ATLANTA, Ga. – After 20 rounds, the 2025 MLB Draft is complete, and the Seattle Mariners came away with a hefty crop of their next generation.
“Very proud of our staff being able to make some decisions on the fly and get some things done that we think not only the top of our draft did well,” Mariners vice president of amateur scouting Scott Hunter said. “But hopefully, we’ll have some surprises in these later rounds.”
Looking back at that first round, the M’s picked pitcher Kade Anderson from LSU, ESPN’s top-rated prospect for his 3.18 ERA and College World Series MVP award for the National Champion Tigers this season.
“I just appreciate you giving me the opportunity, it truly means the world,” Anderson said to Hunter. “I can’t wait to get up there, I’ve never been to Seattle, but I’m really looking forward to it.”
While the pitching in Seattle is already rock-solid, so is their catching with All-Star Cal Raleigh.
And now, they added a new man behind the plate.
“With the 35th pick of the 2025 MLB Draft, the Seattle Mariners select Luke Stevenson, a catcher from the University of North Carolina,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said.
Stevenson joins the M’s with a great left-hand stroke, hitting 19 homers for the ACC champion Heels, and he’s the first UNC catcher drafted in the first round since 1985’s B.J. Surhoff.
“It’s unbelievable, and I’m excited to be around it, and be around the guys that helped them and pick their brains,” Stevenson said. “This is an absolute dream come true, being able to go to an organization like this is seriously a dream come true, and the development that they do, I could not be happier. And to spend this with my family, I’m fired up.”
Other notable picks include center fielder Korbyn Dickerson from Indiana, the Minnesota Twins drafted him in 2022, but he chose to continue college then instead.
“Yeah, we actually thought Korbyn was going to go a lot higher in this year’s draft, and when he started to slip a little bit, our guys kept saying he’s got tools play, he can really run, he’s got real power,” Hunter said.
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