UVA Commit Nick Becker Selected By The Seattle Mariners With The 57th Pick In The 2025 MLB Draft

Don Bosco’s Nick Becker is greeted at home after hitting a two-run homer to put his team up, 2-0, on June 11, 2025. Don Bosco Prep defeats Christian Brothers Academy, 5-4, in an 11-inning game for Non-Public A baseball title at Veterans Park in Hamilton. This game began on June 11 and was completed on June 12. It was suspended with a 4-4 tie at the end of eight innings due to township rules about park lights. | Peter Ackerman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

UVA Baseball commit Nick Becker, younger brother of Eric Becker, has been selected by the Seattle Mariners with the 57th pick in the second round of the 2025 MLB Draft. Becker becomes the first Virginia commit or current/former player to be drafted.

UVA commit Nick Becker selected by the Seattle Mariners with the 57th pick in the 2nd Round of the MLB Draft.

The pick comes with a $1.64 million slot value.

ESPN had the younger Becker as a "50/50" to sign coming into the draft. This was right around his draft range.

— Preston Willett (@PrestonWillett) July 14, 2025

The draft slot comes with a $1.64 million slot value and it will be interesting to see if he is actually going to sign with Seattle or decide to come to Virginia to join the Cavaliers.

Here is the scouting report on Becker courtesy of mlb.com:

Scouting grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 50 | Run: 55 | Arm: 50 | Field: 55 | Overall: 50

Hailing from the small hamlet of Thiells, New York, Becker heads about half an hour south across the state border to attend high school at Don Bosco Prep, which to date, has produced one big leaguer: Angels right-hander Caden Dana. It’s where his older brother, Eric, now a sophomore at the University of Virginia, went and both learned from their father, Jeff, a Duke player who spent two summers in Cleveland’s Minor League system. Nick has the chance to be better than either of them.

With an athletic and projectable frame, Becker has some now tools he displayed at summer showcase events like the Area Code Games to go along with strength gains to dream on as he adds to his 6-foot-4 frame. The right-handed-hitting infielder already has good bat-to-ball skills and excellent hitting instincts, finding the barrel consistently and showing the ability to make adjustments in the box. It’s easy to expect at least average power in the future as he gets stronger and learns to leverage his swing more, something he’s sure to do without sacrificing his hit tool.

Already possessing solid speed, Becker could eventually be a plus runner as he physically matures. That will only help his solid defensive foundation get better. He has plenty of arm and good actions which point to a long-term future at shortstop. His combination of intangibles, makeup and tools should make him very intriguing to teams in the top few rounds, though his commitment to follow his brother to Virginia could be a high hurdle to clear."

Yesterday, Chris Pollard and Virginia got good news when RHP commit John Paone decided to withdraw from the draft and come to play in Charlottesville.

May 24, 2025; Demarest, NJ, USA; Pascack Valley vs. Don Bosco in the Bergen County baseball tournament championship at Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest. DB #22 Nick Becker. | Michael Karas-NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Here is the scouting report on Paone, courtesy of mlb.com

"Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 50 | Overall: 45

The last time a high school pitcher from Massachusetts went in the top few rounds was when lefty Thomas White was a Competitive Balance Round A pick for the Marlins in 2023 and he’s developed into one of the better pitching prospects in the game. You have to go back to 2017 to find a right-handed equivalent, when the D-backs took Matt Tabor in the third round, and he’s struggled to stay healthy over six seasons of pro ball. Paone, who showed off his skills at summer showcase events like the East Coast Pro Showcase and Area Code Games, could go in the top five rounds based on talent.

While waiting for things to warm up in New England, Paone built off his strong summer with a solid indoor workout that excited scouts, though his stuff wasn’t quite as electric once games started. Over the summer, the big, strong right-hander was up into the mid-90s with his fastball, but he’s settled into the 90-93 mph range more often than not in the early spring, with more run than sink coming out of a lower arm slot. His slider, topping out at around 80 mph, can be effective but it’s a bit inconsistent. He has some feel for an 84-85 mph changeup.

While Paone is around the zone and has the makings of a durable starter, there are some concerns about his arm slot dropping too much and some effort with a cross-fire delivery. But the biggest obstacle teams will have to deal with is what is perceived to be a strong commitment to head to Duke for college."

This is big for Virginia and the pitching staff for 2026 and that goes great with the recent transfer commitments that UVA has managed to get.