Diamond Hogs Set for MLB Draft Surge This Sunday

Arkansas Diamond Hogs Set for Exciting 2025 MLB Draft

Fayetteville – The 2025 Major League Baseball draft is set to be a thrilling event for the Arkansas Razorbacks, as several of their standout players are expected to be selected in the early rounds. The draft will take place over two days, starting on Sunday night at 5 p.m. and continuing on Monday beginning at 10:30 a.m. The first three rounds will be held at the Coca Cola Roxy in the Atlanta suburb of Cumberland, with rounds 4 through 20 taking place the following day.

The entire draft will be televised by the MLB Network, while ESPN will cover the first 43 selections on Sunday. Among the top prospects from the Razorbacks, shortstop Wehiwa Aloy and pitcher Gage Wood are projected to be selected in the first round. Pitcher Zach Root and outfielder Charles Davalan are also expected to be taken on the first day.

Razorback head coach Dave Van Horn expressed his excitement about the potential number of players being drafted. “I’d say eight to 10 of them will be drafted — pretty high,” Van Horn said. “So that’s exciting. Makes you proud.”

Razorback pitching coach Matt Hobbs shared his enthusiasm during an appearance on ESPN 99.5’s Halftime radio show with Phil Elson and Matt Jones. “Outside of playing in the postseason at Arkansas, my favorite day of the year is watching these guys get picked, because I know how much went into all that,” Hobbs said. “We’ve been there for the stories of our players who get picked and have spent time with us… and I just can’t wait to watch these guys realize their dreams.”

Hobbs was asked about the team’s plans for its roster after the draft, which spans 20 rounds for the fifth consecutive year. “I think we have a decent idea of the incoming freshman of who is going and who is not, you would think,” Hobbs said. “But you get surprised all the time on draft day. You know in my mind last year said bye to Carson Wiggins thinking he is going to sign, he is going to get enough money and he ended up with us. So I guess you never really knows how it is going to end up, but you have a pretty good idea about the majority of our roster that is going to sign.”

Aloy, who won the Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s best college player, is considered the likely first Razorback off the board. He is projected as the 13th overall pick to the San Francisco Giants by The Athletic’s Keith Law and 17th to the Chicago Cubs by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel and MLB.com’s Jim Callis. Aloy is also ranked as the 16th-best prospect in the draft by Baseball America, which has 8 Arkansas players among its top 258.

Wood, who raised his stock with a no-hitter at the College World Series, is projected to go 16th to the Minnesota Twins by McDaniel, 22nd to the Atlanta Braves by both Law and Callis, and is ranked as the 16th-best prospect by Baseball America.

Davalan is McDaniel’s 36th overall pick to the Twins and Callis’ 43rd to the Miami Marlins. Law views Root as the 29th best prospect.

Other Razorbacks most likely to be drafted include third baseman Brent Iredale, outfielders Justin Thomas and Logan Maxwell, and pitchers Aiden Jimenex, Landon Beidelschies, Parker Coil, Christian Foutch, and Ben Bybee.

MLB Pipeline has Aloy as its 17th-best prospect and has Wood at 23, Root 42, Davalan 54, Iredale 177, and Beidelschies 208 in the rankings of high school and college prospects.

Among the Arkansas high school signees, Fayetteville infielder Landon Schaefer and Edmond (Okla.) North shortstop Carson Brumbaugh are also expected to be drafted. Schaefer is No. 125 and Brumbaugh 222 on MLB Pipeline’s list, while Baseball America has Schaefer 138th and Brumbaugh 156th.

Other notable prospects include Fort Smith Northside pitcher McLane Moody, Jefferson City (Mo.) hurler Jordan Martin, Louisiana prep outfielder Christian Turner, and University School of Nashville (Tenn.) infielder Alexander Peck, all of whom are among Baseball America’s top 500 draft prospects.

The Razorbacks have also added 8 players from the transfer portal, with former Ball State shortstop Dylan Grego, former Marshall outfielder Maika Niu, and former Lamar outfielder Damian Ruiz being the most likely to be drafted. However, none of these players are listed in Baseball America’s top 300 prospects.