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- MLB Draft 2025: Nationals and Angels deliver Day 1's biggest surprises as Orioles bring in a haul of talent</p>
<p>Jordan ShustermanJuly 13, 2025 at 11:53 PM</p>
<p>ATLANTA — The first three rounds of the 2025 MLB Draft took place Sunday in Atlanta. Although there were no draftees in attendance — a disappointing, if intriguing, circumstance to monitor for the event moving forward — this year's draft still provided plenty of excitement and surprising moments that will help shape the league for years to come.</p>
<p>Here are the four biggest takeaways from Day 1 of the 2025 MLB Draft:</p>
<p>1. Nationals, Angels immediately swerved from expectations</p>
<p>Even before the Nationals fired general manager Mike Rizzo a week before they drafted the No. 1 overall pick, it was extremely difficult to parse which direction they would go. Rizzo's dismissal clouded the mystery further, but the common expectation within the industry was that Washington was weighing Oklahoma high school shortstop Ethan Holliday and LSU ace left-hander Kade Anderson as the two leading candidates.</p>
<p>Well, it turns out that Washington's new front office, led by interim GM Mike DeBartolo, was keeping the cards awfully close to the vest, as the Nationals instead opted for Eli Willits, the other star prep shortstop from Oklahoma. As one of the few outlets to rank Willits as the best player in this year's class, I fully support the Nationals' decision to defy expectations, especially knowing that Willits' signing bonus is likely to be a fair bit less than those required to sign Holliday and Anderson, both Scott Boras clients.</p>
<p>Washington seemingly put those savings to good use with its next two picks, taking South Carolina slugger Ethan Petry at pick No. 49 and Mississippi high school righty Landon Harmon (who was strongly in the mix to make my top 50) at No. 80. On the whole, this draft — the Willits decision in particular — could come to define the next era of Nationals baseball.</p>
<p>Then, just as the industry was processing the ramifications of Willits going first, the Angels one-upped Washington with a stunner of their own, taking UC Santa Barbara right-hander Tyler Bremner with the second overall pick. That made Bremner the first pitcher off the board in a class that included three elite college lefties (Anderson, Tennessee's Liam Doyle and Florida State's Jamie Arnold) whom much of the industry expected would hear their names called before Bremner.</p>
<p>It's no secret that the Angels love to draft college players who can zoom through the minors (or skip them entirely) to help the big-league club in Anaheim ASAP, but even the most optimistic projection for Bremner feels below what the college southpaws could've offered. How Bremner develops in Anaheim relative to the higher-ceiling arms taken after him — let alone the high-upside hitters such as Holliday, whom some could argue would've made more sense for the team drafting No. 2 — will be the ultimate litmus test for this aggressive maneuver by the Angels.</p>
<p>And by the way: Don't be surprised if two of the Angels' other Day 1 picks — two hard-throwing, right-handed, college relievers in Chase Shores from LSU at No. 47 and Nate Snead from Tennessee at No. 105 — are in the big leagues by the end of the season.</p>
<p>2. The Orioles drafted 7 players — that's a lot!</p>
<p>Teams have different numbers of picks to work with on Day 1 of the MLB Draft. Clubs that forfeited picks for signing big-money free agents made as few as two selections on Sunday (Mets, Giants, Astros, Yankees), while others made a handful of selections thanks to some combination of competitive balance round picks and compensatory picks for free-agent departures or unsigned draftees from last year.</p>
<p>No team had more picks Sunday than the Orioles, who added a whopping seventh Day 1 selection in last week's trade that sent reliever Bryan Baker to the Rays in exchange for the 37th pick (competitive balance picks are eligible to be traded). This made Baltimore one of the main characters for the evening, with ample anticipation for how they would use such an absurd overflow of high-value picks. More specifically, many wondered if Baltimore would finally spend some draft capital on a pitcher or two after going so overwhelmingly hitter-heavy at the top of the draft in recent years under GM Mike Elias.</p>
<p>For the first four picks, it was business as usual for Baltimore: more bats. Auburn's Ike Irish was one of the more surprising fallers of the first round, as arguably the most polished college hitter in the class, and the Orioles happily scooped him up at No. 19. Then with back-to-back picks at 30 and 31, Baltimore snagged two more high-profile collegians in switch-hitting Coastal Carolina catcher Caden Bodine, the best backstop in the class, and Golden Spikes Award winner Wehiwa Aloy, the star shortstop from Arkansas. The hitter haul continued with the recently acquired pick No. 37, as the Orioles flexed their humongous bonus pool to land one of the top left-handed prep bats available in Slater De Brun, whom I ranked 26th.</p>
<p>Then, at long last, there was a pivot to a pitcher — two, actually! At No. 58, the Orioles selected 6-foot-8 lefty Joseph Dzierwa from Michigan State, one of the more underrated college pitchers in the class who was in strong consideration for a spot on the Top 50. Right-hander JT Quinn, a right-hander from Georgia who has much bigger stuff than Dzierwa but is likely a reliever at the next level, followed at No. 69. Baltimore rounded out its epic Day 1 with RJ Austin, an outfielder from Vanderbilt who posted underwhelming stats in his three years in Nashville but whose athleticism has long intrigued big-league clubs.</p>
<p>3. The Dodgers brought in an interesting Day 1 haul</p>
<p>The defending World Series champions had an intriguing allotment of picks Sunday, with a quartet of selections that didn't begin until No. 40 because the Dodgers' sky-high payroll resulted in their first-round pick being dropped 10 spots (as was the case for the Mets and Yankees). The Dodgers also had the 41st pick, acquired from the Reds in the trade for Gavin Lux last year.</p>
<p>Multiple mock drafts entering draft day had the Dodgers connected to high school infielder Quentin Young with one of their first two picks, but Young ended up going 54th to Minnesota. Beyond Young, L.A. is more traditionally tied to high school players near the top of the draft than collegians, but the Dodgers went in a different direction this year, as all four of their Day 1 picks were spent on college players, including the first two from the same school. Left-hander Zach Root (No. 40) was a notch below the elite tier of college lefties at the top of the class, but he had a lot of proponents in the industry after his sterling spring for the Razorbacks. And outfielder Charles Davalan (No. 41) also starred in Fayetteville this year and adds another advanced lefty stick to a farm system already loaded with them.</p>
<p>Cam Leiter (No. 65) was the lone arm selected by L.A., and I'm sorry to report to those tired of hearing about injured Dodgers pitchers that he has a sketchy track record of durability: He missed the entire spring season with Florida State due to shoulder trouble but demonstrated serious stuff as a sophomore last year, earning him early-round consideration regardless. Lastly, I loved the Dodgers' final pick of the night, outfielder Landyn Vidourek from Cincinnati, who was a late riser in the draft process thanks to a breakout junior season and premium athleticism. It would hardly be surprising to see him turn out to be one of the steals of the draft under the Dodgers' developmental tutelage.</p>
<p>4. And a few thoughts on the non-Top 50 picks</p>
<p>Forty-three of the first 50 selections Sunday were ranked in my Top 50. Here's the skinny on the seven who weren't, two of whom landed with the same team:</p>
<p>SS Jordan Yost, No. 24 to the Detroit Tigers</p>
<p>A wiry high school shortstop from Florida, Yost is one of the more advanced defenders of any prep infielder, and his bat could break out in a big way if he can pack on some much-needed muscle in pro ball.</p>
<p>SS Brady Ebel, No. 32 to the Milwaukee Brewers</p>
<p>The son of Dodgers third-base coach Dino Ebel and another member of the loaded Corona High School squad that featured top-10 picks Seth Hernandez and Billy Carlson, Ebel was a divisive prospect among scouts, some of whom questioned how much offensive impact he projected to have in the pros. But given his big-league bloodlines and long track record of solid performance on the showcase circuit, it wasn't a huge surprise to see Ebel selected quite early.</p>
<p>C Michael Oliveto, No. 34 to the Detroit Tigers</p>
<p>I highlighted Oliveto — a Yale (!) commit from a Long Island high school — after speaking to him at the MLB Draft Combine last month, and his early selection by Detroit is the latest chapter in what has been a remarkable journey from relative obscurity to Day 1 pick.</p>
<p>2B Mitch Voit, No. 38 to the New York Mets</p>
<p>Voit previously played both ways at the University of Michigan but stopped pitching this spring. Then he broke out in a big way with the bat and shined at the MLB Draft Combine. He made a late push to be considered for my Top 50 and, evidently, impressed the Mets enough that they made him their first pick of the 2025 Draft.</p>
<p>SS Dax Kilby, No. 39 to the New York Yankees</p>
<p>Kilby was the last cut from my Top 50; I opted for Ryan Mitchell (pick No. 55 to St. Louis) over Kilby as the last prep bat on the list. But Kilby was a standout at the Combine, particularly in the strength and conditioning assessments in which his athleticism shined. He clearly boasts more upside than Mitchell. The hit tool is a touch less certain, but his upside was well worth targeting for the Yankees.</p>
<p>RHP Chase Shores, No. 47 to the Los Angeles Angels</p>
<p>Shores is a gigantic right-hander who routinely touched triple-digits for national champion LSU this season, including on several occasions in the College World Series. He has proven very little as a starting pitcher but could be an impact reliever sooner rather than later — and I don't think it'll take long before the Angels give him a chance to become that in the big leagues.</p>
<p>RHP Angel Cervantes, No. 50 to the Pittsburgh Pirates</p>
<p>Known more for his polish than his power, Cervantes is an advanced prep arm from California who pairs brilliantly with top pick Seth Hernandez atop Pittsburgh's Day 1 draft haul. Given how well Pittsburgh has developed arms recently, that duo should have Pirates fans very excited. Cervantes was in the mix along with Harmon (No. 80 to Washington) to be the next prep pitchers included in the Top 50, but it wasn't clear how early either would go. Now we know!</p>
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