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Pirates second-round pitcher Angel Cervantes commits to UCLA

Barkley-Truaxby: Barkley Truax07/24/25BarkleyTruax
ucla baseball
Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The No. 50 overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft will play college baseball next season. Pittsburgh Pirates second-round RHP Angel Cervantes announced he will be playing for the UCLA Bruins in 2026.

Cervantes, 17, has a fastball that tops out at 93 mph and is considered one of the best arms at the preps level on the west coast. He will be a welcome addition to the Bruins pitching staff next season.

His draft pick had a $1,934,700 slot value, according to Spotrac. NIL could have aided Cervantes’ decision to honor his commitment to UCLA. Now, he can showcase his skills at the collegiate level and attempt to become a first-rounder down the line. He’ll be eligible for the 2028 MLB Draft.

Cervantes has been committed to UCLA since April 2023 when he was a sophomore in high school. He’ll now look to work toward cracking the weekend rotation as a true freshman.

While he features a wealth of pitches on the mound, he doesn’t have a “consistent feel” for hitting the strike zone with his breaking balls. That should be aided by experience, but appears to be one of the more “advanced” arms available during this past draft cycle.

“Cervantes has an intriguing combination of repertoire and feel for pitching, with projection pointing to more in the tank as he mature,” his MLB scouting report reads. “He has a chance to have three or four at least above-average offerings. His fastball is typically in the 90-93 mph range, but it’s a four-seamer with excellent carry and ride with good spin up in the zone.

“His best pitch is a ‘bugs bunny’ changeup with tremendous depth that gets a ton of swing-and-miss. His breaking stuff — and he has distinct shape for a separate curve and slider — is a little behind, but he routinely registers very high spin rates on them.”

Now, he has three more seasons to work on his game and turn himself into a first-round pitcher. That effort will begin at UCLA — a place he’s likely itching to get started at given how much money he turned down to be a Bruin.

UCLA is coming off a 41-18 season, which includes a 22-8 mark against Big Ten competition. They made it all the way to the College World Series and even won its opening matchup against Murray State to begin their stay. They next time the team is in Omaha, Cervantes will hope to be a part of that effort.