We’re approaching the midpoint of the college baseball schedule, and there are 110 days and counting down until the 2025 MLB Draft itself. The class, from a production perspective, will begin to separate over the coming weeks.
The college pitching class may take longer. It’s a deep class, even if lacking names destined for the top half of the first round.
Let’s highlight some of the best performances from Week 6:
NOTE: The rank below represents the March 11 update of Joe Doyle’s Top 300 MLB Draft Prospects.
Click into the Top 300 Draft Prospects to get full reports on the players below
13. Kyson Witherspoon, RHP – Oklahoma
vs. Mississippi State: 6.2 IP, 5 H, ER, BB, 11 SO, 107 P, 74 S (69%)
Witherspoon was dominant again, sitting 96-98 mph with his fastball — none of his 46 heaters registered under 96 — and inducing whiffs on all five of his pitches, including his seldom-used changeup (1 whiff, 4 swings, 7 pitches).
His curveball, slider, and cutter are distinct in velocity, and each has been a weapon for him in 2025. Overall, Witherspoon has compiled a 42% strikeout rate, 5.1% walk rate, and a 35% whiff rate, and has used his fastball almost half the time (49%).
The right-hander has been consistent all season, but as he begins to wade through the SEC schedule his outings become more and more telling, including this past Friday.
29. Kade Anderson, LHP – LSU
@ Texas: 6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO, 101P, 71 S (70%)
Anderson again pounded the zone with quality stuff, inducing nine whiffs on his fastball, five more on his changeup, and 16 total on 50 swings. He sat 93-96, hitting 95 or better on 19 of 53 fastballs, by far his best heater of the season. His final fastball was 93, above his average for the season.
Anderson continues to dominate right-handed batters (.190/.256/.342), using fastball (53%), slider (25%), changeup (12%), and curveball (8%). The deception he generates in his delivery helps everything play up, led by the four-seamer (44% whiff vs RHBs). That stat suggests he’s finding value in on them consistently. He did serve up a long ball to a right-handed hitter in this outing, but he didn’t walk a batter from either side of the plate and punched out seven of 22 righties faced.
32. Zach Root, LHP – Arkansas
vs. South Carolina: 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, BB, 7 SO, 92 P, 61 S (66%)
Root generated just five whiffs, but induced nine ground balls and propogated 21 called strikes, nine on his low-80s curveball. His changeup is where four of the five whiffs came from in this one, but both the change and the curveball have posted a 34% whiff rate entering this coming weekend at Vanderbilt.
Root keep the ball in the yard with the sinker and changeup, and he’s had no problems handling right-handed hitters. Lefties own a .318/.423/.500 slash off him, but the sample is tiny (26 batters faced).
He’ll scrape 96 mph and sit 92-94 as he did in this start, and his fourth pitch, a mid-80s cutter, has a chance to answer some of the split questions.
51. James Ellwanger, RHP – Dallas Baptist
vs. Middle Tennessee State: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, 9 SO, 70 P, 45 S (64%)
Ellwanger is ramping up steadily and got through four shutout frames in Week 6, touching 99 mph and sitting comfortably at 96-98 throughout. His final pitch was a 99 mph fastball.
It’s easy velocity, and he offsets with a plus curveball and firm cutter-like slider.
54. JD Thompson, LHP – Vanderbilt
vs. Texas A&M: 6.1 IP, 5 H, ER, 0 BB, 10 SO, 96 P, 74 S (77%)
Thompson dominated the Aggies, hammering the zone, working his slider and changeup off a well-located low-90s fastball, and never letting hitters breathe.
Thompson threw 83% strikes with his fastball, and his secondaries generated 12 whiffs on 27 swings. He touched 93 and commanded everything all game long.
80. Cade Obermueller, LHP – Iowa
vs. Ohio State: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 SO, 94 P, 63 S (67%)
Obermueller is a three-pitch lefty who was almost exclusively a fastball-slider in this one. He dominated with a high strike rate and 13 whiffs on 39 swings. He hit 95 a few times in this one and continued to be a nightmare for left-handed batters (1-11, single | 233, 2 XBH for the year) thanks to his slot, low release, and unique style of hiding the baseball from the batter for a long time.
132. Pico Kohn, LHP – Mississippi State
@ Oklahoma: 6 IP, 2H, 0 R, 2 BB, 10 SO, 105 P, 68 S (67%)
Kohn went toe-to-toe with Witherspoon and was outstanding, garnering 20 whiffs on 56 swings, including nine on 21 swings of the low-80s slider.
Kohn sat 91-94 mph again, but that slider is the talk of his outings, and this start was no different.
163. Micah Bucknam, RHP – Dallas Baptist
vs. Middle Tennessee State: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, BB, 14 SO, 82 P, 59 S (72%)
Bucknam, who started his career at LSU, toyed with MTSU for seven efficient frames, averaging 94 mph on his fastball, touching 95 or better 12 times and baffling with 15 whiffs on 20 swings of the power slider. He popped 24 swings-and-misses on 41 total swings in this one, including three on six swings of his curveball, essentially a variation of the slider with reduced velocity.
- 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
- DRAFT REELS: Eyanson, Adams, Forbes show off in Week 4 - March 10, 2025
