Former Iowa baseball star Cade Obermueller among ESPN staff's favorite MLB draft picks

USA Today

a day ago

Iowa baseball is starting to build a nice MLB pitcher pipeline as of late.
In recent years, names like Brody Brecht and Adam Mazur have heard their names called on draft night, with the latter making his MLB debut earlier this season. And the Hawkeyes were able to add another pitcher to the big league ranks when Cade Obermueller was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2nd round of the 2025 MLB draft.
Obermueller is seen as a quick riser through the minor league systems and many figure he could debut sooner rather than later. That thought process had a lot of scouts and executives excited over his potential and lead to him being drafted pretty early in this years draft. And the selection of Obermueller earned high praise from one veteran ESPN writer.
Phillies named big winners after Obermueller selection
ESPN MLB writer Kiley McDaniel released his favorite picks of the first day of the MLB draft on Monday morning and the Phillies were mentioned after their selections of Obermueller and Arkansas pitcher Gage Wood.
The Phillies' next pick, Cade Obermueller, is another possible starter who also could move quickly as a lefty turning 22 later this month with two knockout pitches in his fastball/slider combo. Odds are good that at least one of them can provide big league value in the next 12 months if Philly wants to utilize them that way. -McDaniel.
Obermueller is more than deserving of the praise after a stellar career at Iowa. Across three seasons with the Hawkeyes, Obermueller started 30 games and pitched 165 innings. He had a 3.60 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and an astounding 226 strikeouts. Last season for the Hawks, Obermueller started 15 games, going 5-3 with a 3.02 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 117 strikeouts in 83.1 innings. He was named an All-Big Ten first team selection following his 2025 season.
Obermueller was previously drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 19th round of the 2024 MLB draft, but chose to return to school to improve his stock. And that decision payed major dividends. He now joins an organization that knows how to develop pitching, with names like Ranger Suarez, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sanchez and Mick Abel all having success in their system. And now Obermueller will get the chance to add to the Hawkeye pitching tree, which continues to blossom under Rick Heller.
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