The first two weeks after the college baseball season began the race for the first place pick. As owners of that pick, Mike Rizzo and the Washington Nationals will be watching closely as the race unfolds. It’s early, but Florida left-handed pitcher Jamie Arnold has been my favorite player in the draft so far.
Arnold’s outlier features give him the possibility of an ace. Arnold’s greatest driver of success is his funky low arm slot, which the batter cannot pick up. That’s why he elicited some comparisons with Chris Sale. Ultra flat approach angle That’s why his 93-95 mph fastball made the dominant result last year.
Arnold has taken the game this season to the next level. He has not faced the strongest competition ever, but he has overwhelmed the batsmen he faced. Until the 11 innings he has Don’t give up on running. Arnold allowed three hits, hitting 16 innings, and not walking the batter.
Command is another big selling point for Arnold. Despite having unorthodox dynamics, he lives in the strike zone. The combination of swing and miss and potentially plus commands will raise Jamie Arnold Ace.
To go with his outlier fastball, Arnold has a devastating slider. It has a sweeper like a move, and the batsman can’t deal with it. The only drawback is that the pitch is so much movement that it makes commanding difficult. This is a good problem with Arnold’s feeling of pitch.
Arnold developed a new pitch this offseason. He’s throwing now Splitter with the characteristics of elite pitch. On the split, the batsmen were fighting for a living on the plate.
Faced with Jamie Arnold is a completely unfair proposal for college batsmen. His stuff and command are too good. The only thing that doesn’t make him the first overall pick of a slam dunk is the fact that he doesn’t throw 100 like Paul Skenneth. However, Arnold’s deception brings his 94-mile play closer to 100.
Jace La Violet, a Fellow 1 pick candidate, is heading for a slow start. This will increase the likelihood that Arnold will be number one. Laviolet is 4/19 To start the season. He walks a lot, three of them are home runs, but the start adds only questions about Rabiolet’s hit tool. We know that the outfielders of Texas A&M have power, but he can hit enough to justify being number one overall.
Ethan Holiday’s high school season has not yet begun, but similar questions surround him. Holiday had some struggles at the high school showcase circuit, which faced the best high school pitchers. He was being sold around, so he might have been trying to overdo it. Overmatched in the face of Oklahoma High School pitchers don’t do tons to answer those questions. The Nationals Scouts look at the most famous names in the draft and see if he made any concrete adjustments.
Aiva Arquette is another name to watch as it got off to a fast start. However, he needs to maintain these performances to stay on the face. Arquette wasn’t as highly praised as the Big 3 preseason, so you’ll have to force the Nats’ hands.
Currently, Jamie Arnold feels like the cleanest outlook in the draft. Not only is he at low risk, like pitchers do, but he also has the ceiling of that ace. Last year, another left-hander with a low arm slot, Hagen Smith made it into the top five. But Arnold had a better command and now flashed a legitimate third pitch that Smith didn’t have. My favorite 2025 MLB Draft prospect is in Tallahassee, Florida, and his name is Jamie Arnold.
