Arizona Sees Nine Players Selected in 2025 MLB Draft

Arizona saw nine players get taken in the MLB Draft across Sunday and Monday. It marked the most Wildcats selected in one draft since 11 players were picked in 2008. 

It began on Sunday when Brendan Summerhill went No. 42 overall in round one to the Tampa Bay Rays and Aaron Walton went No. 66 overall in round two to the Guardians.

Summerhill was taken as part of the Competitive Balance Round A which is at the end of round one. He is coming off a season where he hit .343 with four home runs and 34 RBI across 44 games after missing time with a fracture in his right hand as well as a hamstring injury. Overall across his three seasons in Tucson, Summerhill hit .323 with 14 home runs and 99 RBI in 124 games. 

Walton hit .320 with 14 home runs and 49 RBI across 65 games this past season for Arizona after transferring from Samford. He added in some huge home runs in the Wildcats run to the College World Series. 

Mason White got Arizona going on day two after being drafted No. 118 overall to the Boston Red Sox in round four. He finished his career in Tucson with 49 home runs which was second in program history. He had a historic final season at Arizona that carried over into the run to Omaha. White hit .320 with 20 home runs and 73 RBI this past season. 

Another star in the Wildcats run to Omaha was catcher Adonys Guzman who went No. 144 overall in round five to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The transfer from Boston College who spent the past two seasons in Tucson is coming off a year where he hit a team-high .328 at the plate this past year with nine home runs and 44 RBI. 

The Wildcats bullpen, which was a strength for most of the season saw five relievers get drafted in Julian Tonghini who went in round seven to the Nationals, Hunter Alberini in round 11 to the Kansas City Royals, Casey Hintz in round 16 to the Seattle Mariners, Raul Garayzar in round 19 to the Arizona Diamondbacks and Michael Hilker Jr. who went in round 20 to the Minnesota Twins.

Tonghini, a transfer from Indiana, posted a 4.26 ERA across 25 ⅓ innings over 22 appearances,  Alberini posted a 3.48 ERA across 20 ⅔ innings over 18 appearances and Hilker posted a 6.45 ERA across 13 appearances. 

Hintz finished the season with a 5.56 ERA over 55 innings across 24 appearances, but he was one of the top relievers for the Wildcats in big spots all season alongside Tony Pluta (who surprisingly went undrafted). Hintz added two saves and pitched a huge scoreless inning in the game against North Carolina that sent the Wildcats to the College World Series. 

Garayzar pitched as both a starter and reliever, posting a 2.81 ERA with a 2-0 record across 21 appearances. He made eight starts with three of them coming in the Wildcats postseason run.

Outside of those nine Wildcats drafted, Arizona had an incoming signee get picked in right-hander Cameron Millar who was drafted No. 97 overall on day one in round three by the Kansas City Royals. The Wildcats also had a commitment from another pitcher in Dylan Wood who went in round 19 by the Royals as well.