Weekend MLB Draft Notes: 3/24/2025
Another weekend of college baseball is in the books. We saw some interesting midweek upsets, including the top-ranked Tennessee Volunteers losing to East Tennessee State. No. 4 Georgia swept no. 13 Florida, Virginia Tech’s head coach John Szefc recorded his 600th win, and UNC Wilmington freshman Cam Bagwell threw a seven-inning perfect game in a run-ruled 12-0 win over Campbell.
Today’s draft notes start off with three draft-eligible sophomores, followed by two smaller-school prospects. It’s more likely than not that these sophomores will choose to stay in college for another year to boost their stock, though it’s still worth following their progress throughout the spring.
Zane Adams, RHP, Alabama
Weekend Line: 6.1 IP, 6 SO, 1 BB, 5.71 ERA
Zane Adams came out on top in his duel this weekend with Tennessee’s Liam Doyle, going 6 1/3 innings while allowing four runs, as Alabama won its Thursday game 6-5. This wasn’t a flash in the pan, as Adams has been one of the better pitchers in the SEC this year, logging a 3.56 ERA in his six starts.
From a stuff perspective, Adams is pretty generic. His fastball sits 88-92 mph, touching 96 with some run, and is thrown from a steep angle. He goes to his curveball and changeup fairly equally at about 15% of the time each. His curveball averages 77 mph, with a 1-7 shape that has plenty of depth. The changeup is a tad harder, more in the 78-81 range, with some late fade that plays well against righties. He also mixes in a cutter in the mid-80s. No one pitch stands out, but he has above-average command of his pitches and they perform better than expected.
Mechanically, it’s a low-effort delivery that he repeats well and gives him the ability to throw strikes. He throws from a high three-quarters arm slot that presents a steep plane on all of his pitches. His front leg cuts off all of his momentum when it lands, and if he cleans this up, he’ll likely add more velocity than what he’d naturally gain from maturing physically. Overall, he projects as a low-volatility back-end starter who has some lower hanging fruit that a team like the Yankees or Dodgers could optimize well.
Antonio Jimenez, SS, Central Florida
Weekend Line: 10 AB, .400 BA, 1 3B, 2 SO, 1 BB
Antonio Jimenez is off to a hot start this year for the Knights, slashing .307/.424/.493 in 92 plate appearances across 22 games. This is coming after a freshman season at Miami where he played in 45 games but hit only .182 with 36 strikeouts in 122 plate appearances. He followed up that stint with a mediocre appearance on the Cape that had a lot of whiffs as well. So far, Jimenez appears to have righted the ship, and in the process he’s anchored this UCF team to a strong start to the season.
Most college shortstops are favorites to move off the position as a professional, but Jimenez is a favorite to stay. This is in large part due to his double-plus arm, which lets him throw out hitters on grounders while going well to his backhand. Arm aside, he shows above-average range and decent actions at shortstop, which put together make for a decent shortstop defender. At 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, he’s more physical and a bit stiffer than your average shortstop, which adds risk, but the team that drafts him will likely give him a long runway before moving him off the position. With his arm strength, he could easily slide over to third or play right field to add more positional versatility.
His offensive profile is murkier. At Miami, he chased and whiffed around 30% of the time, which is not particularly good, though he was a freshman. He switch-hit, but didn’t really look comfortable on the left side and whiffed a ton, so he’s dropped that portion of his game and is now just a righty hitter. The results are more promising this year with whiff and chase rates in the lower 20s. Part of this could come from just focusing on being a righty hitter, part of it could be just maturity and playing somewhat weaker competition. Jimenez doesn’t really have problems with velocity; the bigger issue has been offspeed pitches. That trend hasn’t shifted, but he’s gotten better overall at making contact. Aside from the whiff rate, Jimenez shows above average power and is able to lift the ball enough to make use of it. It’s an exciting profile, and I could see a team taking him early Day Two and signing him if his improved whiff rate holds.
Cam Tilly, RHP, Auburn
Weekend Line: 1.0 IP, 3 SO, 0 BB, 0.00 ERA
Cam Tilly had draft interest coming out of high school, but after he set his price higher than what teams were comfortable paying, he ended up going to Auburn instead. Since then, he has been a mainstay in the bullpen. As a freshman, Tilly logged 24 1/3 innings with a 6.31 ERA and 27 strikeouts, a fairly standard stat line for a freshman who gets SEC playing time. This season, he’s remained in a bullpen role where he has pitched 15 1/3 innings with a 4.11 ERA and a 20.3% K-BB%.
Tilly is primarily a fastball/slider pitcher, with a changeup as his third pitch. His fastball sits in the 91-93 mph range with arm-side run, a tick higher than where he was sitting as a high schooler. Tilly’s slider is his best pitch, with a two-plane shape and more horizontal and vertical movement than the average slider while still having bite to it. He spins it up to 3,000 rpm. For his changeup, Tilly utilizes a splitter, which sits in the 84-86 range and features short, hard break.
His command of his pitches is erratic at this point, but his straightforward delivery and clean arm action should lend to better command as he ages. Tilly is high-waisted with a sturdy lower half, and at 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, there isn’t much projection left. There’s room to add another tick of velocity, but further gains will come more in the command and splitter-refinement area. He has the stuff to be drafted, but because he has another year of eligibility, it seems unlikely that a team would draft him with the expectation that he’d sign unless he begins to start more this season. My guess is that Tilly chooses to stay an extra year at Auburn to show that he can be a starter and sign for more money upon getting drafted in 2026.
Ryan Wideman, OF, Western Kentucky
Weekend Line: 11 AB, .273 BA, 1 HR, 4 SO, 2 BB, 2 SB
Western Kentucky is off to a strong start to the season, in large part because of Ryan Wideman. A JUCO transfer from Georgia Highlands College, he is hitting .465/.513/.832 with six home runs, nine walks, and 18 strikeouts in 115 plate appearances over 24 games.
At the plate, Wideman has shown himself to be an effective hitter despite some quirks. He’s loose in the box, and alternates between a big leg kick and a small toe tap from a wide base. He flashes plus bat speed with a top-hand-dominant swing that is long, but to this point hasn’t affected his ability to make contact. His whiff rates are average, which is impressive given his extremely aggressive 45% chase rate. This isn’t an early-season aberration; it’s a figure in line with what he posted at Georgia Highlands. Chasing that much against mid-major competition is concerning, and it’s not feasible for him to have this approach and keep his whiff rate down against pro pitching. From a power perspective, he currently boasts average power, but considering he’s a lean 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds, he’s likely to add more pop as he fills out.
Defensively, Wideman has the makings of an above-average center fielder (plus runner, solid arm), but both his route quality and feel for the position are below average right now. He’s taller than most center fielders, and eventually he projects to grow off of the position, but it’s worth it for a pro team to keep him in center for as long as possible because the raw traits to play center field are there.
Overall, the chase rate might end up being a “No” for some teams, but his projectable frame, twitchiness and bat speed are appealing. Late Day Two is probably the ceiling for where he gets picked, and it’s more likely that he goes in the Round 11-13 range.
Riley Kelly, RHP, UC Irvine
Weekend Line: 5.1 IP, 6 SO, 2 BB, 0.00 ERA
It’s incredibly rare for a California prep prospect to be unknown given the vast scouting resources allocated to the state, but that’s exactly what happened to Riley Kelly, who popped up in the spring of 2022. Heading into his senior year of high school, with his velocity sitting 84-87 mph, he decided to stop playing football and concentrate on baseball. From there, he increased his velocity to the 88-92 range and paired it with a 3,000-rpm curveball. He got his first college scholarship offer later in the fall, and by the end of his high school career, his starts had numerous professional scouts in attendance. The Diamondbacks selected him in the 20th round of the 2022 Draft, but he decided to go to UC Irvine.
Kelly was limited to just three innings as a freshman due to injury, and then logged 17 innings last season as a redshirt freshman. He started the 2025 campaign in the bullpen, but he’s since made two starts, one in each of the past two weekends. He has a 3.13 ERA with 23 strikeouts and 11 walks in 23 innings pitched.
Discussion of his arsenal starts with his curveball, which he can really spin. The pitch sits in the low 80s, with plenty of depth and hard bite to it. It gets whiffs but needs some refining; Kelly doesn’t have a ton of feel for landing it in the zone, and hitters have been able to lay off it effectively. Kelly’s primary pitch is his fastball, which is now sitting 92 mph and topping out at 95. It’s vertically oriented with a bit of cut; it doesn’t get as many whiffs because he throws it from a steeper angle. His changeup is a work in progress, but it has some nice fade every once in a while.
His control has been hit or miss. He struggled with walks early in the season, but he’s settled in over his last few outings. At 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, there isn’t much projection here physically, and while he is a late bloomer from a skills standpoint, I don’t think that changes his projection. Ultimately, Kelly projects to be a single-inning reliever, the role in which he can use his breaking ball most effectively.
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