2025 MLB Draft Intel: What We’re Hearing 20 Days Out

Kade Anderson Makes Strong SP1 Case

LSU ace Kade Anderson took advantage of his extra opportunities amid LSU’s championship run and converted them into exclamation points to cap his standout 2025 season. 

He struck out seven batters in seven innings against Arkansas, then threw a complete game shutout against Coastal Carolina with 10 strikeouts on Saturday in game one of the CWS finals. Even before those two outings, Anderson was gaining more momentum than any pitcher in the class to grab hold of the “SP1” designation in the 2025 class—at least among college arms.

After 18 starts and 119 innings, Anderson posted a 3.18 ERA with a nation-leading 180 strikeouts to go along with a 37.4% strikeout rate (third among D-I arms) and a 7.3% walk rate. There are scouts who believe he has the best package of stuff, strikes and delivery in the class. He’s now as likely as any pitcher to be the first selected—with a real chance to go to the Nationals as the first overall pick. 

If Anderson does go first overall he would become just the sixth lefthanded pitcher to ever be drafted first overall, joining a group that includes David Clyde (1973), Floyd Bannister (1976), Brien Taylor (1991), David Price (2007) and Brady Aiken (2014). He would also make history as the first college pitcher to go first overall with a Tommy John surgery already on his resumé. 

Anderson had Tommy John surgery in April of 2022 as a high schooler. He threw more innings than any Division I pitcher this spring, held his stuff deep into games and pitched deeper than six innings in eight of his 18 starts, as well as all four of his final four games. There’s no reason to think Anderson hasn’t put his surgery behind him, but how will his medical history be treated on draft day? 

There have been high-profile pitchers who have gone near the top of the draft with a TJ on their ledger. Just a year ago, Hagen Smith went fifth overall. Smith, like Anderson, had Tommy John surgery in high school before dominating in college with Arkansas. That didn’t stop the White Sox from spending $8 million on him as the second pitcher off the board. Will it deter the Nationals if they think Anderson’s the top player available? 

Josh Owens Could Go In The Top 50

Back in May, we identified Josh Owens as one of several high schoolers with significant buzz. That buzz has only continued. Owens now sounds like he could go among the first 50 picks of the draft. 

Owens is a projectable shortstop with big tools, athleticism and raw power to dream on from the left side. It sounds like there are a handful of teams who would be willing to take a shot on that upside with one of their first picks. 

In our most recent mock draft we mentioned Owens as a potential fit with the Royals. Kansas City picks 23rd, 28th and 61st overall and Owens could be real fit for any of them. He’s also been tied to the Padres, Marlins and Rangers. 

San Diego picks 25th and 99th overall, so it sounds like they might have to take him in the first round if they want to get a shot at his toolset and athleticism. He very much feels like a typical Padres draft pick. 

The Marlins pick seventh overall, 43rd overall and 46th overall. He feels like a better fit with either of those second picks if he’s available than a top-10 draftee.

The Rangers pick 12th overall and 52nd overall, and similar to Miami, he feels like a better fit with their second pick than a top-half of the first round selection. Owens has already garnered some Evan Carter comparisons as a lean, athletic, projectable lefthanded hitter out of Tennessee. If the Rangers take him those comparisons will only increase in frequency. 

Tyler Bremner Feels Safely In The Top 15

The further we get from the 2025 season, the better Tyler Bremner’s draft year looks. That’s been consistent feedback from the industry in recent weeks, and I continue to think he’s more likely to go toward the higher end of his draft range—closer to the Kade Anderson, Liam Doyle, Jamie Arnold and Kyson Witherspoon tier of arms than to falling into the 20s

Bremner entered the season with high expectations but had four fairly modest starts to begin the year which raised some questions. After that, though, Bremner was as dominant as he’s been in college—or more so. Bremner logged double-digit strikeouts in six of his final seven starts. In that seven-start stretch he managed a 74:10 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

His 111 strikeouts in 2025 are the most in a single season. His 35.8% strikeout rate is his best mark in a single season. His 29.7 K-BB% is also his best mark in a single season. His ERA (3.49) in 2025 was higher than his 2024 mark (2.54) but his 2.14 FIP (calculated by FanGraphs) is the best single mark of his three-year career. 

The more granular data looks strong as well. His overall 39% miss rate is the best of his career, per SynergySports. He averaged 95.2 mph on his fastball—also the best mark of his career and marginally better than his 95.0 mph average from 2024. 

His fastball traits should be appealing to most teams, and are comparable to the best college arms in the class. Bremner’s 19.2 inches of induced vertical break is slightly behind Anderson (19.7) and Doyle (19.5). His total horizontal movement of 13.5 inches with the pitch trails only Arnold (13.9). And his -4.21 vertical approach angle is neck-and-neck with Doyle (-4.22) as the second/third flattest fastball of the top arms. Arnold blows everyone away in this category with a -3.84 VAA. 

Add in Bremner’s control and command foundation that could easily be seen as the best of the bunch, and he fits right in with the top arms in the class. Below are the complete resumes for each of the top five college arms in the class. The table is sorted by K-BB%.

Player	ERA	APP	GS	IP	BB	K	HBP	AVG	OPS	BB%	K%	K-BB%	WHIP
Liam Doyle	4.13	58	35	207	73	317	24	0.203	0.649	8.50%	36.70%	28.20%	1.1
Kade Anderson	3.38	37	28	157.1	55	239	12	0.224	0.665	8.40%	36.50%	28.10%	1.17
Tyler Bremner	3.58	50	31	221.1	57	295	10	0.222	0.612	6.30%	32.70%	26.40%	1.08
Jamie Arnold	3.61	58	41	234.1	80	327	38	0.227	0.677	7.90%	32.50%	24.60%	1.19
Kyson Witherspoon	3.14	33	27	175	63	214	17	0.217	0.661	8.40%	28.70%	20.30%	1.17

Ike Irish’s Top 10 Odds

Another first-round talent who I don’t expect to slide much is Auburn catcher Ike Irish. In Mock Draft 4.0 we projected him to go ninth to the Reds. He feels like one of the favorites to be the second college hitter off the board at this point, following Oregon State shortstop Aiva Arquette. 

Irish boasts an impressive combination of college performance, great underlying batted ball data and long-term offensive track record dating back to his high school days. That last point probably carries the least weight of the three, but could be more valuable to some clubs who prioritize a long track record of performance. 

Among projected first-rounders, Irish and Tennessee’s Andrew Fischer dominated many SEC offensive leaderboards. Based on FanGraphs’ calculated wRC+, Irish ranks third among SEC hitters with a 152 mark—trailing only Ryland Zaborowski (171) and Fischer (163). He also ranks:

• Third in batting average (.364)
• Sixth in on-base percentage (.469)
• Fourth in slugging percentage (.710)
• Sixth in isolated slugging (.346)
• Tied for ninth with 19 home runs among qualified SEC hitters

Irish’s underlying batted-ball data supports the production. Among the 11 college hitters currently ranked as first-round prospects with at least 240 plate appearances (excluding only Brendan Summerhill and Ethan Conrad), Irish ranks:

• Second in average exit velocity (94.6 mph)
• Fifth in 90th percentile exit velocity (107.4 mph)
• Third in max exit velocity (113.9 mph)
• First in hard-hit rate (61%)

His impact quality is exceptional. However, his contact rate (81.5%, eighth) and chase rate (23.3%, seventh) rank either modestly or toward the lower end compared to his first-round peers.

Irish’s separator from most other college hitters is his potential to play a premium defensive position. Even if most amateur scouts view Irish as a real risk to move off catcher, recent history for college catchers offers reason for optimism. Austin Wells, Cal Raleigh and Ryan Jeffers all faced similar questions about their defensive ability to stick behind the plate and each, to varying degrees, developed into high-end receivers.

That development track could be a big boost for Irish’s stock on draft day, especially if teams get the idea that he really wants to stick at the position. 

Gage Wood Dominates Down The Stretch

Gage Wood finished the season by doing his best Cade Horton and Ty Floyd impression. The Arkansas righthander missed multiple months of the season, but returned in mid April and flashed some of the best stuff in the class in a few exceptional outings deep into the postseason. 

So how does his draft year resume compare to those recent college pitching risers? Quite well actually: 

Player	Year	ERA	APP	GS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	OPS	BB%	K%	K-BB%
Gage Wood	2025	3.82	10	10	37.2	27	17	16	7	69	0.592	4.70%	46.00%	41.30%
Ty Floyd	2023	4.35	19	17	91	70	50	44	37	120	0.703	9.60%	31.00%	21.40%
Cade Horton	2022	4.86	14	11	53.2	56	31	29	15	64	0.761	6.40%	27.40%	21.00%

Floyd is in a different tier to both Wood and Horton when it comes to overall workload. He pitched his entire draft year and wasn’t returning from injury, as much as putting together a few dominant outings under the bright lights of the College World Series. 

In that sense, Wood compares much better to Horton. Wood does have the advantage of having multiple seasons as a college reliever on his resumé, while Horton missed his freshman year with Tommy John surgery and was draft-eligible during his 2022 sophomore season.

All three pitchers turned in excellent final college starts: Horton struck out 13 and walked none in 7.1 innings vs. Ole Miss in Omaha; Floyd struck out 17 and walked one in eight innings against Florida in Omaha; and Wood struck out 19 and walked none in a complete game, no-hitter and shutout against Murray State. Wood’s no-hitter was the third in College World Series history and the most strikeouts by a CWS pitcher in nine or fewer innings. 

Wood showed dominant stuff to go with his dominant performance. 

Analysts dream about fastballs like Wood’s. This spring he averaged 96.3 mph and touched 98. It’s a hoppy fastball that has great riding life and generated a silly 23.5% swinging strike rate. It looks like a fairly clear 70-grade pitch. Wood backs it up with a hard hammer curveball in the low-to-mid 80s that has above-average potential and this spring and last year has shown great control. 

It’s hard to see how this profile doesn’t go in the first round given how the industry has treated pitchers like Horton and Floyd in the past.