Eli Willits Could Make MLB Draft History As Youngest 1-1 Ever

Image credit: Eli Willits (Photo By Eddie Kelly / ProLook Photos)

In the history of the draft, a dozen players selected with the first overall pick were 17 years old on draft day. 

Another 15 players drafted first overall were 18 years old, and three were 19. All told, half of all No. 1 overall picks in history—30 out of 60—were teenagers on draft day.

Ah, but the concept of “draft day” is fluid. Over the years, MLB has conducted its draft on dates ranging from June 1 to July 14. So players with dates of birth in June or July could be aged up or down arbitrarily, simply because their birthdays fall on one side or the other of a moving line of demarcation. 

To get around this, Baseball America has determined the “baseball age” of every first-round draft pick ever. This is calculated as the player’s age as of June 30 of his draft year. This is the cutoff used to denote player age by resources such as Baseball Reference and FanGraphs.

What we discovered was that one top prospect for the 2025 draft has a chance to make history. 

The Nationals hold the top pick in the draft. If they select Oklahoma high school shortstop Eli Willits with the No. 1 overall pick, then he would become the youngest 1-1 in draft history—in terms of baseball age—at 17 years, six months and 21 days. 

\Willits is the son of former big league outfielder Reggie Willits, who serves as associate head coach at Oklahoma. Eli’s older brother Jaxon Willits is the Sooners’ shortstop.  

None of this would be possible if not for a decision Eli Willits made in May 2024. That’s when he announced that he was reclassifying for the 2025 draft. He finished his course work at Fort Cobb-Broxton High in three years rather than four in order to be eligible for the draft a year early.

Through the 2024 draft, the youngest player ever selected No. 1 overall was California prep shortstop Tim Foli in 1968. His baseball age was 17 years, six months and 24 days—three days older than Willits—when the Mets made him the top pick in his draft. 

Among the youngest players ever drafted at 1-1 are superstars Ken Griffey Jr. (1987), Bryce Harper (2010) and Alex Rodriguez (1993). Multi-time all-stars Carlos Correa (2012) and Justin Upton (2005) both were 17 and had notably young baseball ages when drafted.  

Even if Willits is not drafted first overall, he will be among the youngest players ever drafted near the top of the first round. Among those drafted among the top five overall picks—BA has Willits going fifth to the Cardinals in our latest mock draft—just a handful of players have a baseball age younger than Willits.  

The list of the five youngest top-five overall draft picks in history looks like this, with Willits displayed in italics for reference. Remember, the age listed here is as of June 30 of the player’s draft year.

1. Expos SS Condredge Holloway (1971, fourth overall) at 17 years, five months and six days
2. Mets LHP Jon Matlack (1967, fourth overall) at 17 years, five months and 11 days
3. Phillies OF Jeff Jackson (1989, fourth overall) at 17 years, five months and 28 days
X. Oklahoma prep SS Eli Willits (2025, ???) at 17 years, six months and 21 days
4. Mets SS Tim Foli (1968, first overall) at 17 years, six months and 24 days
5. Mariners OF Ken Griffey Jr. (1989, first overall) at 17 years, seven months and nine days

While Holloway was the youngest top-five overall pick in draft history, he never played professional baseball. He did not sign with Montreal in 1971 or when drafted by the Braves in 1975 or ’76. Instead, Holloway played football at Tennessee and was the first Black quarterback in SEC history. He later starred in the Canadian Football League. 

In any case, not many elite draft talents have ever been as young as Willits.

No. 1 Overall Draft Picks, Youngest To Oldest
1965–2024
Age as of June 30 in draft year

Draft	player	pos	team	DOB	age
1968	Tim Foli	SS	Mets	12/6/50	17 years, 6 months, 24 days
1987	Ken Griffey Jr.	OF	Mariners	11/21/69	17 years, 7 months, 9 days
2010	Bryce Harper	OF	Nationals	10/16/92	17 years, 8 months, 14 days
1966	Steve Chilcott	C	Mets	9/23/48	17 years, 9 months, 7 days
2012	Carlos Correa	SS	Astros	9/22/94	17 years, 9 months, 8 days
2003	Delmon Young	OF	Rays	9/14/85	17 years, 9 months, 16 days
1971	Danny Goodwin	C	White Sox	9/2/53	17 years, 9 months, 28 days
2005	Justin Upton	SS	D-backs	8/25/87	17 years, 10 months, 5 days
2014	Brady Aiken	LHP	Astros	8/16/96	17 years, 10 months, 14 days
1970	Mike Ivie	C	Padres	8/8/52	17 years, 10 months, 22 days
1993	Alex Rodriguez	SS	Mariners	7/27/75	17 years, 11 months, 3 days
1984	Shawn Abner	OF	Mets	6/17/66	18 years, 0 months, 13 days
2017	Royce Lewis	SS	Twins	6/5/99	18 years, 0 months, 25 days
1999	Josh Hamilton	OF	Rays	5/21/81	18 years, 1 months, 9 days
2016	Mickey Moniak	OF	Phillies	5/13/98	18 years, 1 months, 17 days
2000	Adrian Gonzalez	1B	Marlins	5/8/82	18 years, 1 months, 22 days
1990	Chipper Jones	SS	Braves	4/24/72	18 years, 2 months, 6 days
1973	David Clyde	LHP	Rangers	4/22/55	18 years, 2 months, 8 days
2001	Joe Mauer	C	Twins	4/19/83	18 years, 2 months, 11 days
1979	Al Chambers	OF	Mariners	3/24/61	18 years, 3 months, 6 days
1977	Harold Baines	OF	White Sox	3/15/59	18 years, 3 months, 15 days
1980	Darryl Strawberry	OF	Mets	3/12/62	18 years, 3 months, 18 days
1969	Jeff Burroughs	OF	Senators	3/7/51	18 years, 3 months, 23 days
2004	Matt Bush	SS	Padres	2/8/86	18 years, 4 months, 22 days
2008	Tim Beckham	SS	Rays	1/27/90	18 years, 5 months, 3 days
2022	Jackson Holliday	SS	Orioles	12/4/03	18 years, 6 months, 26 days
1967	Ron Blomberg	1B	Yankees	8/23/48	18 years, 10 months, 7 days
1982	Shawon Dunston	SS	Cubs	3/21/63	19 years, 3 months, 9 days
1991	Brien Taylor	LHP	Yankees	12/26/71	19 years, 6 months, 4 days
1965	Rick Monday	OF	Athletics	11/20/45	19 years, 7 months, 10 days
2011	Gerrit Cole	RHP	Pirates	9/8/90	20 years, 9 months, 22 days
2020	Spencer Torkelson	3B	Tigers	8/26/99	20 years, 10 months, 4 days
1988	Andy Benes	RHP	Padres	8/20/67	20 years, 10 months, 10 days
1997	Matt Anderson	RHP	Tigers	8/17/76	20 years, 10 months, 13 days
1978	Bob Horner	3B	Braves	8/6/57	20 years, 10 months, 24 days
1985	B.J. Surhoff	C	Brewers	8/4/64	20 years, 10 months, 26 days
2009	Stephen Strasburg	RHP	Nationals	7/20/88	20 years, 11 months, 10 days
1976	Floyd Bannister	LHP	Astros	6/10/55	21 years, 0 months, 20 days
1995	Darin Erstad	OF	Angels	6/4/74	21 years, 0 months, 26 days
2023	Paul Skenes	RHP	Pirates	5/29/02	21 years, 1 months, 1 days
2018	Casey Mize	RHP	Tigers	5/1/97	21 years, 1 months, 29 days
1994	Paul Wilson	RHP	Mets	3/28/73	21 years, 3 months, 2 days
1972	Dave Roberts	3B	Padres	2/17/51	21 years, 4 months, 13 days
2015	Dansby Swanson	SS	D-backs	2/11/94	21 years, 4 months, 19 days
2019	Adley Rutschman	C	Orioles	2/6/98	21 years, 4 months, 24 days
1992	Phil Nevin	3B	Astros	1/19/71	21 years, 5 months, 11 days
1986	Jeff King	3B	Pirates	12/26/64	21 years, 6 months, 4 days
1981	Mike Moore	RHP	Mariners	11/26/59	21 years, 7 months, 4 days
1989	Ben McDonald	RHP	Orioles	11/24/67	21 years, 7 months, 6 days
1974	Bill Almon	SS	Padres	11/21/52	21 years, 7 months, 9 days
1996	Kris Benson	RHP	Pirates	11/7/74	21 years, 7 months, 23 days
1983	Tim Belcher	RHP	Twins	10/19/61	21 years, 8 months, 11 days
1998	Pat Burrell	1B	Phillies	10/10/76	21 years, 8 months, 20 days
2002	Bryan Bullington	RHP	Pirates	9/30/80	21 years, 9 months, 0 days
2021	Henry Davis	C	Pirates	9/21/99	21 years, 9 months, 9 days
1975	Danny Goodwin	C	Angels	9/2/53	21 years, 9 months, 28 days
2024	Travis Bazzana	2B	Guardians	8/28/02	21 years, 10 months, 2 days
2007	David Price	LHP	Rays	8/26/85	21 years, 10 months, 4 days
2013	Mark Appel	RHP	Astros	7/15/91	21 years, 11 months, 15 days
2006	Luke Hochevar	RHP	Royals	9/15/83	22 years, 9 months, 15 days