2025 MLB Draft top 50 prospects rankings: Ethan Holliday, Liam Doyle leading the way
We're now past the midpoint of the college baseball regular season, when just about every high school prospect of note has begun his spring season as well, making it a good time to update the rankings of the best players in this year's draft class. As I said in the first ranking in March, this is a deep class, but it's weaker than ever at the very top, rivaling the 2016 draft for the worst top echelon of any draft I've ever covered. That's going to mean we see a lot of well-under-slot deals this year, maybe right at the very first pick, to make up for the fact that none of these players would have gone first or second in a typical year, probably not even in the top five picks in the loaded 2023 class.
Advertisement
There is real depth in this draft, though: There's a huge group of high school shortstops, many of whom project to stay there for the long term, along with a strong set of college left-handed starters and at least an average group of hard-hitting college outfielders. The college catching crop isn't bad, either, although the high school group is almost nonexistent; the two best ones are probably going to end up in the outfield. It's a good year to pick later in the first round, and still a good year to have an extra pick or two.
The SEC and ACC remain the powerhouses of talent they've always been. The California high school group is the best it's been in several years. The Pacific Northwest has four high schoolers on this top 50 plus two college hitters; the Chicago area has two guys on this list, and could see two more on the top 100 that we'll release next month. The Mid-Atlantic and Northeast are down, and Georgia is weak for the second year in a row.
I'll do a full top 100 Big Board at some point in early May; it'll be easier to do that than it has been to figure out who goes in the top 10 here and in what order. As a reminder, this is a ranking, not a prediction of who'll be drafted where (I'll start doing that in May as well). I've seen 31 of the players on this list myself this spring, and I add my own scouting notes on those players to what I've learned from talking to scouts and directors, reviewing video and looking at data on these players where available. This ranking is my best attempt to say in what order I'd draft these players if I were a scouting director for an MLB team, based on the best information I have right now.
(Notes: Scouting grades are on a traditional 20-80 scale; 'the shadow' refers to space just past the strike zone, usually measured by the size of one baseball.)
(Top photo illustration by Will Tullos / The Athletic; photos left to right of Liam Doyle, Ethan Holliday, Jamie Arnold — Isaiah Vazquez, Aaron M. Sprecher, Dustin Bradford / Getty Images)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
42 minutes ago
- Associated Press
This Date in Baseball - Nolan Ryan pitched the 6th no-hitter of his career to extend his MLB record
June 11 1904 — Bob Wicker of the Chicago Cubs pitched 9 1-3 hitless innings before Sam Mertes of the New York Giants singled. Wicker won a 1-0, 12-inning one-hitter. 1938 — Johnny Vander Meer hurled the first of two consecutive no-hitters, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Boston Braves 3-0. 1967 — The Chicago Cubs hit seven homers and the New York Mets four in the second game of a doubleheader, tying the major league record set by the New York Yankees (6) and Detroit Tigers (5) in 1950. Adolfo Phillips hit four home runs in the doubleheader for Chicago. 1981 — Following Seattle's 8-2 win over Baltimore, major league players went on strike. 1985 — Von Hayes became the first player in major league history to hit two home runs in the first inning. Hayes connected twice in a nine-run first, powering the Philadelphia Phillies to a 26-7 victory over the New York Mets. 1988 — Rick Rhoden of the New York Yankees became the first pitcher since the inception of the designated hitter (1973) to start a game as the DH. He was seventh in the lineup and grounded to third out in the third inning and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Jose Cruz pinch-hit for him in the fifth of the 8-6 win over Baltimore. 1990 — Nolan Ryan pitched the sixth no-hitter of his career to extend his major league record, and the Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics 5-0. Ryan, 43, was the first to pitch no-hitters for three teams and the oldest to throw one. 1995 — Lee Smith set a major league record with a save in his 16th consecutive appearance, pitching a scoreless ninth inning to preserve the California Angels' 5-4 victory over Baltimore. Smith broke the mark of 15 straight set by Doug Jones in 1988. 2002 — Jared Sandberg became the 16th AL player to homer twice in an inning, and the third this season, when Tampa Bay beat Los Angeles 11-2. 2003 — Houston's Roy Oswalt, Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner combined for the first no-hitter against the New York Yankees in 45 years, winning 8-0. The sextet set a record for the highest number of pitchers to throw a no-hitter in major league history — four accomplished the feat twice. 2010 — Andy Pettitte records his 200th win in pinstripes in the Yankees' 4-3 win over Houston at Yankee Stadium. Whitey Ford (236) and Red Ruffing (231) are the only other members of this exclusive New York club. 2012 — The Cubs sign Cuban defector Jorge Soler to a nine-year contract worth $30 million. The 20-year-old outfielder was the subject of a bidding war among several teams. 2013 — The Dodgers and Diamondbacks engage in a beanball war. The hostilities start when D-Backs pitcher Ian Kennedy hits super rookie Yasiel Puig in the head with a fastball in the 6th inning. The ball hits his nose, and he stays on the ground for a few minutes but stays in the game; Andre Ethier follows with a game-tying two-run homer. In the top of the 7th, Dodgers P Zack Greinke hits the first batter, Miguel Montero, in the back, prompting both benches to empty, although only stares are exchanged. Then, in the bottom of the inning, Kennedy throws a pitch near Greinke's head, and pandemonium breaks out, with both benches and bullpens emptying again, and players and even coaches going at each other. When order is restored, Puig and coach Mark McGwire are ejected for the Dodgers, and manager Kirk Gibson and coach Turner Ward for the D-Backs. Incidentally, Los Angeles wins the game, 5 - 3. Major League Baseball will hand out eight suspensions and twelve fines as a result of the events, with Kennedy getting a ten-game suspension and Eric Hinske of the D-Backs getting five; both managers are suspended for one game, and two for the two coaches. 2017 — Max Scherzer of the Nationals records the 2,000th strikeout of his career, beating out Clayton Kershaw, who reached the milestone less than a week ago, as the third fastest pitcher to the mark. 2017 — Rookie sensation Aaron Judge hit two more home runs, including a drive that cleared the distant bleachers at Yankee Stadium and sent New York romping past Baltimore 14-3. The 6-foot-7 Judge led the majors with 21 homers and topped the AL with 47 RBIs and a .344 average. 2022 — Jared Walsh hits for the cycle and Mike Trout blasts a pair of homers as the Angels defeat the first-place Mets, 11 - 6. Walsh is the 9th player in team history to achieve the feat, almost exactly three years after teammate Shohei Ohtani was the last to do so, while Trout appears to be out of the deep slump that contributed to recent 14-game losing streak, costing manager Joe Maddon his job. _____
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Denzel Clarke's catch of the year candidate. Plus: Top prospect Roman Anthony arrives
The Windup Newsletter ⚾ | This is The Athletic's MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup directly in your inbox. I'm not saying the Red Sox front office reads The Windup, but less than 24 hours after Ken's comments, Roman Anthony was at Fenway Park. Coincidence? Also: Ken has Yankees-Red Sox notes, former Rockies weigh in on the place they escaped and holy moly, this might be the catch of the year. I'm Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal. Welcome to The Windup! Yesterday was a big day for the future of the sport. Neither instance made much of an impact on the immediate present, however. Anthony, who is 21 years old, joins a pretty exciting group of youngsters in Boston, including Ceddanne Rafaela (24), Kristian Campbell (22) and Marcelo Mayer (22). Alas, his big-league debut wasn't the most ostentatious entrance. He went 0-for-4 against the Rays and misplayed a ball in right field that put Tampa Bay up 3-0 in the fifth inning. He did get some redemption in the ninth: Anthony's RBI groundout pulled the Red Sox to within a run, and the game eventually went to extra innings. The Red Sox lost 10-8 in 11 innings, though. Allow me to remind you that a pitcher's first start back from Tommy John is rarely ever dominant. It takes a while to get back to full steam. This was no exception — Pérez lasted just three innings (70 pitches), allowing four runs (all earned) on four hits and two walks. He also struck out five, though. He hasn't turned the corner, but he might be peering around it. Leftover notes from Saturday's Red Sox-Yankees broadcast on Fox: Paul Goldschmidt's resurrection: His frustrations reached the point last season where Goldschmidt, 37, asked the Cardinals to assess whether his physical skills were eroding. The answer came back 'No,' so Goldschmidt determined the problem was with his swing. His timing was off both in trying to get into a good position to hit and in making his forward move. His issues actually dated back to the second half of 2023, but he got hot against San Diego at the end of August, and with his strong finish gained confidence that he could still perform at a high level. Advertisement ASG '23-ASG '24: .236/.706 Post-ASG '24: .271/.799 2025: .312/.833 Trent Grisham's improvement: Grisham's offensive improvement isn't just due to opportunity. As he puts it, 'I'm thinking better.' He said he lost his mental edge in San Diego and needed to rebuild it, eliminating distractions and focusing solely on playing his best. Grisham said, 'That requires constant work, constant reframing, constant everything really, to retrain myself. I just got into a bad spot.' Marcelo Mayer's adjustments: Off the field, his biggest adjustment — and for many players jumping to the majors — is to the travel. Minor-league teams play six-game series and travel at most once a week. Major-league teams on a lengthy road trip will travel every three or four days. On the field, Mayer's experience at third base prior to joining the Red Sox consisted of only 24 innings in spring training and 31 at Triple A. But he loves playing defense, saying it's probably his favorite part of the game. And he's growing increasingly comfortable at third. Ceddanne Rafaela's selectivity: The biggest thing he's working on is his swing decisions early in counts. The Red Sox know Rafaela will be aggressive. But if he's going to swing early, hitting coach Pete Fatse wants to make sure he does it on pitches where he could make an impact. Rafaela's getting there. His strikeout rate has dropped from 26.4 percent last season to 19.8 percent entering Monday, in part because he has adopted a better two-strike approach. Anthony Volpe's hot and cold: His streakiness remains confounding. Yankees hitting coach James Rowson, however, believes Volpe's ability to make adjustments eventually will make him a good hitter, saying, 'He constantly forces you to try a different way to get him out.' While Volpe, whose OPS this year sits at .772, now has over 1,500 plate appearances in the majors, Rowson says that as he gains even more experience, he'll avoid lengthier slumps. Imagine being Nolan Arenado or Trevor Story — each of whom went to the playoffs with the Colorado Rockies — and seeing what they're up to these days. It has to feel a lot like looking at your ex's social media page and seeing that they've posted about nothing but pyramid schemes for a year. In case you missed it, the Rockies swept the Marlins last week. Those were their 10th, 11th and 12th wins of the year, and they followed it up with another sweep — this one in favor of the opposing Mets. They're 12-53, and on pace to obliterate the historic futility of the 2024 White Sox. Advertisement If they keep up this pace, they'll finish 30-132. I can give you no better context for that than this most recent Jayson Stark column. 'Ten ways the 2025 Rockies are making history (in all the wrong ways)' the headline reads. It feels like piling on, but what's a columnist supposed to say? 'At least the essential oils do smell pretty good, though'? Anyway, back to Arenado and Story. They're among the several former Rockies that Andy McCullough spoke to for today's article. The most damning quote came from Troy Tulowitzki, who offered this, via text: 'I don't comment on that organization.' Perhaps the most insightful comments came from Arenado, who had this to say: 'The only way you get out of this, my opinion, is you have to really start over; trade guys that have value and deal with the restart. But I don't know if that's what (owner Dick) Monfort wants to do. That's not really what they like to do.' That's a broad stroke, but starting over involves dealing with failures on a number of fronts: bad trades, bad refusals to trade, bad drafting, bad development and bad luck with Kris Bryant's back when they did decide to spend in free agency. When so many factors are failing, the blame finger can only point up. The Rockies' best chance at relevance might be for Monfort to sell the team. But if Monfort won't even lean into wholesale change at the many levels below him, why would we ever think he'll hold himself accountable first? Holy moly. This is a nominee for not only the catch of the year, but one of the best home run robberies I've ever seen — ever. CATCH OF THE YEAR – Denzel Clarke goes wayyyyy over the fence to rob a HR from the Angels' Nolan Shanuel [image or embed] — CJ Fogler (@ June 9, 2025 at 6:52 PM This happened in the bottom of the first inning last night, as 25-year-old A's rookie Denzel Clarke robbed the Angels' Nolan Schanuel in center field. My favorite part? OK, well, the catch is my favorite part, but also: Look at the reaction by A's opener Grant Holman: By the way, this wasn't Clarke's first highlight-reel catch, even though it came in just his 16th big-league game. Just a few days prior, he did this against the Orioles. And on May 30, it was this home run robbery against the Blue Jays. We have a new No. 1 in this week's Power Rankings, as the trio of writers identify one big question each team needs to address before the trade deadline. The Reds and Guardians started a series last night. The Reds won, 7-4, led by Terry Francona, who was making his first return to Cleveland since stepping down as manager. Advertisement I loved this article by Jon Greenberg, who tells us from a Cubs perspective about the art of the oral history in baseball clubhouses. Speaking of the Cubs … with injuries to their top two starters, Matthew Boyd has gone from an interesting lotto ticket to a reliable bedrock of the rotation. Likewise, José Berrios gave the Blue Jays some stability as they kicked off the hot birds series with the Cardinals with a win. The College World Series bracket is set, with surprise Cinderella Murray State crashing the party. Sam Blum spoke with Michael Kelly of the A's — I believe it's the first time anyone has spoken to one of the players who were last season suspended for a year for gambling. Rays shortstop Wander Franco has been charged with gun possession amid his sexual abuse trial. Keith Law gives us a scouting report on some top Mets and Nats prospects. On the pods: Most-clicked in our last newsletter: David O'Brien's newser on the Braves calling up Craig Kimbrel for one game. 📫 Love The Windup? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
Craig Kimbrel Elects to Leave Braves, Head to Free Agency
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Veteran right-handed reliever Craig Kimbrel, who was designated for assignment by the Atlanta Braves over the weekend, has cleared waivers and elected to enter free agency. Kimbrel, 37, was DFA'd after just one appearance at the big league level with the Braves in which he pitched a scoreless inning, allowing a hit and a walk while striking out one. More news: MLB Power Rankings — Yankees Fall, Mets and Dodgers Rise The Braves received tons of criticism for the move as Kimbrel had been stashed away in Triple-A all year rather than getting an opportunity at the major league level. Once he finally got the opportunity, they let him go after one appearance. The fact that Kimbrel began his career with the Braves and is a franchise legend didn't sit right with many people. Nevertheless, Kimbrel is now headed to free agency where he'll look for his next opportunity. Kimbrel proved he can still pitch in his age-37 season, as he made 18 appearances in Triple-A, sporting a 2.00 ERA with 23 strikeouts over 18 innings of work. SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 06: Craig Kimbrel #46 of the Atlanta Braves pitches against the San Francisco Giants in the bottom of the seventh inning at Oracle Park on June 06, 2025 in San... SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 06: Craig Kimbrel #46 of the Atlanta Braves pitches against the San Francisco Giants in the bottom of the seventh inning at Oracle Park on June 06, 2025 in San Francisco, California. More Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images Kimbrel was initially selected by the Braves in the third round of the 2008 MLB Draft. He debuted with Atlanta in 2010 and spent the first five years of his career with the Braves, making four All-Star teams, winning the Rookie of the Year award and finishing as high as fourth in Cy Young voting with two top-five finishes. Kimbrel was traded to the San Diego Padres where he spent the 2015 season. After the season, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox, where he'd spend the next three years, earning three consecutive All-Star selections. More news: Phillies' Bryce Harper Breaks Silence on Kyle Schwarber's Upcoming Free Agency Since then, Kimbrel has bounced around, playing for six organizations: The Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles and Braves. Kimbrel was most recently an All-Star in 2023 with Philadelphia, sporting a 3.26 ERA over 71 appearances. He struggled in 2024 with Baltimore, though, finishing with a 5.33 ERA, his highest in a season with more than 25 appearances. Kimbrel wanted to continue his MLB career this year, and officially made it happen with the Braves. Now he'll have to find another team to give him an opportunity. Overall, across 838 appearances over 16 seasons, Kimbrel has accrued a 2.59 ERA with 440 saves. He's a nine-time All-Star and one-time World Series champion, winning with the Red Sox in 2018. More news: Dodgers Acquire Pitcher From Mariners in 2-Player Trade For more MLB news, head over to Newsweek Sports.
