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New No. 1 Overall Pick Projected in Next Month's MLB Draft

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Eric W. Bolin | Last updated Jun 18, 2025 7:54 PM ET

The 2025 MLB Draft is expected to be one of most fluid of recent years. There's little consensus on who will go first overall, though a bulk of the picks inside the top 15 have remained steady for the better part of the last couple months.

In ESPN.com's lastest mock draft, a new No. 1 overall pick for the Washington Nationals emerged Wednesday.

LSU pitcher Kade Anderson is the new face atop of Kiley McDaniel's projections in the latest update. The Tigers left-hander dazzled in LSU's opening game of the College World Series against Arkansas. He limited the top offense in Omaha to just one run on three hits over seven innings while walking just two and striking out seven.

McDaniel admitted Anderson is far from a lock at the top spot, though.

"Anderson's strong finish to the season has him looking like the slight favorite over Ethan Holliday as the top pick," McDaniel wrote. "Seth Hernandez and Eli Willits are also getting looks here, and I'm sure there are internal conversations about a couple of other options, but Anderson and Holliday are seen as the most likely selections."

Holliday, a high-school infielder from Oklahoma, is the brother of current Baltimore Orioles infielder Jackson Holliday, himself the No. 1 pick of the 2022 draft. The Hollidays are the son of former major-league Matt Holliday, who played 15 years in the bigs, mostly with the Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals.

Hernandez and Willits are also high-schoolers, the latter from Oklahoma, too. They're projected to go ninth and fourth, respectively, to the Cincinnati Reds and the Rockies.

Tennessee left-hander Liam Doyle is the projected No. 2 pick to the Los Angeles Angels and Florida lefty Jamie Arnold is slotted to go third to the Seattle Mariners. High-school shortstop JoJo Parker, from Mississippi, rounds out the top five as McDaniel sees him landing with the Cardinals.

The draft is scheduled for July 13-14 as part of All-Star weekend festivities.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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