Rangers Select Impact SEC Pitcher in Latest MLB Mock Draft

The Texas Rangers have two ways they could go in the 2025 MLB draft: starting pitching or an infield pipeline.

The Rangers have many reasons to target a bat, but their strategy may not fit into their order on Sunday night.

Texas holds the No. 12 overall pick in a draft that is brimming with talented high school bats, particularly prep shortstops in the top 15.

The Rangers haven’t taken a prep position player in the first round since 2017 and a high school prospect since 2018.

There’s a lack of college bats, which the Rangers covet. They may want hitters more than pitchers.

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However, the outcome of the order ahead of them could influence Texas to shift their strategy slightly.

Baseball America released its latest MLB mock draft (subscription required), and the author, Carlos Collazo, has the Rangers taking Oklahoma pitcher Kyson Witherspoon.

Collazo notes potential targets such as JoJo Parker, Billy Carlson, and Ike Irish, but he has them going a few picks ahead of Texas. Parker would be the favorite if available.

There are two draft philosophies: either the best need-based pick or one based purely on the best player available. Collazo predicts they’ll choose the latter at No. 12 overall.

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“I’m uncertain about which of the available hitters they prefer of the best available—a group that includes Marek Houston, Daniel Pierce, Steele Hall, Gavin Kilen, Brendan Summerhill, and Wehiwa Aloy—so instead I have them going with a pure best player available pick, and that’s Kyson Witherspoon,” Collazo wrote.

That’s a consecutive mock draft for the publication in which the Rangers land Witherspoon, with the last one released by Collazo on June 30.

“Witherspoon’s impact upside might be too much to pass up if he gets outside of the top 10,” Collazo wrote.

That lines up with the end of his prediction in his latest mock draft that once the top 12 consensus players are off the board, chaos will break loose.

That could lead to a tumble by an unexpected player, and he believes it's Witherspoon landing with Texas.

The right-hander went 10-4 with a 2.65 ERA and 124 strikeouts to 23 walks in 2025 with Oklahoma.

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He improved both his ERA and strikeout-to-walk ratio from 2024, where he went 8-2 with a 3.79 ERA and 86 strikeouts to 38 walks.

It would fit their trend of college players in the first round, but it would be the first time they took a starting pitcher with that pick since 2022.

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