Rangers Projected to Select SEC Pitcher in Latest MLB Mock Draft
The Texas Rangers are expected to bolster their pitching staff with their first-round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft. While the team has several needs, including strengthening their infield, they may ultimately prioritize starting pitching.
Holding the No. 12 overall pick, the Rangers find themselves in a draft class loaded with talented high school hitters, particularly prep shortstops in the top 15. However, the Rangers haven’t selected a high school position player in the first round since 2017, and they haven’t picked a high school prospect at all since 2018. This trend, combined with a scarcity of college bats—something the Rangers typically favor—could lead them to choose a hitter. Yet, the draft order ahead of them might prompt a shift in their strategy.
In the latest MLB mock draft from Baseball America, Carlos Collazo projects the Rangers to select Oklahoma pitcher Kyson Witherspoon with the No. 12 pick. Collazo mentions other potential targets like JoJo Parker, Billy Carlson, and Ike Irish, but notes these players are likely to be taken earlier than Texas’ pick, with Parker being the most probable option if available.
Collazo suggests that the Rangers will go for the best player available, rather than strictly adhering to their positional needs. “I’m uncertain about which of the available hitters they prefer,” Collazo writes, referencing a group of top prospects that includes Marek Houston, Daniel Pierce, Steele Hall, and others. Therefore, Collazo predicts the Rangers will choose Witherspoon as the best overall talent.
This marks the second consecutive mock draft where the Rangers are projected to select Witherspoon, following a similar prediction made on June 30. Collazo points out that Witherspoon’s potential could be too valuable to pass up if he falls outside the top 10.
Witherspoon, a right-handed pitcher, posted an impressive 10-4 record with a 2.65 ERA and 124 strikeouts to just 23 walks in 2025. He improved both his ERA and strikeout-to-walk ratio from 2024, when he went 8-2 with a 3.79 ERA and 86 strikeouts against 38 walks.
Selecting Witherspoon would align with the Rangers’ recent trend of drafting college players in the first round, but it would also mark the first time they’ve picked a starting pitcher with their first-round selection since 2022.
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