We’re just over 100 days away from the 2025 MLB Draft. Let’s check in on some of the better college pitchers in the draft class with the best performances of this past weekend.
NOTE: The rank below represents the March 11 update of Joe Doyle’s Top 300 MLB Draft Prospects.
Click into the rankings to read full reports on the players below.
32. Zach Root, LHP — Arkansas
@ Vanderbilt: 7.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 SO, 100 P, 66 S (66%)
Root blanked Vandy into the eighth, generating ground ball outs and limiting solid contact. He touched 97 mph and did a great job mixing in his other pitches: Curveball (24, cutter/slider (20), and a changeup (17), which generated five whiffs on nine swings.
The lefty has now gone seven-plus in back-to-back starts and will face Missouri this weekend.
104. JB Middleton, RHP – Southern Miss
vs. South Alabama: 8 IP, H, 0 R, BB, 12 SO, 96 P, 63 S (66%)
Some are going to point out the results came against South Alabama and not Tennessee or Louisville or Arkansas or whatever, but the stuff speaks for itself.
Middleton missed 23 bats on 50 swings, 12 of 20 on his 86-89 mph slider, nine more on 24 swings on the fastball, and the one hit was a single to lead off the second inning. He sat 94-95 throughout the start.
Middleton’s last three starts have resulted in 26 strikeouts and two walks, and he’s pitched through the sixth or longer in each.
118. Griffin Hugus, RHP – Miami
@ North Carolina: 8 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, BB, 4 SO, 10 GBO, 97 P, 61 S (63%)
Hugus mixed four pitches to get through eight frames against the Tar Heels, led by a fastball at 91-94 mph and a slider he generally kept out of the hitting zone. He did throw seven changeups and five curveballs, but this was about limiting big contact rather than missing bats. He generated just eight whiffs in this game.
For the year, Hugus has piled up a 50-13 K/BB ratio in 40.1 innings. He’ll face Pittsburgh on the road next weekend.
125. Kolten Smith, RHP – Georgia
vs. Auburn: 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 8 SO, 64 P, 39 S (61%)
Smith has been effective in 2025, but this outing was not only his longest at five full innings and 64 pitches, but it was also his best, highlighted by eight strikeouts and just two baserunners allowed.
Smith was mostly 90-92 mph with the fastball (up to 94), but he finished off hitters with the mid-80s slider, including eight whiffs on 21 swings.
Smith and the Bulldogs are in Austin to face the Texas Longhorns next weekend.
128. Anthony Eyanson, RHP – LSU
vs. Mississippi State: 5 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 12 SO, 103 P 66 S (64%)
Eyanson rebounded from two straight mediocre starts to dominate the Bulldogs. His slider generated 12 whiffs on 18 swings, and he went to the upper-70s curveball for three more on six swings. He threw 70% strikes with the heater, which touched 96 mph early.
Eyanson will get Oklahoma in Norman next week.
132. Pico Kohn, LHP – Mississippi State
@ LSU: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO, 95 P, 61 S (64%)
Kohn has been outstanding all year, punching out 18 in his last two starts, both on the road versus SEC opponents Oklahoma and now LSU. He enters next week with a 61-7 K/BB ratio in 40.2 innings of work.
He threw 62 fastballs in this one, sitting 92-93 mph early and holding 91-92 throughout. His low-80s slider did some damage in this one, getting five whiffs on 13 swings to back up the heater (8 on 29 swings) thrown with deception.
Kohn will face South Carolina next weekend in a home start.
202. Caedmon Parker, RHP – TCU
vs. Houston: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 70 P, 42 S (60%)
Parker made his first start since March 7 Saturday and blanked Houston for five frames. He sat 92-95 and registered a 96 in the first inning of this outing. Parker kept the ball on the ground pretty well, limiting damage the few times the Cougars found solid contact.
He was mostly fastball-curveball, but mixed in the changeup (9) and slider (5), allowing just one hit to left-handed batters and no extra-base hits to anyone.
Parker is a Future Stars Series alum, having been part of International Week in 2020. The Future Stars Series scouting staff had him up to 93 mph with some run and two promising secondaries.
Check out the levers and curveball:
288. Grayson Grinsell, LHP – Oregon
vs Ohio State: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, BB, 5 SO, 111 P, 67 S (60%)
Grinsell doesn’t throw hard (88-90 mph), but he knows how to pitch and may have the best-performing changeup in college baseball. He induced 13 whiffs on 28 swings with it in this start, and it carries a 46% swing-and-miss rate and .188 average against heading into this coming weekend’s series versus Michigan.
The lefty threw just nine breaking balls in seven innings, yet it was pure dominance. Oh, and he’ll throw that chanegup to lefties, too.
293. Riley Kelly, RHP – UC Irvine
vs. UC Riverside: 5 IP, 6 H, ER, 1 BB, 8 SO, 94 P, 55 S (59%)
Kelly, standing at a projectable 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds, sat 90-92 mph with his fastball in this one, pounding the strike zone and using all four quadrants to his advantage. He gets some armside run on it from a high arm slot and induced 10 whiffs on 26 swings Friday night.
His best secondary in this start was his 81-84 mph changeup (5 whiffs, 10 swings).
He’s touched 94 in 2025, while his high-spin curveball has generated a 41% whiff rate on the year. Kelly has been described as a late-blooming prospect, suggesting considerable room for growth.
After slow-scripting the start of the season, Riley now has back-to-back strong outings of at least five frames.
- DRAFT REELS: Root, Eyanson, Middleton dazzle - March 31, 2025
- DRAFT REELS: Witherspoon, Kohn, Bucknam carve - March 25, 2025
- DRAFT REELS: Arnold, DBU’s Bucknam, Wake’s Lunceford among arm stars in Week 5 - March 17, 2025
