Latest news with #JamieArnold
USA Today
24-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Jamie Anold signs with Athletics
Jamie Arnold is officially a member of the Athletics. Jim Callis of reported on Wednesday that the former Florida State Seminole pitcher had signed with the Athletics for $5,985,100. It is the slot value of the No. 11 pick, making him the second FSU player to sign for the full value of their pick, joining Cam Leiter, who signed with the Dodgers on Wednesday. Arnold appeared in 58 games during his time as a Seminole, making 41 starts and finishing with a 3.61 ERA in 234 1/3 innings pitched. After an inconsistent freshman season, he burst onto the scene as a sophomore, becoming one of the best pitchers in the country and a consensus All-American. He followed with an excellent junior season, posting a 2.98 ERA in 84 2/3 innings with 119 strikeouts and 27 walks. He held opponents to a .208 batting average and was once again a consensus All-American. He is Florida State's highest-drafted player since Buster Posey went 5th overall to the San Francisco Giants in the 2008 MLB draft and the first FSU pitcher to be drafted in the first round since Luke Weaver in 2014. Follow us @FSUWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida State news, notes, and opinions.
New York Times
13-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Athletics first-round pick Jamie Arnold relishes the Chris Sale comps, ready for next step
For the past two years, few Division I pitchers have been better than Florida State left-hander Jamie Arnold, who became the No. 11 pick in the 2025 MLB Draft when the Athletics selected him on Sunday. With a near sidearm delivery and lots of swing-and-miss in his arsenal, Arnold has drawn comparisons to Chris Sale. He's hoping to follow in Sale's footsteps with a quick journey to the major leagues. Advertisement Coming out of Jesuit High in Tampa, Fla., Arnold was a well-regarded pitching prospect, though few could've projected that the scrawny left-hander with a fastball that barely broke 90 mph would go on to strikeout 327 batters in 234 1/3 innings over three seasons at FSU. 'Everyone dreams of it, but I didn't expect it for myself because I didn't have the size, or anything like that. But as I got older, I got better and put in the work and it's paid off,' Arnold said at the MLB Draft Combine last month. Arnold had a fairly nondescript freshman season, posting a 6.34 ERA in 44 innings. He starred that summer in the Cape Cod League (2.95 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 18 1/3 innings) and carried over that success into his sophomore season, when he helped lead the Seminoles to an appearance in the College World Series. He finished third in Division 1 with 159 strikeouts in 105 2/3 innings, along with a 2.98 ERA and 11 wins. Arnold followed that up with a strong showing for Team USA last summer. After his standout sophomore season, Arnold, 21, came into this year as an early candidate to go 1-1 in the draft. That meant that every start he made was heavily scrutinized and scouts were always in attendance. He missed one start with a stomach bug midseason and knew it would immediately raise red flags that perhaps he was injured. Arnold admitted when he returned the following week, he was out to prove that there was nothing wrong with him physically (beyond being down a few pounds from the illness). 'I hit my PR that week (in terms of velocity), so I think I showed pretty good stuff,' he said. There was pressure on Arnold all season, given everything that was riding on his performance in terms of draft position, but he learned to block out the distraction and focus only on what he could control. He finished the year ranked No. 6 on Keith Law's top 100 draft prospects. Advertisement 'It's baseball. You're gonna have bad outings,' he said. 'You just gotta say screw it sometimes and go out there and just focus on the next pitch and not really think about what's going on in the stands or what's going on online and stuff like that.' Legendary Florida State head coach Link Jarrett has plenty of experience with players who are dealing with high draft expectations throughout their junior seasons. Jarrett said Arnold handled that pressure well, focusing more on having fun and winning with his teammates than the draft noise. Arnold served as a co-captain along with shortstop Alex Lodise and was a leader in the program. In general, Arnold appeared to gain strength as the season progressed. He pitched at least six innings in six of his final eight starts and struck out at least nine in five of them. His final outing came against Oregon State in the Super Regionals, a 3-1 win in which he allowed a run on six hits in 6 2/3 innings, striking out nine and walking one. The week before, he struck out a season-high 13 in an NCAA Regional win over Mississippi State. Though he didn't quite match his overall stats from his sophomore season, he did finish the year with the same ERA (2.98) while posting a 119:27 K:BB in 84 2/3 innings. Normally a laid-back personality, Arnold takes on a more intense persona when it's a high-pressure situation, like a postseason game, Jarrett says. 'He's the happiest, most humble guy, but you see the look in his eyes when it's time to go in those games, and he turns it up,' Jarrett said. 'There's another gear there. 'You see the velocity jumps a little bit all of a sudden. It might be the fifth, sixth inning, right? But the look in the eye changes, and it's a very quiet intensity, and he lets it out.' Florida State's season ended earlier than Arnold had hoped, as the Seminoles fell short of a return to Omaha, ultimately losing in the Super Regionals. The silver lining was that he got a chance to spend some time at home, fishing on the lake and decompressing from a long two-plus years in the spotlight. By the time the combine rolled around in mid-June, Arnold was ready to be back on the field. Advertisement 'This is where I love to be,' he said at Chase Field last month. Arnold says the fastball was always a strength for him, but the pitch jumped to another level of effectiveness when his slider improved to the point that it was a plus pitch. 'Once the slider got going, that's when things kind of took off for me,' Arnold said. Because of his low release point from the left side, Arnold has drawn comparisons to Sale. The release point has been very effective for Arnold, and it arrived almost by accident. He used a three-quarters delivery in high school but says he put on 30 pounds of muscle the summer before his freshman year of college, and his arm slot dropped down even further with the added strength. 'It felt comfortable, so I didn't change anything,' he said. Not surprisingly, Arnold takes pride in being compared to Sale. 'It's awesome. I mean, he's going to be in the Hall of Fame,' he said, noting that while there are plenty of differences between him and the Atlanta Braves left-hander, he watches a lot of Sale's starts to see how Sale attacks hitters so he can think through how he'd handle similar situations. One thing that separates Arnold from many other pitchers who use a lower release point is that he has an effective four-seam fastball that plays up in the zone that hitters have had a very tough time making contact on. He also has a two-seamer that gets more run than the four-seamer. 'I didn't really understand the metrics behind (the four-seamer) until I started seeing everyone whiff at it,' he said with a laugh. 'Nowadays, VAA (Vertical Approach Angle) is a huge thing. Once I understood that, I kind of understood why it worked. But the two-seam still plays, obviously, from that slot, easy to get run on it. So having both has been great.' Perhaps not surprisingly, Arnold's VAA compares favorably to Sale's. His IVB (Induced Vertical Break) is relatively flat compared to many elite fastballs, but, like Sale, Arnold gets so much deception with his arm angle that hitters can't square it up. When they do hit it, they often don't get good results. Advertisement 'For the metrics on his fastball, it surprised me at times that he got so many weak, chopped ground balls, because it has that unique vertical approach where it's climbing up in the zone,' Jarrett said. Arnold pairs the fastball with a slider that, as Law wrote in his top-100 ranking, 'gets huge horizontal break.' 'The sweep on the slider is as unique as I've ever seen,' Jarrett said. 'That arm slot and the angle and the action on the pitch, it almost looks like when you're out there that he's throwing a wiffle ball at times. It's got that much movement.' Arnold notes that the higher he releases his slider, the more depth the pitch gets, but he tries to keep a consistent arm slot that allows his slider to get good break and lets his fastball play up in the strike zone. He also has a changeup that Law rated as above-average. That pitch was new to Arnold this season, according to Jarrett, and the FSU head coach believes that as Arnold gets even more comfortable with the pitch, it will become a significant weapon for him, especially against right-handed hitters. 'Don't be surprised if that pitch becomes something that people talk about,' Jarrett said. Lodise, the NCAA Dick Howser award winner, played behind Arnold at shortstop for the past two seasons. He says the left-hander is a defender's dream because he doesn't waste time on the mound. 'He is the quickest pitcher that I've ever had to play defense for,' Lodise said at the combine. 'He works so fast, you're not standing out there for long, so even when he gets hit around — because it happens, everybody gets hit — it doesn't feel like you're out there for 30 minutes.' Jarrett said at times he and FSU pitching coach Micah Posey had to slow Arnold down a little bit, delaying a pitch call to give him a little more time in between pitches. Although Arnold was a strikeout pitcher at FSU, Jarrett said that the lefty's ability to induce groundballs to get quick outs allowed him to work deeper into games and get out of jams. Advertisement 'It's a great combination of pace, stuff, deception and intensity,' Jarrett said. After a dream career at Florida State, Arnold is ready for the next step. Like so many in the industry, Arnold has taken notice of how quickly some college prospects are getting to the big leagues. His 2024 FSU teammate, Cam Smith, is an AL Rookie of the Year candidate in his first full professional season. Smith is one of seven 2024 draft picks who have already debuted in the majors. Arnold takes a little extra motivation from seeing so many players he recently played with or against already in the big leagues. 'It's exciting to see. I think it's something that should have happened a while ago with prospects,' he said. 'I think sometimes some teams might have taken too long, and I like how it's going nowadays.'
The Herald Scotland
11-07-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
MLB mock draft 2025: Top prospects will learn fate in Atlanta
And 10 shortstops - from MLB legacies to high school stars to college All-Americas - will consume at least half of the top 20 picks, and while the game's premier position tends to be a draft premium, this class boasts dudes who will almost assuredly stick on that position - and play at a very high level. With that, USA TODAY Sports fires some darts one last time with a final mock draft before the pickin' party commences Saturday: 1. Washington Nationals: Ethan Holliday, SS, Stillwater (Okla.) HS This selection took on an entirely different level of intrigue when the Nationals blew out GM Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez just more than a week before the draft. They wisely left the remaining infrastructure intact, which should make their draft process flow smoothly, even as interim GM Mike DeBartolo is now the ranking voice in the room. We're sticking to our guns here, even if as many as four guys might lay claim to this spot. Ultimately, the Nationals side with a potential building block rather than a ready-made ace with little present value as the franchise faces a total facelift. 2025 MOCK DRAFT EVOLUTION: First edition (May 6) || Second edition (June 10 What a finishing kick for Anderson, who pitched a three-hit shutout against Coastal Carolina in the championship round of the College World Series, which followed a three-hit, seven-inning effort to beat Arkansas. Good luck splitting hairs between Anderson, Jamie Arnold and Liam Doyle, but we'll side with Anderson's K rate (NCAA-best 180 in 110 innings) and devastating pitch mix (think Max Fried, only firmer) with a rapid promotion in the offing in Anaheim. 3. Seattle Mariners: Aiva Arquette, SS, Oregon State Perhaps the most impactful pick in the top five, as plucking one of the top college arms or prep right-hander Seth Hernandez here would be a moderate disruption and likely introduce some exotic names into the overall top 10. But let's stay consistent with this one as the Mariners opt for the physical presence and lineup punch that Arquette would bring up the middle. 4. Colorado Rockies: Eli Willits, SS, Fort Cobb-Broxton (Okla.) HS What do you get the franchise that needs everything? They drafted Chase Dollander and got him to Coors Field quickly, and doing the same with deluxe lefty and fellow Tennessee product Liam Doyle would be highly tempting. Yet Willits, still just 17, represents the high-end building block the franchise lacks. In this scenario, the Cardinals have their choice of remaining elite college lefties and opt for Doyle's greater swing-and-miss upside over Florida State's Jamie Arnold, though they may prove us wrong come draft night. 6. Pittsburgh Pirates: Seth Hernandez, RHP, Corona (Calif.) HS Hernandez represents the draft's other great wild card and a test case for how high clubs would be willing to draft a prep right-hander. We'll stop just shy of calling Hernandez's repertoire "generational," but his high-90s fastball and pro-caliber changeup give him a significant springboard to move quicker than your average high school arm. 7. Miami Marlins: Billy Carlson, SS, Corona (Calif.) HS Make it back-to-back Panthers here, with Carlson the last of the elite-elite prep shortstops off the board. Imagine a larger version of Masyn Winn, with a similar hose at shortstop and, at 6-1, potentially greater offensive upside. 8. Toronto Blue Jays: Jamie Arnold, LHP, Florida State A real coup here for Toronto, getting a mature college arm with a big league-ready fastball-slider mix. Paired with last year's No. 1, Trey Yesavage, the Blue Jays have the potential to quickly backfill a rotation that could lose Chris Bassitt and Kevin Gausman to free agency in consecutive years. 9. Cincinnati Reds: Kyson Witherspoon, RHP, Oklahoma The Reds may stray out of their comfort zone and go bat here, but Witherspoon could unlock an even higher level developing in their pitching program as he'll bring a high-90s fastball and low-90s slider into pro ball. The White Sox quandary: Take the best of the next tier of prep shortstops or whichever advanced high-end college prospect almost mathematically certain to fall to them? In this case, it's Irish, who popped 18 home runs with a .469 OBP for Auburn, and will likely have a permanent home in the outfield. 11. Athletics: Tyler Bremner, RHP, UC Santa Barbara A nice value for the Athletics, getting a consensus top-five guy before Bremner got off to a slow start for UCSB. But he finished strong and could reach the majors quick enough to try out that much-maligned mound in the A's temporary Yolo County digs. 12. Texas Rangers: JoJo Parker, SS, Purvis (Miss.) HS The math makes it highly likely Texas lands a prep shortstop and Parker is still around, high enough to keep him away from a Mississippi State commitment. That's two years in a row a Mississippi prep shortstop goes in the top dozen picks, joining Konnor Griffin (No. 9, Pittsburgh). 13. San Francisco Giants: Daniel Pierce, SS, Mill Creek (Ga.) HS Let the run continue. Pierce is already 19, which may make some clubs shy away, but still has significant offensive upside and fits in what will be the first pick under the Buster Posey regime. 14. Tampa Bay Rays: Steele Hall, SS, Hewitt-Trussville (Ala.) HS We'll stick with Hall here, possessing the power upside and versatility the Rays value as the prep shortstop pool thins a bit. 15. Boston Red Sox: Gavin Kilen, INF, Tennessee A Red Sox draftee out of high school, Kilen will do much better than the 13th round this time, with a strong offensive profile that saw him strike out just 27 times in 245 plate appearances, most of those against SEC pitching. 16. Minnesota Twins: Marek Houston, SS, Wake Forest The question is whether Houston's very sturdy defense and developing but incomplete offensive profile slots him higher than the prep stars slated to go before him. It's hard to see him dropping any further than the Twins. 17. Chicago Cubs: Wehiwa Aloy, SS, Arkansas We'll stubbornly keep Aloy ticketed to the Cubs, even as a strong postseason that ended in Omaha further buttressed his profile. He might have smoother actions around the bag than Arquette, even if his offensive punch grades out a notch below the fellow Hawaiian collegiate star. 18. Arizona Diamondbacks: Kayson Cunningham, SS, Johnson (Texas) HS His offensive profile fits the Diamondbacks' ethos very nicely: Contact-based and, at 5-10, 180, a compact frame that has the potential to grow into decent power. 19. Baltimore Orioles: OF Ethan Conrad, Wake Forest The Orioles control three of the next 13 picks and can get creative with their bonus pool, certainly. We stick with Conrad and the classic O's college hitter profile here. 20. Milwaukee Brewers: Andrew Fischer, INF, Tennessee Bat first, figure out the position later. Fischer slammed 25 homers with a 1.205 OPS in an exuberant platform season, and is versatile enough defensively to move around some if the power doesn't support a first base profile. 21. Houston Astros: Jace Laviolette, OF, Texas A&M He's going to be a great value somewhere, probably, as Laviolette faded from top three talk after a season slowed by contact issues, slumps and health. Wouldn't be surprising if someone jumped on him sooner thanks to his elite raw power. 22. Atlanta Braves: Kruz Schoolcraft, LHP, Sunset (Ore.) HS Quite a talent to land here, as the 6-8 prep lefty with a fastball that reached 97 mph gives them a daunting 1-2 punch with Cam Caminiti, currently thriving in low A one year after going 24h overall. 23. Kansas City Royals: Gavin Fien, INF, Great Oak (Calif.) HS The prep version of Laviolette, in that someone may jump on him sooner based on equity already banked as opposed to an uneven platform year. 24. Detroit Tigers: Xavier Neyens, INF, Mt. Vernon (Wash.) HS Big frame and potential big power in a nimble and athletic 6-4 package. In terms of offense, one of the top prep lefty bats available. 25. San Diego Padres: Sean Gamble, INF/OF, IMG (Fla.) Academy Versatile and projectable, Gamble - at 6-foot-1, 190 - leveled up from Iowa to IMG Academy and is a potential impact player in the middle of the diamond. 26. Philadelphia Phillies: Slater de Brun, OF, Summit (Ore.) HS The run of late-round high school players takes a few Philly targets off the board but they can still fulfill their prep preference with de Brun, a potential center fielder of the future whose speed will likely always trump his power. 27. Cleveland Guardians: Caden Bodine, C, Coastal Carolina The Guardians opt for Contact King, as Bodine finished the season with an absurd 24 strikeouts in 313 plate appearances while churning out a .915 OPS. As the Chanticleers reeled off 26 consecutive wins to reach the College World Series finals, Bodine's stock rose along with it. 28. Kansas City Royals*: Luke Stevenson, C, North Carolina Paired with Fien, this should be a bonus pool-friendly pick as the Royals opt for the steady Stevenson, two years after making prep catcher Blake Mitchell the eighth overall pick. 29. Arizona Diamondbacks**: Brendan Summerhill, OF, Arizona Would be a coup getting Summerhill this late, as he can man all three outfield positions and put up a .343/.459/.556 line to lead Arizona to the College World Series. 30. Baltimore Orioles**: Alex Lodise, SS, Florida State The Dick Howser Trophy winner and ACC player of the year, Lodise is a solid defender who hit 19 home runs and should develop above-average pro power and likely stick at shortstop. *- Prospect promotion incentive pick**- Free agent compensation pick Note: The Mets, Yankees and Dodgers each received a 10-pick penalty on their first picks for exceeding the second surcharge threshold of the competitive balance tax and their first picks will be 38th, 39th and 40th overall, respectively. The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news -- fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
USA Today
04-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
FSU ace goes top 10 in newest MLB mock draft
The 2025 MLB draft is just over a week away, and FSU pitcher Jamie Arnold is going to be one of the first players taken. The latest mock draft from Jim Callis of has the Toronto Blue Jays taking him with the No. 8 overall pick in the draft. "The Blue Jays are mostly associated with college arms and high school shortstops, which not coincidentally are the two most fertile areas at the top of the Draft. This feels like Arnold's floor and Witherspoon could land here if he's the final top-tier arm remaining. They also have strong interest in Parker and could take Willits or Carlson." Arnold had a strong junior season for the Seminoles, headlining their starting rotation. He finished with an 8-2 record and a 2.98 ERA. In 84.2 innings, he recorded 119 strikeouts against 63 hits and 27 walks. He held opponents to a .208 batting average and made six All-American teams. If he is taken 8th overall, he would be the highest drafted Seminole since the San Francisco Giants took Buster Posey with the 5th overall pick in 2008. Arnold would also become the third-highest drafted pitcher in program history and the first taken in the first round since Luke Weaker in 2014. The 2025 MLB draft will take place in Atlanta, Georgia, and last from July 13-14. The Seminoles had two first-round picks last year in James Tibbs III and Cam Smith. Follow us @FSUWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida State news, notes, and opinions.
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Latest MLB Mock Draft has Cardinals Selecting Highly Touted LHP
Latest MLB Mock Draft has Cardinals Selecting Highly Touted LHP originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The 2025 MLB Draft is quickly approaching, and with just over two weeks remaining until this year's big event, MLB Pipeline has released its latest mock draft. Advertisement Many of the site's recent mock drafts have had the Cardinals selecting 17-year-old shortstop Eli Willits with the No. 5 overall pick. In the latest mock draft constructed by Jonathan Mayo of however, the Cardinals are projected to take LHP Jamie Arnold with their first-round pick. Arnold is a 21-year-old left-handed pitcher out of Florida State. He is MLB Pipeline's No. 4 overall draft prospect. This past season was Arnold's junior year at Florida State. He posted a 2.98 ERA with 119 strikeouts in 84 2/3 innings pitched for the Seminoles. He received First Team All-American honors as a sophomore and Second Team All-American honors as a junior. MLB Pipeline's No. 4 overall draft prospect Jamie ArnoldSteven Branscombe-Imagn Images Arnold's pitch arsenal includes a fastball that can touch the upper 90s, a devastating slider, as well as a changeup. His scouting report on MLB Pipeline compares him to Braves veteran left-handed pitcher Chris Sale. Advertisement "Arnold has shown the ability to fill up the strike zone and limit damage while maintaining his stuff deep into outings. With the funky arm slot, his stuff has drawn some comparisons to Chris Sale's, a reason why his name will be mentioned in conversations at the top of the first round." The Cardinals' No. 5 overall pick is the earliest the franchise has had since they selected J.D. Drew fifth overall in 1998. With Masyn Winn seemingly being the team's shortstop for the foreseeable future, and considering St. Louis went with shortstop JJ Wetherholt as their first-round selection last year, drafting a big-time starting pitcher like Arnold in this spot seems to make a lot of sense. This year's MLB Draft will begin on July 13 in Atlanta. Advertisement Related: Cardinals' Former Top Prospect Headed Back to IL Related: Cardinals Lean Towards Next JJ Wetherholt in Latest Mock Draft This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 27, 2025, where it first appeared.
