velocities. The power plays down a tick because the swing is geared more for line drives, but he hits a ton of them. A patient hitter, he draws plenty of walks then rarely misses when he does swing, doing damage against all pitch types and ultimately running a minuscule 6.9% strikeout rate even while facing a tough SEC schedule with Alabama. He hit .342/.435/.456 in 21 games in the Cape Cod League back in 2023, and at this point there's little question that he has one of the best combinations of pro-readiness and impact in the entire draft. While he's a below average runner that will be limited to an outfield corner, he has plenty of arm strength with a fastball that's been up to 93 and should show adequately in either corner. Given his age, he'll expect to move quickly.

6-181: OF Josiah Hartshorn, Orange Lutheran HS [CA]
Slot value: $355,800. Signing bonus: $2 million ($1.64 million above slot value).
My rank: #77. MLB Pipeline: #108. Baseball America: #167.
With all the saving going on with every pick but the Kaleb Wing pick, it almost feels like the Cubs coordinated much of their draft to make this pick. Josiah Hartshorn, selected here at pick #181, signed for the second highest bonus in the Cubs' class with a bonus roughly the value of the #49 overall pick early in the second round. He had previously been committed to Texas A&M. A product of powerhouse Orange Lutheran in Southern California that also produced numerous recent big leaguers and top prospects, most notably Gerrit Cole, Hartshorn could wind up the best hitter ever to come out of the school. While he has a long track record of performance against top pitching, he rose late in the draft with strong impressions down the stretch in his senior season of high school ball. He already has a big league body at 6'2", 220 pounds, helping him bring a heavy barrel from both sides of the plate and produce plus power that he's tapping more and more in games. Not just a masher, Hartshorn's experience against top arms has paid off and he manages the strike zone well. With his power coming naturally, he's able to make plenty of contact too. Unfortunately, he's dealt with back and elbow injuries that have thrown a wrench in things, so the hope is that with more consistent time on the field, the hit tool could get to above average to complement the plus power. The nagging injuries have hurt his defense as well, with fringy speed and arm strength that could tick up with increased health or continue to tick down as he ages. Regardless, Chicago is buying a potential 25-30 homer bat that could produce high on-base percentages to boot. If he winds up at first base, that's still plenty of offense to profile.

7-211: LHP Pierce Coppola, Florida
Slot value: $278,500. Signing bonus: $278,500.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #430.
Pierce Coppola is an interesting pick with lots to digest. He was a top prospect in the 2021 draft who ranked #187 on my board that year, but made it to campus at Florida where he figured to step into a big role. Unfortunately, it wasn't until 2024 that he made his second appearance for the Gators after injuries all but wiped out his first two seasons, then he struggled to an 8.75 ERA (albeit with a promising 35/12 K/BB) in 2024. He came out of the gate sharp in 2025 and cut his ERA down to 2.53 while running his strikeout rate to an absurd 46.7%, but went down with an undisclosed injury after seven starts and did not return until the MLB Draft Combine in June after the season. Coppola's fastball sits in the low 90's and touches 96 at peak, playing up because of the natural extension he creates with his big frame. The 6'8" lefty has inconsistent secondary stuff headlined by a solid slider, while his changeup is a third pitch at this point. He has never thrown more than 23.2 innings in a season and thus it's not surprising that much of his game remains raw, especially for such a lanky kid who needs consistent reps to keep everything in sync, and his command is a similar story to his secondary stuff. Durability is a big concern especially given his age (turning 23 in December) and the amount of ground he needs to cover to get up to speed, so there is a wide range of outcomes here. He's healthy now and Chicago is banking on him staying that way, with the sneaky upside of a starting pitcher. More likely is that the New Jersey native winds up in the bullpen, where his fastball/slider combination would likely pick up and his massive size would make for an uncomfortable at bat.

15-451: RHP Noah Edders, Troy
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $100,000.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #411.
The Cubs finally grabbed a local kid in the fifteenth round. Noah Edders grew up in Woodridge, a suburb about 22 miles southwest of downtown Chicago, and attended nearby Downers Grove South High School. Beginning his career at Bradley, he worked his way into the rotation to middling results. He transferred south to Troy for the 2025 season and again posted an up and down year, but finished strong with 10.2 (earned) run-less, walk-less innings and nine strikeouts in the MLB Draft League. Edders throws a sinker in the low 90's that tops out around 94 and can mold it into a couple different shapes, giving him a dynamic if average offering to start with. His slider is probably his best pitch with tight, late bite to sneak under barrels, while he also has a less consistent changeup. He's big and physical at a listed 6'4", 230 pounds with a smooth, easy delivery to help him live in and around the zone. While the command isn't pinpoint, it's solid enough and the Cubs likely think the size and delivery point to a durable workhorse starting pitcher who can handle a long, grinding pro season. Getting a bit more consistent with his secondary stuff and perhaps adding a tick to his fastball will help him get to his back-end starter ceiling.

2025 MLB Draft Review: Arizona Diamondbacks

Full list of draftees

As always, Arizona targeted an athletic, high-contact up the middle prep bat with their first pick, then pivoted to drafting pitchers with six of their next seven picks going into the middle rounds. It's a class full of interesting fastball profiles including a few up into triple digits and one of my favorites in the class coming from Patrick Forbes. While two of their first three picks are listed at 5'10", it was otherwise a class full of size with eleven different draftees (more than half) listed at 6'3" or taller and thirteenth rounder Alex Galvan tipping the scales at 6'6", 245 pounds.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.
Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. For example, "2-50" would indicate that a player was taken in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.

1-18: SS Kayson Cunningham, Johnson HS [TX]
Slot value: $4.58 million. Signing bonus: $4.58 million.
My rank: #18. MLB Pipeline: #14. Baseball America: #12.
The Diamondbacks love high contact, athletic, up the middle prep bats and they got their guy in Kayson Cunningham. Many teams have watched Kevin McGonigle's ascent to the top prospect in the Tigers system and arguably in all of baseball. Cunningham shares a similar profile. Undersized at a generous 5'10", he has a chance to be a plus hitter with fringe-average power. His lightning quick left handed swing is super accurate, getting long through the strike zone and driving the ball out to all fields with some mustard on it. He never, ever swings and misses in the strike zone even against high end velocity and breaking stuff. Meanwhile, there is not a ton of power in the profile given his size, but his bat speed helps him generate fringy pop that could help him hit upwards of 10-15 home runs per season at the major league level with averages over .300. Drafted as a shortstop, he is a plus runner with good range that can get to balls all over the dirt. His arm is closer to average than plus and while he could potentially stick at shortstop, he's better at flipping the ball over to first base than he is at reaching back and gunning it so second base might be the best fit, where he could be a plus defender. The San Antonio native is old for the class, having turned 19 before the draft, but McGonigle was old for the class too and it's worked out just fine for him. Cunningham is an exciting young player and if he can continue to hit for some pop with wood bats, he could be an All Star in Arizona.

1C-29: RHP Patrick Forbes, Louisville
Slot value: $3.19 million. Signing bonus: $3 million ($191,100 below slot value).
My rank: #32. MLB Pipeline: #31. Baseball America: #47.
Patrick Forbes is a really fun arm with some of the highest upside of any pitcher in the class if he can put it together. He couldn't find the strike zone as a freshman and barely pitched, walking 15 of the 51 batters he faced (29.4% walk rate), but pulled it together enough to hold down a swingman role as a sophomore in 2024. He then dominated his way through non-conference play in 2025 (39/3 K/BB in 21 IP) and pushed his way into the first round conversation, but did not fare nearly as well in ACC play and lost a good chunk of his prospect stock when he walked seven batters in three innings at NC State in April. However, he righted the ship somewhat as the season came to a close, including racking up 32 strikeouts in three starts during Louisville's NCAA Tournament run to the College World Series. Forbes has explosive stuff. It's what I call a "rocket ship" fastball, exploding out of his hand with mid 90's velocity and big riding action, topping out in triple digits. He works between a sweeping slider and a sharper bullet slider, giving him an above average breaker when he rips it right. At this point, Forbes primarily pitches off the fastball and slider and the Diamondbacks will need to help bring his changeup along. The 6'3" righty creates a low release point with his short arm action, making the riding action on his fastball all the more impressive so that it can absolutely eat up in the zone. As has been made clear, his command comes and goes. Some days, he's around the zone and looks like he could have average command. On others, he can't find the zone. Honing that in will be the biggest key for Forbes remaining a starter, though the fastball/slider combination would be absolutely nasty out of the bullpen, where he could live in the upper 90's. Even without a reliable changeup, the stuff is so electric that it's not necessarily a hurdle so long as the command is taken care of. Arizona has had success with Kentuckian starting pitchers like Brandon Webb and Brandon Pfaadt, so Patrick Forbes will hopefully be next in line.

3-92: RHP Brian Curley, Georgia
Slot value: $839,100. Signing bonus: $700,000 ($139,100 below slot value).
My rank: #149. MLB Pipeline: #102. Baseball America: #216.
Sticking with the power arms, Brian Curley brings more triple digit velocity following Patrick Forbes. He began his career at VCU and rode a big sophomore season into an opportunity to transfer to Georgia, where he began in the bullpen but worked his way into the rotation. Curley's fastball sits in the mid 90's and can touch 100 in short stints, coming in with huge riding action from a higher slot. His hard, tight slider is his primary offspeed pitch with late dive under bats, while he can soften it up into a curveball or changeup if needed. The first two are more reliable than the latter two, which mostly serve as change of pace offerings to keep hitters off his power stuff. While the fastball/slider Forbes clocked in at a listed 6'3", 220 pounds, Curley is much stockier at 5'10", 210 pounds. The size combined with his high effort delivery and fringy command will likely push him to the bullpen, where he can live in the upper 90's and dice hitters up with his slider. The Richmond-area native also brings a fiery personality on the mound perfect for relief work, and I think both he and Arizona would love to have him on the mound closing games at Chase Field. While both he and Forbes were college juniors, he is more than a thirteen months older than Forbes and turned 22 more than a month before the draft, making him the age of a senior sign. Regardless, he should move quickly in a relief role or the Diamondbacks could try him out as a starter and see if they can better apply his natural athleticism to his delivery.

4-123: RHP Dean Livingston, Hebron Christian HS [GA]
Slot value: $611,300. Signing bonus: $1 million ($388,700 above slot value).
My rank: #125. MLB Pipeline: #95. Baseball America: #152.
Lacking a second round pick, Arizona spent big on fourth rounder Dean Livingston, a Georgia commit, and gave him a seven figure signing bonus akin to the #81 overall pick early in the third round, three hundred thousand more than their own third rounder Brian Curley. Livingston is pretty much how you draw it up as a prep pitching prospect. Listed at 6'4", 205 pounds with an ideal combination of present physicality and future projection, he certainly looks the part. Presently, the fastball sits in the low to mid 90's and reached as high as 97 this spring, and he throws distinct four and two seam fastballs. His breaking balls don't stand out with fairly pedestrian tilt, though he does show good aptitude to land them where he needs them. His changeup is usually pretty firm, but he can show nice fade at times. In all, Arizona is buying the athlete and what could be. Besides the presently above average velocity, the Atlanta-area product has a very clean, athletic delivery that appears destined to add even more velocity without sacrificing command. In fact, besides the lack of a standout secondary pitch, one of the only potential holes in the profile is that his delivery may be too clean, giving hitters a straightforward look at what is coming out of his hand. Despite the lack of deception, he throws plenty hard already and stays around the strike zone, and if he can take a step forward across the board with his offspeed stuff, he has a nice ceiling as a #3 or #4 starter.

5-153: OF Nathan Hall, South Carolina
Slot value: $456,400. Signing bonus: $456,400.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #281.
Arizona's first college bat of the class is another upside play. Nathan Hall spent two years at Clemson, where he primarily came off the bench and started just 20 of the 51 games he played in, with unremarkable offensive numbers. He transferred to rival South Carolina this year and proved that all he needed was consistent playing time, this time starting 54 of the Gamecocks' 57 games in what was unfortunately a season to forget in Columbia. Hall has a projectable, athletic frame at 6'3" and a balanced profile that brings some upside too. While he's a relatively aggressive hitter, he shows strong plate coverage and ran just an 11.7% strikeout rate, leading USC with a .322 batting average in the process. He produces sneaky raw power and while he put up just seven home runs in 2025, he shows plus top-end exit velocities that might help him profile for average or better game power in the future. Right now, his swing is more geared towards ground balls and he doesn't always get his A swing off, so helping him a) get better pitches to hit and/or b) trade some contact for more power in the air could give him 15-20 home runs per season or better. All in all, it's one of the better contact/power combinations in the class, even if he doesn't tap it quite yet and chases too much. Meanwhile, Hall is an above average runner and has shown well in center field, where he could stick if Arizona needs him to. That would certainly take some pressure off his bat as it develops towards its ceiling. There is much more upside than you'd think here for an SEC (i.e., not unknown) bat who was drafted far above where he ranked on most public boards as a potential everyday center fielder or a solid fourth outfielder.

8-243: RHP Jack Martinez, Arizona State
Slot value: $223,100. Signing bonus: $167,330 ($55,770 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #242.
This is a fun senior sign for a bit of a discount. While he's not a desert native, Jack Martinez will need to travel just eight miles from school to his new big league home. Martinez grew up in Corpus Christi and stayed relatively close to home for two years at Trinity University in San Antonio, then transferred to Louisiana-Lafayette for a good-not-great junior season in 2024. Transferring a second time to Arizona State for his senior season, he racked up strikeouts in bunches with five different double digit strikeout games (including a dozen K's against rival Arizona) and finds himself a Diamondback. Martinez sits in the low to mid 90's with his fastball, reaching back for as much as 97 to blow by hitters. He throws a distinct slider and curveball, though neither stand out and can look loopier than sharp. His changeup is his best pitch, fading at the last minute and helping him run those high strikeout numbers. The 6'4" righty has the size to start but uses a high effort delivery with huge lower half extension, impacting his strike throwing. He ran a career best 9.7% walk rate in 2025, but that was more a product of scattered strikes than it was of true command and he got hit when he left the ball over the plate. Interestingly, Martinez commands his offspeed stuff better than his fastball, meaning he'll have to steal strikes with those pitches instead. It does give hitters a different look and would work really well in short stints in the bullpen, where he could approach the upper 90's at peak velocity. If he can find a way to fine tune his fastball command to match his offspeed command, there is upside of a #4 or #5 starter there. As a senior sign, Martinez turned 22 back in March.

11-333: LHP Luke Dotson, Mississippi State
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $500,000 ($350,000 against bonus pool).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
Luke Dotson spent two years at Mississippi State, taking on a relief role as a sophomore to moderate success, then announced his intention to transfer to Texas for the 2026 season. Firmly committed to the Longhorns and falling out of the top ten rounds, it seemed highly likely that Dotson was heading for Austin, but the Diamondbacks gave him fifth round money to come to the desert instead. His fastball sits in the low 90's and touches 96, but plays up with riding and cutting action from a deceptive slot. His curveball gets nice dive over the plate, while his changeup gives him a third usable pitch against righties. Right now, the fastball is more consistent than the breaking balls and the command is closer to fringy than average, so for now he projects more as a reliever. However, the Diamondbacks seem to love his fastball and see a relatively easy, athletic delivery and a physical 6'4" frame and may think they can push him into the rotation. Transitions in the opposite direction are usually more fruitful, but reliever -> starter does work sometimes as well. For it to work, Arizona will bank on that size helping him hold his average fastball velocity deeper into starts while bringing his secondaries along. The curveball in particular shows promise of becoming a potential above average pitch.

18-543: RHP Raul Garayzar, Arizona
Slot value: up to $150,000. Signing bonus: $100,000.
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: unranked.
Raul Garayzar gives the Diamondbacks a second Arizona college product and this time, he's an Arizona native. Garayzar grew up in Rio Rico, a small town just north of the border near Nogales, then started his college career at South Mountain JC in Phoenix. He transferred to Arizona for his final two seasons, and though he didn't do much as a junior, he was a valuable swingman for the Wildcats as a senior and put up a 2.81 ERA in hitter-friendly conditions. The fastball sits in the low 90's and touches 95, not overwhelming velocity but its running action helps him keep the ball on the ground consistently. There's nice sweep on his slider but his changeup may be his best pitch with a ton of running action moving the opposite direction of his cutting fastball. The 6'4" righty is a big guy who generates his velocity pretty easily with a smooth, repeatable delivery that helps him show solid command. It's probably a long relief role without a ton of ceiling, but a very nice hometown get.