Patrick Forbes 2025 MLB Draft Profile

Prospect: Patrick Forbes
Position: Right-Handed Pitcher
School: Louisville
Year: True Junior
Bat/Throws: R/R
Height/Weight: 6-3/220

Background

Born July, 11, 2004 (age 20) to parents Elizabeth and Lukas Forbes. A native of Bowling Green, Ky., he lettered four years in baseball at Bowling Green HS. A two-way player, he hit .563 for 15 home runs and 57 RBI at the plate as a senior, while also posting a 2.36 ERA with 61 strikeouts in 32.2 innings. As a result, he was named the 2022 Kentucky Mr. Baseball.

Forbes was regarded as the No. 217 prospect in the Class of 2022, and the No. 1 prospect in the state of Kentucky by Perfect Game. He chose to attend Louisville over schools like Bellarmine, Kentucky, Lipscomb and Western Kentucky, and was not drafted out of high school.

During his first season in college in 2023, Forbes put together a solid true freshman campaign. Playing in 42 games in the field while making 25 starts, he hit .258/.358/.409 with three home runs, 19 RBI, three doubles, a triple and 14 walks. Over on the mound, he wasn't quite as efficient, posting a 7.71 ERA in 9.1 innings pitched across 14 relief appearances, while also walking 15 to just 10 strikeouts.

For his sophomore season in 2024, Forbes decided to focus exclusively on pitching after missing a month early in the season after an HBP broke his left hand. This move wound up paying massive dividends.

Making 12 total appearance with four starts, he posted a 3.72 ERA, striking out 32 while only walking 15 over 29.0 total innings of work. This helped him earn a spot on the 2024 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, striking out five and allowing one run in a four-inning start during the 21st International Friendship Series vs. Chinese Tapei

This past season as a junior, Forbes was Louisville's Friday night ace. Despite having to miss a few starts due to a flexor strain, he morphed into one of the most dominant pitchers in all of college baseball. In 15 starts, he put up a 4.42 ERA, striking out a whopping 117 batters and walking only 34 over 71.1 innings of work. His strikeout mark was second in the ACC (FSU's Jamie Arnold - 119) and 16th nationally, while his 14.76 K/9 rate was third in all of D1 baseball.

Scouting Report

MLB Draft Prospect Rankings:

MLB.com: No. 31
Baseball America: No. 47

Strengths

Given his two-way background, Forbes has a very athletic build, and it certainly shows up on the mound. His delivery is incredibly explosive with a low arm slot, and features a lot of effort behind it, which helped to generate a 36.7 percent strikeout rate in 2025.
Forbes is primarily powered by an electric fastball that generates a lot of swings and misses. It typically sits around 94-96, but has been known to touch 99-100 at times.
His fastball is backed up by a dynamic power slider. Not only does it sit around 83-85 and occasionally touch 86-plus, but it has good bite at the end, and even sometimes has sweeping action to it.

Weaknesses

Forbes' control has gotten better compared to his first two seasons in college (10.7 percent walk rate in 2025, 17.2 percent over 2023 and 2024), but it's still a bit of an issue. He's been prone to innings where his command simply evaporates.
While his fastball-slider combo is deadly, the third pitch in his repertoire - a changeup - isn't nearly as effective. It runs around 86-89 and has solid fade to it, but it can get fairly flat whenever his control is off.
Has a slight injury history to him with the broken hand in 2024 and flexor strain in 2025. Has just 19 collegiate starts as a result.