2025 MLB Draft: Emptying the Week 2 Notebook
Searching for the crop of new Baltimore Orioles draft picks
Written by: Nick Stevens
Baseball season is in full swing now with spring training games underway and the college baseball season entering week three. Going from zero baseball to baseball overload is the only proper way to transition.
For my week two MLB Draft notebook dump article, I spent the past weekend watching a fun collection of series that included: Clemson vs Virginia Commonwealth, Texas A&M vs Cal Poly, and a very underrated series in USC vs Rice down in Texas. Washington and Stanford were on the list but Stanford has one of the worst broadcasts ever so my look at Stanford is going to wait until they come to Charlottesville to take on UVA. Might have to drive just over the mountain and check that series out in person.
Clemson vs VCU
Clemson has a handful of intriguing pitching prospects on the roster, but it was the bats that stole the show in South Carolina. The Tigers played two games against VCU and two against North Carolina A&T, but I stuck with the VCU games this weekend to get a look at Clemson vs better competition.
OF Cam Cannarella is a sure-fire first round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft. Cannarella spent the entire 2024 season playing with a torn-labrum and still put up impressive numbers in the ACC. He didn’t run at all after swiping 24 bags as a freshman and was severely limited defensively, but he had surgery right after the season and while he’s still not 100%, he’s on the mend.
The below Statcast card is via @TimStats on X and is for Cannarella’s 2024 campaign. If he can do this with a torn labrum, imagine what he’s capable of fully healthy.
It’s a plus hit tool with plus run grades and impressive contact rates. I’ve seen him described as being in the “Enrique Bradfield Jr bucket” with his hit/run/fielding abilities, but Cannarella is in that tier with much more power. If he somehow falls to the Orioles at 19, it would be a massive draft win.
3B Josh Paino also really stood out this weekend. Paino was at Cal Baptist with Orioles 2024 13th round pick RHP Brandon Downer and collected 51 XBH in two seasons there, while also taking home WAC Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2024. He’s now at Clemson making highlight reel play after highlight reel player over at third base. Paino consistently finds the barrel and has shown power to all fields. He could emerge as a fun senior-sign in this year’s draft.
Be sure to also keep an eye on OF Tristan Bissetta. Bissetta is a 6’1 left-handed hitting corner outfielder who already has a batted ball of 116 mph this season. He’s coming off a solid season in the Cape Cod League- 4 HR, .468 OBP, 1.023 OPS in 17 games. Bissetta is primed for a big breakout season for the Tigers and someone with his power and bat speed will surely make for an intriguing project.
Texas A&M vs Cal Poly
OF Jace LaViolette is an early-season favorite to be the 1.1 in the 2025 draft. While there’s a zero percent chance he ends up with the Orioles, the Aggies do boast some of the better college pitching prospects in the class, with LHP Ryan Prager leading the way. In fact, all three starters this weekend were lefties and all three pitched gems.
Prager was a 3rd round pick of the Los Angeles Angels last season and turned them down to return to Texas A&M. A very rare move for such a high pick, Prager likely made the right move (insert joke about the Angels here).
Prager was just 86-88 mph from the left side in this very cold, early season outing, but he usually sits 88-91 mph and has touched 93/94 mph. He doesn’t rely on big velo but does have plus command (5% walk rate last season), he pounds the strikezone, and he has elite IVB numbers. His mid-70s slider doesn’t have much bite but again, he commands it very well and throws it to any hitter in any count. The upper-70s changeup is plus offering with late tumble away from right-handed hitters. Prager will once again be one of the better pitching prospects in the class. Below is his changeup in action from Friday.
LHP Justin Lamkin got the start on Saturday and was very impressive. Lamkin tossed six quality innings (100 pitches), showcasing a fastball that sat 91-92 mph and touched 93 mph. He commanded his gyro slider very well, landing it for strikes against lefties and righties. He also mixed in a tumbling changeup that didn’t have a ton of movement, but was an effective putaway pitch against right-handed hitters. Lamkin has the makings of a solid back-end starter. If there’s a bit more velo, Lamkin becomes an even more fun potential pick. His line on Saturday: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. All 4 strikeouts below.
Last but not least, there was LHP Myles Patton. Patton may be the most intriguing of the trio. The 6-3, 200 pound lefty is a Long Beach State transfer who missed the final chunk of 2024 due to an injury, but he’s healthy again and looking strong through two starts this season.
On Sunday, he was 90-92 and up to 93 mph, with a plus slider that was getting lefties to chase and backdoor versions mowing down righties. He dropped in a couple of changeups in the upper-70’s, but was primarily fastball/slider. He has a curveball in the toolbelt as well, but he didn’t really need it today. Patton ended the afternoon with 7 IP, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K, and 8 groundball outs, all while getting ahead in the count often and hammering the strikezone.
USC vs Rice
This USC roster is a lot of fun and while there isn’t a ton of draft buzz yet surrounding a number of these players, there will be as more people begin to take notice.
LHP Caden Hunter is at the top of this list. Hunter is a JUCO transfer who has immediately turned into USC’s top arm. Hunter sits 92-93 mph from the left side and can get up to 95-96 mph, with plus IVB numbers. The ball appears to explode out of his hand and he commands it fairly well. There’s zero information about Hunter out there, but from watching the broadcast, it looked like he had two different breaking ball offerings and a changeup that fluttered underneath hitter’s barrels when it was on. He reportedly gave up just one hit all of preseason. I love, love this arm and am excited to see the buzz that will come later.
Final line from Friday: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 8 K. 6 of his 8 strikeouts below.
As for the bats, 1B/3B Ethan Hedges is putting on quite the power display. After hitting 2 home runs in 200 at-bats last season, Hedges has 3 home runs already, including a 105 mph/421 foot grand slam. I’ve seen the exit velo as high as 109 mph so far. It’s easy power with a balanced approach that’s clearly tapping into some real power. He’s also USC’s closer, touching 96 mph on the mound. He had two perfect innings with two saves on opening weekend. In my look this past weekend, he gave up a loud home run and couldn’t command much. I’m buying the bat here though.
OF Kade Higgins started his career with Arizona State, playing sparingly before transferring to UNLV where he showed notable growth in his two years there. Now at USC, Higgins already has multiple batted balls at 100+ mph, including a 104 mph home run. He’s 23, but has juice from the left side and he’s a coach’s kid.
Rice Friday night starter RHP Davion Hickson’s battle with Caden Hunter on Friday night was a matchup that received zero national attention but it should have. Hunter is 6’2 righty and has been the closer for Rice the last two years, but now he’s the Friday night guy. His fastball is 94-96 mph and touches 97 mph with plus IVB numbers. The slider is 84-86 mph with two feet of movement and 2700 rpm. And he has an upper-80s changeup. Originally at Florida State, Hickson walked 5 batters in his season debut, but cleaned up the operation this weekend. His control improved over the course of the night, piled up the whiffs up in the zone with his fastball and when he could locate the fastball down, it was a pretty pitch. The slider was a weapon to lefties but he couldn’t get righties to chase it due to his spotty fastball command. He has to start throwing more strikes, but Hickson has a fun ceiling as a starter and a reliever floor with his fastball/slider combo.
His final line from Friday: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 7 K. All 7 strikeouts below.
Previous draft notebook articles:
Subscribe to the Orioles On The Verge podcast here. Find us on YouTube here. Want extra perks including exclusive podcast episodes and access to a private Discord with a large group of diehard O’s fans? Join our Patreon here for as little as $3/month (discounts available if you sign up for a full year).