MLB Draft Preview in Cards
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The MLB All Star Game is fast approaching. While the league gears up for the mid summer classic, the festivities will kick off with the 2025 MLB Draft taking place over the course of two days starting on Sunday July 13. With that in mind here is thee 2025 draft preview for collectors.
The top three picks are widely projected to be pitchers
Major prospect ranking sites like Baseball America (BA), MLB Pipeline, and ESPN have been releasing mock first one drafts for several weeks leading up to the draft. As we have gotten closer to the draft a consensus has started to form amongst the draft experts as to how the top of the draft could go. The most recent mock drafts have Lefty college pitchers Kade Anderson and Liam Doyle going first and second, followed by high school right hander Seth Hernandez. All three are considered to have front line starter potential with Anderson and Doyle being fast movers through the minors.
What this means for collectors: If that prediction holds up on Draft day, that would mean that at least two of those three players would most likely make their product debut in Bowman Draft 2025. Historically the first overall pick regardless of position has always had their Bowman First card in that corresponding year’s Draft product with the second pick headlining the following year’s Bowman release. Last year Topps changed that trend to have the second best hitter (Charlie Condon) moving to Bowman instead of number two pick Chase Burns. I would expect that pattern to continue this year.
Ethan Holliday is the top player in the Draft and should not drop past the fourth spot
Ethan Holliday, the brother of Jackson and son of Matt Holiday, is considered the best player available in the draft. Currently listed as a shortstop, Holliday is expected to transition to the 3B as he matures. He has the best combination of hitting ability and power projection. Although he still has a chance to go first overall, it’s expected by most draft experts that he won’t slip past the Rockies at four.
What this means for collectors: As long as he’s the top hitter taken, Holiday should be the top chase either in Bowman Draft or Bowman 2026. If he is taken first overall he is pretty much guaranteed to be in 2025 Bowman Draft for reasons previously discussed. He has the skill set, pedigree and potential to be a future all star. Although under normal circumstances being taken by the Rockies might hurt his value being a legacy player should offset that.
Jace Laviolette went from top 5 pick to possible sleeper
Before the college season started Jace LaViolette was expected to be a top three pick in this draft with some projecting him to go number 1 overall. LaViolette is projected to have plus power with the athleticism to stay in the outfield. Unfortunately, LaViolette’s season didn’t go as well as planned as his contact rate went down raising concerns amongst evaluators. No longer projected to go in the top five, he should still be picked in the mid to late first round.
What this means for collectors: Obviously since he’s dropped down draft boards, LaViolette won’t be the top chase in Bowman 2025 Draft but should appear in it most likely in the second tier of chases. That said, he might end up being a nice value buy for collectors especially if he's drafted into an organization that could help him cut back on his strikeouts and increase his contact rate. The potential is still there along with the risk but some of that risk is mitigated by not having to pay top tier prices in breaks.
Who could be 2025’s version of Konnor Griffin?
Konor Griffin was a legitimate prep star and top ten pick last who had terrific power, tremendous athleticism, the ability to stay at a premium position, but had concerns over his ability to hit. Griffin so far has answered those questions, making enough contact to go along with all those positives that have him rocketing up prospect ranking sites (BA currently ranks him second overall in baseball). So the question becomes, who could be this year’s version of Griffin? While there aren’t any players that fit his exact profile there are several candidates who could be in that mold. Prep players to keep an eye on include JoJo Parker, Eli Willits, and Billy Carlson. Of those three Parker strikes me as the player most likely to make a strong transition due to his above average contact skills to along with good in game power.
What this means to collectors: Although replicating Griffin’s start to his career is a tall order, there are several candidates in the draft that could end up being elite prospects. It speaks to the overall depth in this draft. This will allow collectors to have a few shots at landing low tier 1 to tier 2 chases for reasonable prices and hopefully allow for some pick your team spots to be less expensive.
