Atlanta Braves second-rounder Alex Lodise went from barely recruited to college baseball's ‘Heisman'

New York Times

14-07-2025

Not long after Alex Lodise and the Florida State Seminoles suffered a heartbreaking end to their season in the Super Regionals against Oregon State, FSU head coach Link Jarrett called Lodise into the coaches' suite at the team hotel. He had some good news to share.
Lodise, the newest second-round pick of the Atlanta Braves had been named the Dick Howser award winner, given to the top college baseball player in the country. A player who had only one college offer coming out of high school had just won what Jarrett calls the 'Heisman trophy of college baseball.'
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'It was a surreal moment,' Lodise said last month at the MLB Draft Combine.
'I'll never forget saying that to him and the look on his face,' Jarrett said. 'Watching him win that and knowing how hard he worked — nobody understands in that room when they're giving out the award the hours and hours and hours that goes into it and probably what he felt like he was when he left high school to what he was when he was sitting on that stage to get that award. It's just remarkable.'
It was a storybook ending for Lodise, who transferred to FSU from North Florida after his freshman season and helped guide the Seminoles to a College World Series appearance in 2024 and a Super Regionals berth this season. Once overlooked at Bartram Trail High School in St. Johns, Fla., Lodise, who was a co-captain for the Seminoles this season, leaves Tallahassee with a significant legacy.
'I had one offer out of a high school. Was never really recruited, never recruited by any MLB teams,' Lodise said. 'It was something I would tell myself, it's like, 'Believe in yourself, it's going to come, you're going to grow, you're going to be a late bloomer, it's OK, just work your way through.''
It didn't take long for Lodise to start to realize that dream once he enrolled at North Florida. As a freshman, he hit 16 homers in 55 games and posted a .976 OPS. Florida State faced Lodise as an opponent that season and Jarrett saw the traits of a player who could be a strong addition to his team.
'You just saw a good young player that you thought you could help move along,' Jarrett said.
Lodise transferred to Florida State as a sophomore and began work on improving a swing that Jarrett says had a little too much lift. It took some time and there were bumpy moments early in his sophomore season, but Lodise eventually found the right swing and rhythm and finished his first year at FSU batting .281/.363/.479 in 62 games.
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Buoyed by the strong finish to his regular season and a solid stint in the wood bat Cape Cod League over the summer, when he hit .295 in 15 games while matched up with some of the top collegiate talent in the country, Lodise came into his junior season fully confident in his abilities. That confidence quickly translated into on-field success.
'I came in last year new to the program, and I was putting a bunch of stress on myself, telling myself I gotta do so good, and I was just overthinking a lot of things,' Lodise said. 'I think I did a lot better this year just going and having fun.'
In a year where power numbers were down throughout Division I, Lodise posted an eye-opening .705 SLG and a career-best 17 homers in 58 games this season. He achieved those numbers while increasing his walk rate and cutting down on his strikeouts. Lodise made some subtle changes at the plate, focusing on being more on-time.
'I wanted to start my load earlier, be slow and more in control and in my legs,' he said.
A career highlight for Lodise came on March 25 when he hit a walkoff grand slam to complete the cycle against rival Florida. The game was played in Jacksonville at the home of the Double-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp and roughly 40 members of his family were in the crowd.
'I blacked out,' Lodise said of the immediate aftermath of his home run. 'Honestly, it was just crazy. I couldn't hear anything. All I heard was people yelling. And then I look and there's the bullpens … running down the third base line to get the home plate. It was just awesome.'
Lodise didn't only grow as a hitter during his two years at FSU. He also improved significantly as a shortstop. Improving his defense was a big part of why Lodise chose to play at FSU. He recalls during his recruiting call with Jarrett that defense was a significant part of their conversation.
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'I was like, 'Alright, I'm ready for you to teach me to play defense. I'm ready to learn from you,'' Lodise said of Jarrett. 'He's historically had great teams. Just to be able to play for a coach like that who has so much pull in the game and has been around it for so long, it was awesome.'
Jarrett says Lodise was always a hard-nosed defensive player but he was also able to improve his internal game clock and ability to his use feet to increase his range. He was very diligent in the weight room, as well.
'He likes to work at it,' Jarrett said. 'He's very focused.
Lodise also credits his time playing on the Cape Cod League fields, which are often a bit rough, for helping him improve his defense significantly. When Lodise accepted the Dick Howser award, his defensive play was cited as one of the reasons the committee gave it to him.
'The recognition of the defense as part of his game, I thought that stood out for him in that award,' Jarrett said. 'We don't have some of the metrics that you might have in the major-league stadiums that grab the defensive range and those sort of things. But the people that evaluated that award, they recognized it, which was cool.'
Although he grew up near Jacksonville, Lodise's dad raised him as a New York Yankees fan, so getting to be a shortstop like his childhood favorite player, Derek Jeter, is a thrill.
'I would be lying to you if I said I didn't practice the jump throw,' he said with a laugh.
Lodise isn't the only shortstop in his family whose life is expected to change during the draft. His first cousin, Kyle, was the starting shortstop for Georgia Tech this past season and he is projected to be a top-three round draft pick. Though the two lived about an hour-and-a-half apart, they grew up together both as people and as baseball players.
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Both Lodise families had two boys and were highly competitive. They'd team up against each other for epic inter-family whiffle ball, football and basketball battles, with each family taking home their share of the bragging rights. That atmosphere helped shape both Alex and Kyle into top athletes.
Alex says the cousins talk regularly after games.
'It's just been awesome to have somebody like that that I can go to and trust with everything I have,' he said.
As Lodise gets ready to take the next step in his career, Jarrett believes the kid who went from overlooked to the top player in college baseball in just three years has even more room to get better. He says Lodise has more power potential and that his pitch recognition — which improved significantly the last two years — will only continue to get better.
Mostly, Jarrett is excited for the organization that will get to add Lodise to their mix.
'He's just an exceptional person, great family, works hard, and stays focused,' Jarrett said.