For an organization that’s found a great deal of success developing homegrown starters from the college pitching ranks, this had to be a dream scenario. Anderson lines up well with the pre-draft versions of George Kirby and Logan Gilbert. Both were successful college starters with great pitchability and above-average stuff, and both saw steady gains on their velocity and overall stuff. Perhaps the Mariners can replicate their success with Anderson.
Based on post-draft comments, it sounds like the Pirates were always going pitching with this pick. Why not? Let’s be blunt: This organization hasn’t won much over the last decade. So, leaning into recent pitching development success makes a great deal of sense. Hernandez has elite velocity, which hasn’t always been a surefire path to success for high school righthanders. On the other hand, he might have as much upside as any player in the draft.
The Pirates have done a good job developing Bubba Chandler, who could provide a proven road map for Hernandez.
While it took some time to gel, the development of Blue Jays shortstop Arjun Nimmala over the past two years is a feather in the cap of the organization’s player development team. Parker and Nimmala are different players, but it’s not a foreign demographic for the Blue Jays. Parker has advanced feel to hit and a frame that hints at more game power in the coming years. Also, the Blue Jays have seen their pitching corps blossom this season, making adding a high-end prep bat a wise move.
The Athletics deserve credit for the development of pitchers throughout their system. Jack Perkins and J.T. Ginn are in the major leagues, Gage Jump is a Top 100 Prospect and Yunior Tur, Wei-En Lin, Kade Morris and others have taken steps forward in 2025. Arnold has some similarities to Jump in that he’s a lefty with outlier release height and unique fastball traits. There are also some questions around what pitch Arnold will use to get out righthanded hitters.
With the progress of Jump this season, the A’s have to believe they came away with a player in Arnold who fits their current player development team.
While a first-round high school hitter is out of character for the Astros historically, the organization has shown they value athleticism under scouting director Cam Pendino. And Neyens, for his part, is a good athlete with plus-plus power projection. There are some questions around his hit tool, but the Astros value on-base ability and plus power, and it’s not an unfamiliar archetype for Houston’s player dev department.
The team has had a lot of success finding quality pitching outside round one in recent years, but building their positional depth was of great importance for the Astros in 2025.
Ok, it might be a stretch to say LaViolette is a “great” fit for the Guardians’ player development. That’s mostly because this is not a player type the team has targeted in recent years, as Cleveland has valued the combination of bat-to-ball skills and on-base ability over power-first profiles.
While Laviolette didn’t meet expectations in 2025, he had a tremendously successful college career and the 27th pick is likely the right spot in the first round to take an upside chance like this. This was a player the Guardians likely didn’t believe they would have access to six months ago. The combination of plus power, athleticism and the ability to provide value defensively gives LaViolette star upside if he proves he has the requisite bat-to-ball skills for success in MLB.
When the Brewers have targeted high school hitters, their track record is strong. Recent success stories include Brice Turang (2018), Luke Adams (2022), Cooper Pratt (2023) and Braylon Payne (2024). It’s not a demographic they have targeted often, but the hit rate is good. What Ebel shares with the other recent prep picks is his advanced feel to hit. He’s one of the youngest players in the 2025 class and will join one of the most talented systems in the game.
The Tigers have hit some home runs with their picks from the prep positional ranks in recent years. They’ve also shown a taste for players from cold-weather states in Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle.
Some rival teams viewed Oliveto as a potential first-round talent with helium who could slip into the second round. One evaluator remarked that Oliveto was “the best catcher in this year’s draft.” Opinions may vary on Oliveto, but his upside with the bat gives this pick some sizzle. Thanks in part to shrewd picks like this, the Tigers are in the conversation for best organization, top to bottom, in the game, an idea that was foreign to the fanbase three years ago.
The Rangers have targeted college pitchers with some question marks in recent seasons. Alejandro Rosario, David Hagaman and Garrett Horn all had checkered medicals similar to Russell. Early on in Russell’s collegiate career, he looked like a slam dunk top 10 pick. He later had internal brace surgery in 2024 and was brought back slowly by Tennessee this season.
With a full healthy offseason, Russell could be a steal for the Rangers in the second round. Rosario saw tremendous growth under the Rangers’ tutelage, as did Kumar Rocker, Kohl Drake and numerous international signees.
Tulane used Lombardi in a variety of roles, which limited his total innings throughout his career. When he did get an opportunity to start this season, he showed glimpses of a future starting pitching prospect, making him a name to watch in the Royals’ system moving forward.
Lombardi has good stuff but an unrefined arsenal that will likely look very different in a few seasons. His four-seam fastball sits 93-95 mph, touches 98 and shows elite riding life with good plane. His primary secondary is a two-plane curveball that generates whiffs in the high 70s to low 80s. His changeup is a work in progress, but he did see success with it this season.
Just about once every draft, the Dodgers land a college starter with big risk and bigger reward. Leiter is the latest addition to the team’s stable of talented arms with injury risk.
Leiter has shown big stuff, potential for four above-average pitches and below-average command. He has a prototypical starter’s build, four pitch shapes and a limited track record of health. The Dodgers will likely bring him along slowly over the next year, but he could develop into their next highly-rated project.
The Twins don’t receive enough credit for their ability to develop starting pitching. Zebby Matthews, Bailey Ober and David Festa were all developed by the team, and the Twins have several interesting homegrown talents throughout the system.
Ellwanger has a chance to be next in line. He has three pitches that grade out as above-average or better, as well as plenty of traits that portend future success. Cleaning up Ellwanger’s mechanics is priority number one for the Twins as they hope to coax out more command of his above-average stuff.
