2025 MLB Mock Draft: Spring Cleaning

Holliday is 20-for-39 so far this spring, though that includes Stillwater’s five preseason contests. In his high school’s seven official varsity contests, Holliday is 11-for-22 with three home runs, two doubles, 14 RBIs, and he’s walked six times against just three Ks. For us, he’s done nothing to move himself off the very top of the board in between updates.

“Off to a phenomenal start with a 1.12 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 16 innings, the Josh Hader-like lefthander missed his Friday start due to an illness, but he’s expected back for the ACC opener this weekend against Boston College. He too, has an elite fastball that has averaged 93 mph this spring and it’s paired with another 100th percentile swing/miss slider.” – David Seifert (from March 14)

 “[He] currently ranks No. 6 on our college prospect list and the arrow is pointing even further up. He began his prospect breakout last spring at Washington, hitting .325/.384/.574 with 12 home runs. He then further strengthened his status as a day one draft follow by slashing .291/.357/.437 with three homers, four doubles and 21 RBIs in 103 at-bats for Chatham in the Cape. Currently batting .432 with three home runs this spring, his barrel stays in the zone a long time, producing line-drive contact from gap to gap and the righthanded hitter also has developing home run power that plays to all fields. His top EV last season from 169 batted balls in play was 112.9 mph, and he’s already matched that output this spring. Although his best pop is to his pull side, Arquette uses all fields well with a balanced and compact swing that has good extension through the ball. When fooled, he keeps his hands back and has the ability to shoot it the other way. He did not produce an XBH over the weekend at Globe Life, but did finish 5-for-12 with a pair of walks and a stolen base.” – David Seifert (from March 6)

The Aggies slugger isn’t yet slugging at the same rate he had as a sophomore, or even as a true freshman. The season is young, but LaViolette is slashing .268/.419/.521 with five homers in 71 at-bats, though the K rate has climbed down slightly to this point as compared to his past couple springs. He’s still patrolling center field for Texas A&M though, and there aren’t many center fielders in the sport with his kind of power potential at the pro level, so his draft stock hasn’t yet taken a huge hit. It's also kind of fun to think about LaViolette calling Coors Field his home, too.

Bremner was projected as one of the top college arms coming into the spring and he’s maintained that status, with a 2.96 ERA in 24.1 innings with 26 Ks and just six walks so far. All of the stuff still checks out, with a fastball that’s been up to 98 mph and, arguably, the best changeup at the college level this spring. He’s a 6-foot-2, 190-pound athlete on the mound as well, which only makes it easier to envision him becoming the first college right-hander off the board.

Stevenson is one of the most substantial risers up college draft boards so far this spring, although he was projected as the No. 14 pick on our board this winter. Still, he’s managed to outdo his glowing preseason projections to this point, hitting .309 with a 1.147 OPS and seven homers in 20 games for North Carolina so far. The draft-eligible sophomore also looks the part of a big league catcher, which has helped him leap even further up this board.

“Starting with the biggest lefty riser, [Doyle] is the talk of the industry. Possessing top of the scale fastball life to go along with mid-to-upper-90s velocity that has peaked at 98.6 this spring, he’s jumped from an early day two prospect to a likely top ten overall pick. Statistically, his numbers are from a video game – 0.44 ERA and 47 strikeouts vs. five walks in 20.1 innings. He fills the zone at a 67.5% strike rate (69.4% with his fastball) and has held opponents to a .095 batting average. His heater is nearly unhittable with a 100th percentile Whiff rate of 58.6%, while his slider also checks-in at the 100th percentile with a 60% Z-Whiff (Total S/M inside the zone / Total swings inside the zone). I will be in Knoxville this weekend for another first-hand look at the lefthander when the Vols open the SEC against Florida.” – David Seifert (from March 14)

The Corona star shortstop has been the most productive hitter on the best high school team in the country so far in this young spring season. Carlson is 8-for-16 in his team’s first six games, with two doubles, two homers, and nine RBIs. He fits the prototypical SoCal shortstop mold perfectly, so naturally it’s pretty easy to see him becoming one of the first high school players off the board as he continues to impress onlooking evaluators while playing against some of the top competition in the nation.

Witherspoon’s draft stock hasn’t budged since the winter, where we called him a top-10 pick. What’s there to pick apart? The Sooners righty is 5-0 this spring with a 1.91 ERA in 28.1 innings, and he’s punched out 47 batters against just six walks and 17 hits allowed. It’s 94-97 mph on a steep, carry fastball with a feel slider that’s been a go-to for him, as well as an interesting cutter, and he pitches with a ton of energy and competitiveness.

Illinois has another one of the top-ranked prep arms in the country inside its border, and Appenzeller has the stuff and projection it takes to become the first high school arm selected in the MLB Draft. The left-hander has incredible athleticism that includes a hoops mixtape that features some highlight reel dunks. That athleticism on the mound makes Appenzeller deliver the ball with one of the most aesthetically pleasing deliveries in the country – it’s just an easy, fluid move to the plate. He’s 6-foot-5, 185 pounds, and he’s not yet thrown this spring as Illinois baseball has only just begun and his basketball season just ended over the weekend. Appenzeller is a Tennessee recruit but he has a large contingent of fans in the pro scouting community, so once he returns to the mound, it might not take long for evaluators to hold their first-round grades firm. The White Sox drafted one of the top prep lefties in the country a few years ago who also happened to be an Illinois native, Noah Schultz, so maybe Appenzeller’s their latest local pick.

Neyens’ high school spring in the Pacific Northwest just started last week, though he did already collect his first homer of the year. The physicality from a pretty left-handed swing is always going to draw eyes, and we think that’ll still earn him a selection inside the middle of the first round, maybe even near the top-10 here to the A’s.

Willits is an arrow-up prepster on this list, moving up a handful of spots since we mocked him at No. 18 overall in the winter. He’s a twitchy switch-hitter with some of the best athleticism in the class, and Shooter Hunt said he reminded him of Anthony Volpe from back in the day. Willits is also one of the youngest prep players in the 2025 class, which always makes for a model-friendly pick in the top-15.

Wake Forest is flying this spring and Houston is at the center of its hot start, hitting .414/.509/.782 with eight homers and eight doubles in 22 games in 2025. Moreover, the K rate’s gone down even more (9.3%) while the walk rate’s risen (15.7%), but it’s really the enhanced batted-ball profile that’s boosted his draft stock considerably, now feeling like a much more impactful offensive asset at the pro level.

The prep righty profile is a fickle one – some organizations won’t ever be comfortable taking one with a top-5 pick, some even stay away from the profile in the first round entirely. With that, Hernandez has one of the most star-powered track records among prep righties within the last five years or so and he looks like the same ol’ dominant version of himself for Corona so far. He’s K’d 27 in 13 innings this spring with just six hits allowed and only one walk. He’s an athlete with pedigree and an upper-90s fastball with whiff-inducing secondaries, so we’ll see where one of the nation’s top high schoolers lands while battling this prep righty profile.

Hammond was the 2023 Prep Baseball All-American MVP at our inaugural event, and he returned to the event in 2024 and looked as good as ever. A two-way standout, Hammond continues to look especially enticing as a shortstop or third baseman long-term with substantial athleticism and inherent strength. It’s a strong right-handed swing that’s already generated three homers in the brief high school season so far, in which he’s hitting .560 (14-for-25) with three doubles in addition to those three long balls, and he’s K’d just three times against nine walks.