2025 MLB Draft Day 1 Thread

[hanton]

Austin Martin

Draft Comparison:

In terms of comparative comps, Martin was often compared to players like:

• Andrew Benintendi (Boston Red Sox) for his approach at the plate and hit tool.

• Javier Báez (Chicago Cubs) in terms of versatility and potential for power, though Martin's hit tool was considered to be a bit more refined at the time.

• Dustin Pedroia (former Boston Red Sox) was also mentioned for his potential to be a high-contact, on-base, multi-position player.

[Brownie19]

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74K likes, 180 comments - jomboymedia on July 13, 2025: "Cool moment for the entire Bremner family ❤️ (via...

Very cool moment for a kid who's probably gone through hell over the last little bit.

Mom passed away from breast cancer a month ago and he's drafted by the Angels?  How can you not be romantic about baseball?

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9,444 likes, 136 comments - mlbnetwork on July 13, 2025: "An emotional Draft Day for...

 

 

[Laika]

Martin's comps are funny in hindsight. But same could be said of any flopped prospect.

 

[Pendleton]

21 minutes ago, hanton said:

Austin Martin

Draft Comparison:

In terms of comparative comps, Martin was often compared to players like:

• Andrew Benintendi (Boston Red Sox) for his approach at the plate and hit tool.

• Javier Báez (Chicago Cubs) in terms of versatility and potential for power, though Martin's hit tool was considered to be a bit more refined at the time.

• Dustin Pedroia (former Boston Red Sox) was also mentioned for his potential to be a high-contact, on-base, multi-position player.

You could have just saved yourself some time and said you don't like draft day comps lol I'm well aware of how prospects work. People are still always going to try to compare top prospects to star players, it's just part of the fun of following the draft 

[Laika]

Yeah the best part of the draft is Harold Reynolds comparing 7 different kids to Mookie Betts 

[Brownie19]

I didn't see this mentioned, but Will Hynes was the first Canadian drafted yesterday.  High School kid who plays for the Ontario Blue Jays.  Drafted 70th overall.

If Hynes wanted to find some high school pitchers to follow in their footsteps, he doesn't have to look too far back to find some fellow Ontario natives. Just a year ago, the A's took Josiah Romeo in the sixth round, and Mets 2022 seventh-rounder Jonah Tong has become one of their better pitching prospects. With strong performances for the Canadian Premier Team against professional teams in Arizona in March and then with the Junior National Team in Florida in April, Hynes has put himself into mid-Day 2 conversations. Scraping 6-foot-2 and turning 18 just days before the Draft, Hynes offers an interesting combination of projection and feel for pitching. He's up to 94-95 mph with his fastball, a heater that has a mix of run and sink to it, helping it play up. His high-spin slider will register 2,700 rpm and elicits good swing-and-miss. His changeup is a bit behind the other two, but there's some feel for the offspeed offering, even though he doesn't throw it much. Hynes has shown a penchant for throwing strikes and pitched well against the Giants and Guardians in Arizona, then held his own against the Blue Jays and Yankees in Florida, albeit in shorter stints. There's some upside here, with perhaps more velocity to come as he physically matures, something teams will be sure to consider when deciding if they can sign him away from his Wake Forest commitment.

[Laika]

Pinning the Day 1 draft thread on the main page for another day or two as well. 

[John_Havok]

7 picks on day 1 for Baltimore... lol

System needs a tweak i think, something like...if you've got picks for letting FAs go, you don't also get competitive balance picks. 

[mphenhef]

It could just be me, but I found it hard to be excited about the jays drafting a couple of hit first, low strikeout, low power guys.

[Laika]

52 minutes ago, mphenhef said:

It could just be me, but I found it hard to be excited about the jays drafting a couple of hit first, low strikeout, low power guys.

I don't think that's a fair characterization at all. 

Fangraphs on Parker:

Explosive lefty power bat with a (somewhat small sample) contact performance that reinforces confidence in Parker's ability to access his power. Sweeping bat path similar to Walker Jenkins and Brady Ebel with dangerous low ball uppercut. Has shown some ability to flatten his swing to cover the top of the zone, with some oppo-poked contact of this style... Has a little less bat-to-ball track record as the other elite prospects, but has the contact/power combo to be an everyday player... Since last year’s PG National, Parker has really gone wire-to-wire as the most even-keeled, well-rounded high school prospect.

Fangraphs on Cook: 

Likely low-impact offensive player barring total overhaul in approach and swing. Of all the athletes who might be able to do something like that, the recently converted guy is as likely as anyone...  His offense (currently a slash-and-dash type) might evolve as he accrues experience.

 

 

Most highly drafted high school SS prospects sound like JoJo Parker on scouting reports. Jackson Merrill, Kevin McGonigle, all sounded like that. MLB says 60 hit 55 power for Parker. 

Cook, look up some video on him. He does have a goofy stance and swing and he has styled his game as a slash and dash burner. But he is not a thin little speedster, he's like 6'3" with some muscle on there. His first HR this year was an oppo shot. That Jays only draft him at 81 if they think they can coach power out of him. I bet his swing will look completely different in pro ball, or maybe in 2026.

[Laika]

 

Parker hits a ball 110 mph in this video 

So as a high school senior he already has as more raw power than, say, Cavan Biggio 

Easy to see that developing into 50+ game power when he is 23

[Laika]

Like, if Jake Cook never pitches and instead is in College with his coaches trying to access his raw power... is he more comparable to a guy like Garrett Mitchell? 

[Spanky__99]

On 7/14/2025 at 11:34 AM, Laika said:

Martin's comps are funny in hindsight. But same could be said of any flopped prospect.

 

Exactly.

[John_Havok]

I know its early, but any non-drafted guys signing yet? Last year the Jays popped 11 non-drafted guys in the days following.

 

[Pendleton]

7 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

I know its early, but any non-drafted guys signing yet? Last year the Jays popped 11 non-drafted guys in the days following.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pendleton]

 

[Pendleton]

 

 

 

[John_Havok]

Awesome work brother. Keep that coming 

8th round pick slot value was 238,600

10th was 193,500

Quick math...thats a pile to send to the overslot kids.

[Pendleton]

 

[Pendleton]

 

[Pendleton]

16 hours ago, Pendleton said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Latta seems like a solid pickup. He was the Big West defensive player of the year, and also gets a pretty decent review from BA on his bat 

 

• Maddox Latta, SS, Cal State Fullerton
  Latta is a 5-foot-11, 193-pound shortstop prospect and committed Texas A&M graduate transfer who excelled as a bat-to-ball specialist in 2025. He slashed .362/.486/.503 with three home runs, 15 doubles, 14 stolen bases, a 12.4% strikeout rate and a 14.9% walk rate. While he doesn’t produce much impact, Latta makes consistent contact and controls the zone well, giving him a steady offensive profile.

[Brownie19]

That sounds like the same scouting report for my oldest boy.  

[jmomcc]

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/45709418/mlb-draft-2025-kiley-mcdaniel-recap-analysis-all-30-teams
 

Worth a read. He seems to like a lot of our picks. Looks like other than Spencer there are another couple of senior pitchers he likes as well. 

[Laika]

I guess I am wrong about Piasentin. He won't be under slot. 

That is great, it just makes the draft look even better if they can sign everyone. 

[Pendleton]

57 minutes ago, Laika said:

I guess I am wrong about Piasentin. He won't be under slot. 

That is great, it just makes the draft look even better if they can sign everyone. 

Ty Peeples (round 20) was named as one of the high potential payoffs, but I read somewhere that he'd be a surprising signing. I guess we'll see 

[Laika]

Just now, Pendleton said:

Ty Peeples (round 20) was named as one of the high potential payoffs, but I read somewhere that he'd be a surprising signing. I guess we'll see 

He must be the backup upside pick. They'll negotiate with him if they can't sign Bullard?

[hanton]

On 7/15/2025 at 9:46 AM, Laika said:

 

Parker hits a ball 110 mph in this video 

So as a high school senior he already has as more raw power than, say, Cavan Biggio 

Easy to see that developing into 50+ game power when he is 23

Love this kids swing, imagine what Pop can do to bring him along and prepare him for pro ball.  I wonder how the hiring of Pop and Lou Iannotti impact the lower levels? in terms of hitting instruction and philosophy 

[Pendleton]

26 minutes ago, Laika said:

He must be the backup upside pick. They'll negotiate with him if they can't sign Bullard?

That makes sense yeah. They seem to be perhaps the second and third highest ceiling guys in this crop behind Parker, and it probably isn't realistic to expect enough pool space to sign two top-three round HS talents who were both picked after round ten - one or the other seems more plausible. Who knows though, if we keep hearing of more $5000 signs, that's a lot of pool money freed up 

[max silver]

30 minutes ago, hanton said:

Love this kids swing, imagine what Pop can do to bring him along and prepare him for pro ball.  I wonder how the hiring of Pop and Lou Iannotti impact the lower levels? in terms of hitting instruction and philosophy 

I'd be interested as well to hear how the major league hitting staff impacts the organization as a whole.There obviously wouldn't be time for these coaches to work directly with the minor league players in season, but I do suspect that they would be directly involved in working with these players at the training complex in the offseason.

[Spanky__99]

52 minutes ago, max silver said:

I'd be interested as well to hear how the major league hitting staff impacts the organization as a whole.There obviously wouldn't be time for these coaches to work directly with the minor league players in season, but I do suspect that they would be directly involved in working with these players at the training complex in the offseason.

I believe they were, involved this offseason past. From an article earlier this season and Varsho etc...
 

Quote

The way he’s getting there is also important for a Blue Jays team that remade its hitting department over the winter, led by the hirings of Popkins and assistant Lou Iannotti.

Not only did Popkins arrive as a fresh voice, but with the Minnesota Twins, he helped develop a motion-capture process and reporting tool, and he brought that know-how to the Blue Jays. He’s since worked with the club’s bio-mechanics department, “who did a great job making that very quickly, starting to catch us up to where we need to be.”

Blue Jays' Barger credits hitting coach Popkins for improvement at plate

Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Addison Barger joins Hazel Mae after the team's 6-3 win over the Seattle Mariners, discussing Yimi Garcia's eventful eighth inning, the work he's put into his swing, and more.

 

The foundational elements to measure movements were already in place when he was hired in October, but the Blue Jays “didn't have it in a concise report that we could use right away,” he says. Now, they are producing movement reports tracking “certain markers that we think are important in the swing, checking things and making sure the movements are staying on the right path and if things are changing without us seeing it with our eyes.”

They’re not done developing, either, with Popkins saying the pace at which the bio-mech staff has made progress “is going to get us to a really good point in the future.”

Equally important, of course, is how that information is presented to players, and on that front, Popkins is meeting players where they’re at. If they want biomechanical scans, swing trails and reams of data, no sweat. Or if they want more traditional video, all good, too.

“We'll ask them what they have and what their thoughts are and how we can guide them back to where they need to be — it's not always us leading, sometimes it's us collaborating,” says Popkins. “Daulton was more video, talking it through with him, and connecting his feels to the video is what's really important for him. That’s how he learns. That's how he likes to be taught.”

Actually that was a good read...

https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/revamped-blue-jays-hitting-program-helping-varsho-find-clues-of-past-success/