MLB Draft 2025: New mock has Washington Nationals selecting College World Series star

After dominating the College World Series, is LSU’s Kade Anderson the favorite to be selected first overall?

With the College World Series wrapped up and the draft about two weeks away, it is now peak mock draft season. It seems like one comes out every other day. Since the Washington Nationals are selecting first overall, we have been keeping up with a lot of the mocks.

Yesterday, the great folks over at Baseball America put out a mock draft. The site is paywalled and very much worth the price of subscription, so I won’t give too much away. However, they do have the Nationals taking LSU pitcher Kade Anderson first overall.

Anderson is the top ranked college player on most draft boards now after a dominant College World Series. In the final, when the lights were at their brightest, Anderson was at his best. Against Coastal Carolina, Anderson set the tone with an 130 pitch complete game shutout in a 1-0 LSU win.

With these performances, it is pretty clear that Anderson is the top college pitcher in the class. His advanced command and strike throwing means he is close to the big leagues. He also has very impressive stuff to go with it.

Anderson has a fastball that sits in the 92-96 MPH range, but plays up due to its movement. However, Anderson’s best pitches are his breaking balls. He has an outstanding feel to spin and has great feel of his breakers. Anderson has a curveball and a slider that he added this year. Both have the potential to be plus pitches. He also has a good changeup to go with it.

For me, Anderson has a Max Fried type of ceiling. Fried is another slender lefty who has outstanding feel to spin and a deep arsenal. Even if he does not get to that level, Anderson has a very high floor as a number 3 starter. It is also worth noting that Anderson has already undergone Tommy John Surgery. With the seeming inevitability of Tommy John these days, this is not necessarily a bad thing.

However, Anderson is far from a lock at number 1. He and Ethan Holliday seem neck and neck to go with that first pick. Both have unique cases. Anderson is a polished college arm who could fly through the Minors. Meanwhile, Holliday has the most power upside in the class and those big league bloodlines to go with it. Holliday has the higher ceiling, while Anderson has the higher floor.

It will all come down to what the Nats want to do and where Mike Rizzo sees the rebuild at this current moment. With fan frustration and the need for results quickly, Anderson could appeal to Rizzo. However, it would also be hard for him to pass on a guy with the pedigree of a Holliday.

An added complication is that both are represented by infamous super agent Scott Boras. That means it would be tough to play them against each other to get the best deal because well, you are talking to the same guy about these deals.

BA mentioned that high schoolers Eli Willits and Seth Hernandez could still be in play at 1, but those feel like more of long shots at this point. Mike Rizzo now has a fascinating decision to make.

Will he go for the fast rising college arm who can soar through the system, or will he go for the famous high schooler with the most star potential in the draft? We will find out on July 13th.