(Photo: MLB.com)
Arizona State baseball stumbled through parts of the rollercoaster that is the NCAA Division I baseball season in its first year as a member of the Big 12 Conference. Yet, for a few reasons, the year can still be categorized as a successful one.
Head coach Willie Bloomquist led a Sun Devils team, which many felt consisted of a handful of future pros, to an NCAA Regional, marking ASU’s first tournament appearance since 2021. A month and a half later, it was no longer just an opinion that the team consisted of a variety of future pros; it became fact.
On July 13 and 14, Arizona State’s all-time record for players selected in MLB Draft history increased to 486, with nine members of the 2025 team hearing their names called. All nine players were selected in the first 10 rounds of the 20-round draft, tying Arkansas for the most names called during the first half of the draft and the 1981 College World Series-winning ASU team for the most names called in the first 10 rounds in program history.
Here are the Sun Devils who will be gunning to add their names to the ever-growing list of 119 ASU products to appear in the MLB.
Brandon Compton arrived at Arizona State in 2023 as Perfect Game’s No. 2 left-handed pitcher in the state, having graduated from the nearby Buckeye Union High School. He also arrived with a surgically repaired UCL, which he tore on senior night, relegating him to the sidelines during his freshman season. When summer finally came around and Compton was healthy enough to swing a bat, he joined the Duluth Huskies of the Northwoods League to play collegiate summer ball as a hitter, changing the trajectory of his life.
Compton mashed for the Huskies, slashing .320/.423/.563 with 13 home runs in 284 plate appearances and being named an All-Star. The summer set the stage for his redshirt freshman season, where he took the Pac-12 by storm, with the dreams of him as a southpaw pitcher long in the rearview mirror.
Compton was named a Freshman All-American and Pac-12 Freshman of the Year after slashing .354/.427/.563 with 14 home runs. He experienced extended cold streaks and took a step back in his redshirt sophomore season — slashing a slightly more modest .271/.379/.486 with nine home runs — but the potential remained undeniable.
After lighting up the MLB Draft Combine — hitting 12 baseballs over 112 MPH and hitting one 116.9 MPH, the hardest hit ball in Combine history per MLB.com — the Miami Marlins took a shot on him with their third pick of the day. The organization will try to tap into that power potential and increase his contact rate to form a formidable corner outfield duo alongside All-Star Kyle Stowers. Compton doesn’t have to worry about any superstar outfield prospects in the Marlins’ farm system on his road to the major leagues, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he has a clear path to the show. Outfielders PJ Morlando, Dillon Head and Kemp Alderman are all ranked as top-10 prospects in the Marlins system by MLB Pipeline, and the team took Clemson outfielder Cam Cannarella with the 43rd pick, making for a crowded group.
Prior to the 2025 season, Arizona State pitching coach Jeremy Accardo claimed that ASU was now a “pitching school.” That take might not have aged perfectly as ASU finished eighth in the Big 12 with a 5.38 ERA, but the pitching staff had some bright spots, including Friday starter Ben Jacobs.
Jacobs transferred to ASU in 2024 after spending his freshman year at UCLA and quickly made an impact, tossing 66.1 innings across 20 games and 10 starts. In 2025, his role expanded as he became the ace of the staff, and he pitched accordingly. Jacobs, who starts his home games in the hitter-friendly environment of Phoenix Municipal Stadium, recorded a 4.95 ERA and 1.38 WHIP in 83.2 innings pitched across 16 starts.
Jacobs’ ability to miss bats is what makes him so intriguing. He recorded 120 strikeouts in 2025, good enough to lead the Big 12, and he did it utilizing a three-pitch fastball, changeup and slider mix. He’s had trouble commanding those pitches at times, and that’s one of the main things he’ll need to work on in the Tigers organization, which is a great landing spot for a pitcher. Four members of the Tigers’ starting rotation are home-grown arms, and they’ve helped fellow southpaw Tarik Skubal blossom into one of, if not the best, pitchers in baseball. Simply put, there aren’t a whole lot of better places for Jacobs to develop than Detroit.
Lucas Kelly wasn’t listed as one of MLB Pipeline’s top 250 draft prospects, he sat just outside Baseball America’s top 300, but that didn’t stop the Seattle Mariners from believing in him and taking him with the 182nd pick in the 2025 MLB Draft.
Kelly was a backend of the bullpen arm for Bloomquist in his lone season at Arizona State after spending time at Texas A&M, where he redshirted, and McLennan Community College, where he posted a 4.46 ERA in 40.1 innings pitched. In his one season, Kelly lit up the Phoenix Muni radar gun, hitting up to 100 MPH on his fastball. The pitch was a major reason why he was able to record a 4.05 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 34 strikeouts in 26.2 innings pitched across 21 appearances.
Kelly will need to improve his secondary pitches in pro ball, but he lands with an organization that knows what it’s doing when it comes to developing pitching. The Mariners’ pitching staff and bullpen are loaded with arms that they’ve molded to become successful big leaguers, and MLB Draft analyst Joe Doyle compared Kelly to former Mariners closer Paul Seawald, who unlocked his full potential after he signed with the team as a free agent.
In his first two years at Arizona State, Isaiah Jackson was best known for his glove. He’s appeared on SportsCenter for his dazzling defense in center field and was named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive team two years in a row. His athleticism and fielding ability always made him an intriguing prospect, but his bat, which had been comparatively pedestrian in his first two seasons at ASU, would be the determining factor in his draft stock, and Jackson knew it.
He completely reworked his swing with the help of ASU hitting coach Jason Ellison prior to the 2025 season, and it paid off in a major way. After posting an OPS below .800 with eight home runs in each of his first two years as a Sun Devil, he popped off for a .310/.402/.630 slash line — 1.032 OPS — and 18 home runs while maintaining his great defense and stealing more bases than ever before.
As for the team that drafted him, the Angels are one of the most fascinating organizations when it comes to how they deal with prospects. They’re known for rushing their early round picks to the MLB, and are viewed around the industry as having one of the worst farm systems in baseball. Yet, they’ve turned shortstop Zach Neto and first baseman Nolan Schanuel into extremely solid big leaguers in almost no time at all. With an aging Mike Trout, key members of the Angels’ outfield set to hit free agency in the coming years and a farm system devoid of quality outfielders, Jackson’s journey to SoCal will be one to watch closely.
Jack Martinez arrived at Arizona State after a year at mid-major Louisiana-Lafayette and two years at Division III Trinity University, both schools where he was used out of the bullpen more often than not. Despite that, Martinez impressed in the fall and locked down ASU’s Saturday starter role, where he pitched well enough to attract the attention of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Martinez often pitched backward, utilizing his impressive changeup and slider to record strikes, and would use his fastball, which sat in the mid-90s and topped out around 97 MPH, later in at-bats. Those three pitches, with an occasional curveball, helped him strike out 110 batters in 77.1 innings pitched across 15 starts. He was able to limit walks as well, and his WHIP sat at an impressive 1.28, while his ERA was slightly inflated at 5.47.
The right-hander could be a starter in pro ball, and it’s easy to see what the Diamondbacks liked when they made him the 14th Sun Devil to be drafted by the organization. The Diamondbacks don’t have many top-line pitching prospects, but they have quantity. Nearly half of MLB Pipeline’s top 30 prospects for the Diamondbacks are pitchers. The organization has also experienced inconsistencies with pitchers who have made the show in recent years. Martinez will hope to one day solidify himself at Chase Field, less than 10 miles from where he played his last season of college baseball.
At 5-foot-9, 185 pounds, Kyle Walker doesn’t have the build of a prototypical MLB Draft prospect, but time and time again, he’s proved that he can flat out play. After redshirting his freshman season at Louisiana Tech, Walker took his talents to Grambling State and posted an on-base percentage hovering around .500 in both his seasons there before transferring to Arizona State.
Walker got off to a rocky start as a Sun Devil, registering just two hits in his first nine games in the maroon and gold, but Bloomquist never lost faith in his new infielder. Walker would only go hitless in four of the following 48 games, ending the season with a .352/.449/.546 slash line, seven home runs, 22 stolen bases and great defense at second base.
Second base will be the position Walker starts at in pro ball, but he could also profile as a contact-hitting left fielder if the Astros decide to try him there. The Astros know how to develop hitters and have had contact-first bats in the organization before, giving Walker a chance to become a solid professional hitter, regardless of where his defensive home ends up being. Should he stick at second base, he’s blocked on the organizational depth chart by MLB Pipeline’s No.1 prospect for the Astros, Brice Matthews. Long-time second baseman Jose Altuve, who has actually played more left field this season, is under contract through 2029.
After a high school career that saw Kien Vu ranked as Perfect Game’s No. 48 outfield prospect in California, the San Diego kid walked onto the Arizona State baseball team. Despite coming to the Valley of the Sun without a guaranteed spot on the roster, he was quickly able to make an impact.
Vu appeared in 39 games in his freshman 2023 season and held his own before breaking out in 2024, producing one of the most impressive seasons in modern ASU history. Vu hit over .400 that year, got on base nearly half the time and showcased some pop as well, hitting 14 home runs. Vu was set up for a monster junior season, but he wasn’t able to take the next step, seemingly due to injuries he dealt with throughout the year.
Still, it wasn’t like Vu had a bad season; he slashed .354/.458/.601 — good for a 1.059 OPS — hit 10 home runs and stole 21 bases in 50 games. One of the best moments of ASU’s season came on April 30, against Long Beach State, when Vu stole six bases to become the ASU single-game stolen base king. Vu is fearless on the basepaths and in the outfield, where he played right field for the Sun Devils.
MLB Pipeline lists five outfielders in the Cincinnati Reds’ top 30 prospects, and none in the top 10. As a ninth-round draft pick, Vu won’t appear on that list to start his career, but he also seemingly won’t have to overcome some sort of goliath on the organizational depth chart. The bad news is that the Reds have largely struggled to develop solid big-league position players in recent years. Sun Devil fans and Reds fans alike will hope that Vu can buck the trend.
Will Koger transferred from Louisville to Arizona State for his 2025 senior season, and it’s a move that paid off. Koger arrived with a buzz surrounding him as members of the media expected him to compete for the closer job and be a shutdown guy for Bloomquist. That’s not quite how it played out in reality, but Koger got drafted nonetheless.
The right-hander did pick up two saves, but was inconsistent and struggled some throughout the year, posting a 6.38 ERA and 1.47 WHIP in 18.1 innings pitched across 17 outings. Koger struck out 17 opposing hitters in those appearances, but also walked nine. A handful of blowup outings held Koger back from being as good as he could’ve been and the Padres will surely emphasize the need for consistency once they officially get their hands on him.
It’s understandable why the Padres would take a shot on Koger. His fastball and curveball are an intriguing combination, and the team has had some success in getting the most out of relievers in recent years. One thing that’s for certain is that the Padres’ farm system is stacked full of exciting young arms, and Koger will need to take a noticeable leap to stand out.
Similar to his double-play partner Kyle Walker, Matt King had some struggles early in the 2025 campaign after transferring into town. Also like Walker, King was able to turn things around and finished his lone year as a Sun Devil as one of the best players in the Big 12.
King was a three-year starter at UTSA, showcasing great bat-to-ball and on-base skills during his time as a Roadrunner. Those were skills that he was able to bring with him to the Grand Canyon State. King finished the year with a .403/.464/.593 slash line with 18 doubles and seven home runs. The spectacular season earned the shortstop the recognition of Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Year, alongside Oklahoma State left-handed pitcher Harrison Bodendorf.
Whether or not King can play shortstop at the next level remains to be seen, but he should be able to stick on the dirt either at second base or third base if a move off the position is necessary. King was drafted for his hitting, though, and the pick seems like a no-brainer for the Pirates in the 10th round.
Unfortunately for King, the Pirates have struggled to get the most out of their homegrown players in recent years. On top of that, the Pirates’ farm system is loaded with up-the-middle talent — including former Arizona State commit Termarr Johnson, who was drafted fourth overall in 2022 — almost none of that talent is considered top of the line, but they’re still obstacles for King on the organizational depth chart. No one involved with Arizona State baseball would be surprised if he defied the odds, but he still has to do it.
King was the last member of the 2025 Arizona State team to hear his name called in the MLB Draft, but in a way, he wasn’t the last Sun Devil to get picked. Outfielder George Bilecki spent three years at Division II Lewis University, but transferred to ASU earlier this summer. Bilecki’s move was officially announced on June 14, and exactly a month later, he was selected by the San Diego Padres with pick No. 370.
A similar situation happened to right-handed pitcher Finn Edwards, who the Los Angeles Dodgers selected with pick No. 555. Edwards spent the last two years at Iowa Western Community College, but announced his transfer to Arizona State via his Instagram two days before he was selected. His transfer is yet to be officially announced by ASU.
Both Bilecki and Edwards were announced as being picked from their previous schools, not Arizona State, and neither of them counts toward ASU’s total of players picked, but both represent an interesting situation. Only time will tell if they’ll suit up in the Maroon and Gold or if they’ll sign professional contracts and leave the ASU chapter of their respective stories as a ‘what if?’
Arizona State also had a handful of draft-eligible players who weren’t taken. Players who still have a year of eligibility, like third baseman Nu’u Contrades or left-handed pitcher Sean Fitzpatrick, could either try to sign with an organization as an undrafted free agent or return to school and hope to get picked next year. Other players, like catcher Josiah Cromwick and first baseman Jacob Tobias, don’t have the option of returning to school since they’ve exhausted their eligibility. For players in that category, they’ll need to sign as an undrafted free agent or with an independent league if they want to continue to pursue their MLB dreams.
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