2025 MLB Draft comes to close for Mississippi State

Heading into the 2025 MLB Draft, it was like any year for Mississippi State where survival was the name of the game.

Head coach Brian O’Connor’s ultimate goal was to keep as many talented signees, transfers and current roster players as possible. There might not have been a better outcome than what transpired for the Diamond Dawgs.

As the dust settled, a total of 11 players with State ties would be taken in the 20-round draft. However, two of those players have already transferred out of Starkville and two others have exhausted their eligibility.

The waiting and watching began on Sunday evening when O’Connor and his staff had to sweat out a few players in the high school class. Most everyone had conceded Purvis twins SS JoJo Parker and Jacob Parker as well as East Union RHP Landon Harmon.

JoJo Parker would be taken with the eighth pick in the draft by the Blue Jays, but Harmon was the only other player taken of the group as the two-time Mr. Baseball in Class 2A was drafted by the Washington Nationals. Projected top two-round pick LHP Jack Bauer was not selected, and Jacob Parker was taken in the 19th round.

All signs now point to Bauer heading to Starkville for his freshman season and Jacob Parker is still a possibility as well – a statement that not many expected heading into the weekend. With Bauer, State gets the hardest throwing high school pitcher ever recorded as the Illinois native touched 103 mph earlier this year. The former Virginia commitment signed with the Bulldogs after O’Connor left for State.

Parker is a top 150 prospect and was the Co-Mr. Baseball in Class 4A. He shared that award with his brother as he batted .525 this season with 17 home runs after helping lead Purvis to the state title.

Another underrated high school player that turned down the MLB Draft is Indiana RHP Parker Rhodes. After a strong MLB Combine last month, Rhodes was skyrocketing up draft boards and was a sleeper pick for day one. Instead, he will bring his 95 mph fastball to Dudy Noble Field.

With the current roster, there weren’t any surprises in the draft. Ace pitcher Pico Kohn went about where he was expected to go as he was drafted with a fourth round pick to the New York Yankees. Fellow weekend starters Evan Siary and Karson Ligon followed as Siary went to the Texas Rangers in the fifth round and Ligon to the Blue Jays in the ninth.

Senior Hunte Hines chose to come back to school last year instead of taking a free agent deal and cashed in as he set the State school record with 70 career home runs and was also drafted in the 10^th round this time around. The Nationals took him with the 291^st pick.

RHP Nate Williams missed two seasons due to an elbow injury and got his chance to pitch this season in relief. His work out of the bullpen earned him a pick to the Chicago Cubs in the 13^th round.  

The Bulldogs had already lost LHP Luke Dotson to Texas out of the transfer portal while RHP Jacob Pruitt left for Missouri and both of those players heard their names called on Monday afternoon. Dotson was drafted in the 11^th round by the Arizona Diamondbacks and Pruitt was taken in the 15^th round by the Philadelphia Phillies. Both will have a decision to make on whether or not they will be going to their new schools in the SEC or signing.

The transfer portal class was also something to watch for O’Connor and his staff as they pulled in several players that were draft eligible. Among those players was Rice Ace pitcher Davion Hickson. Pitching coach Justin Parker knew coming in that it was going to be tough to get Hickson to turn down the draft and it indeed was as he accepted a selection in the fifth round to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Other players were up for grabs in the draft from the portal as well with the biggest name being OF Aidan Teel who transferred from Virginia. In the end, Teel turned down opportunities to come to State next year and will be the frontrunner for the centerfield spot.

By every measure, it was a major win in the draft for the Bulldogs. State’s 2026 roster didn’t take much of a hit while Parker also added to his legacy in Starkville with six more drafted pitchers a year after having eight pitchers drafted.

Now, the work steamrolls ahead for the Bulldogs as they head into a season with as much preseason hype as there has ever been in Starkville.