2025 Alabama Baseball MLB Draft Preview

Another MLB Draft begins this weekend. A total of 615 Major League Baseball hopefuls will be selected from far and wide, including multiple members of the 2025 Alabama roster and, potentially, incoming signees. The draft begins on Sunday in Atlanta.

The biggest storyline concerning the outlook for the Crimson Tide is the starting pitching rotation. All three players who closed this past season in one of those spots are going to get picked. Righty Riley Quick, who was 8-3 with a 3.92 ERA, is not expected to return.

Southpaw Zane Adams and right-hander Tyler Fay can both come back to college. Alabama has gone after pitching help in the transfer portal, adding starters in case it ultimately has to replace each of its 2025 weekend arms next spring.

In the team's ideal scenario, it gets two of those three players back for another run in 2026. Fay (1-2, 4.69 ERA) has plenty more to prove after he emerged as a viable starting option despite a tough start to the campaign as a reliever. Adams, whom Rob Vaughn placed a premium on keeping in crimson upon his 2023 hiring, posted a 7-4 record with a 5.54 earned run average as a true sophomore.

Adams had some tough starts but still displayed the pitch mix and attributes that make him a draft asset. He dispatched eventual national runner-up Coastal Carolina in February and found his groove after going from starting Fridays to starting Sundays in April. In his place, Fay took over the first turn in the rotation and did well enough with it that he kept the role the rest of the season.

The outfield is set for some adjustments that are beholden to decisions surrounding the draft. Right fielder Bryce Fowler has indicated he will be back. Left fielder and team captain Kade Snell vaulted up draft boards with a career year, but his college eligibility is gone.

Center fielder Richie Bonomolo Jr.'s choice on whether to turn professional or remain in Tuscaloosa is what, in part, shapes the 2026 outfield mix. A good defender, Bonomolo also proved himself an indispensable piece to the batting order by way of his versatility. Wherever he hit, he did damage, whether that was in the No. 9-hole, leading off or the cleanup spot.

Should Fowler and Bonomolo return (if just Bonomolo departs, Fowler might find himself manning center), they could be joined by local signee Eric Hines. The American Christian Academy product from the class of 2025 has a lot of talent, enough that he might find himself drafted so high as to pass on college ball.

Hines isn't the sole signee for whom a draft selection is in the cards. Pitcher Myles Upchurch is a prospect teams have had their eyes on. He'll have a decision to make; others, like two-way Alabama natives Caleb Barnett and Ma'Kale Holden, could find themselves in the same boat.

The list of draft-eligible players with Alabama connections doesn't end there. The 2025 team's two catchers are both able to be chosen, for example. However, the true impact of the event is not so much that the players are drafted. It's the choice that follows. Alabama's team next season will be impacted by the draft. As is the case for many programs, the question is how much.

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