Riedell Report: MLB Draft Top 10 College Left-Handed Pitchers.

Jamie Arnold (FSU Athletics photo)

By Andrew Riedell

With the college baseball season officially over, it’s time to talk about everyone’s favorite time of year—draft season! Here at College Baseball Central, I and several of our contributors will be ranking some of the top draft-eligible prospects ahead of the draft, which kicks off in Atlanta on July 13. Today, I’ll be focusing on the top college-eligible left-handed pitchers in this year’s draft class!

1. Jamie Arnold (Florida State University) Age: 21 Class: Junior

Arnold struggled in his freshman year at FSU with a 6.34 ERA. Hitters were batting .270 against him but after going to the Cape Cod League that summer, something clicked. In the Cape that summer, he posted a 2.94 ERA and dominated in his 18 innings, mostly from the fact that in 2023, his fastball sat at 89.3 MPH. In 2024-2025, the lefty is now averaging 93.7 MPH on his fastball, but he can run it to 95-97 MPH range, getting swung at now 48% of the time in the last two years.

Arnold's best pitch is not his fastball, it's his slider as the shape of the slider is a little inconsistent at times with a low to mid 80s velocity on it the pitch still does generate a lot of swings and misses and weak contact. I expect Arnold to be picked within the first few picks when the draft starts.

2.     Kade Anderson (LSU) Age: 20 Class: Sophomore

Turning 21 prior to the draft, Anderson probably improved his draft stock the most this season as in earlier mock drafts done before the season he probably was a late 1st rounder but now he is getting discussed for the first overall pick. Some may ask why I have Arnold over Kade and I simply say because Arnold has that one extra year of college experience that Kade does not have especially since Kade missed his last season of high school ball due to Tommy John surgery. In his first year at LSU he was used mostly as a mid-week starter but also did get some key relieving opportunities but this last year is when he really came into his own.

Leading the country in strikeouts with 180 this season as his pitches really took a massive leap in development. His fastball was able to sit 93-95 but he can run it up to 96-97 when he needs it. Anderson has the ability to throw both a slider and a curveball but depending on the day or the team he faces he can use one to dominate lineups. The pitch that I have seen Anderson have success though with the most recently is the changeup as he is able to throw it mid to low 80s and the spin rate on it is very consistent that it was rarely hard hit this last year. I would not be shocked to see Kade Anderson go 1.1 next month.

3.     Liam Doyle (Tennessee) Age: 21 Class: Junior

Doyle was one of the most dominant starters in all of college baseball the last few years as he has jumped from Coastal Carolina to Ole Miss and then finally Tennessee this year where he had his best year landing himself as the 2025 SEC Pitcher of the Year. In all three years of college baseball he had a K per 9 about 10 in every season as his final college stat line on that is a 13.8 over three years. Doyle was dominant this past year with his fastball as he was able to sit mid 90s and then was able to ramp it up to 99-100.

My main concern with Doyle is the fastball velocity as we see with guys like Paul Skenes. He will probably be throwing every fifth day with a bullpen in between it is a much different routine then a college routine. The off speed is there too as well. It is sharp and dangerous but I want to see what a potential MLB club would do with him to make sure he does stay healthy and can keep him throwing mid to upper 90s.

4.     Joseph Dzierwa (Michigan State) Age: 21 Class: Junior

The 6'8 lefty from Michigan State comes 4th on my list here after a PHENOMENAL junior season as in his first two seasons in East Lansing he was still the ace of this Spartans pitching rotation but this year he took a giant leap and became dominant. The Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in 2025 he pitched to an 11-3 record with a 1.42 ERA and striking out 137 batters this year. Rewatching some of his previous film too it seemed like every year he was just getting 1% better and then this year it clicked and he just dominated against one of the best lineups in the country in Oregon.

His fastball sitting low to mid 90s projects well in my opinion especially being so lengthy he can elevate it to generate swings as well. Change up being in the low 80s and with a low spin rate and the movement on it plays well off the fastball. The off-speed he has in his cutter and slider feels like they can be hit or miss at time but they still generate a lot of swings and misses. I think Dzierwa is going to be selected in the Top 50 pretty easily.

5.     Zach Root (Arkansas) Age: 21 Class: Junior

The Arkansas ace was very solid this year after transferring in from East Carolina. I think Root is going to be an interesting name to watch because I have talked to some scouts and he has the widest range I have heard so far. I got to watch Root throw multiple times this year and it felt like he has some dominance stuff but the minute something does not go his way he could truly unravel on the mound.

His sinker is really good sits low 90s but I have seen it get up to mid to upper 90s. His go-to pitches are his curveball and changeup as the slow loopy curveball in the low 80s cause deception from the hitters when he has this sharp sinker coming in on you. His go-to pitch while ahead was the curveball and I think it is one of the best curveballs in this college draft class this year.

6.     Cade Obermueller (Iowa) Age: 21 Class: Junior

A year after being drafted by the Texas Rangers Cade Obermuller is draft eligible once again. In his three years at Iowa he has been solid and reliable but this last year was his best as he pitched to a 3.02 ERA while striking out 117 batters this year. The six foot lefty still has some projection left in my opinion and he can fill it out within a major league system. His mechanics are really loose and he hides the ball very well as his long and loose arm action is really tough to pick up the ball from there.

Obermuller sits low 90s with his fastball but can run it up to the mid-90s if he needs to. His best pitch though is his slider that is very sharp and has some solid spin even though it is in the low 80s. He can manipulate it to make it more like a slurve if he wants to at times but it is more sharp side to side from the outings I have watched of him.

7.     J.D. Thompson (Vanderbilt) Age: 21 Class: Junior

One of my favorite arms to watch in the SEC this year was the Vanderbilt ace J.D. Thompson as he was just dominant this year striking out 122 batters and shutting down multiple top tier SEC offenses. Thompson fastball does not look like the typical fastball as it explodes out of his hand and looks like an upper 90s fastball but it actually sits 91-93 getting up to the mid-90s here and there. The metrics on the fastball though; is really good as he is getting an average of 12 inches of horizontal run and some crazy amount of induced vertical break!

There is a reason he had an absurd 37% whiff rate this season off his fastball. Thompson sweeping slider sits in the upper 70s and low 80s but he uses that mostly towards lefties which causes a lot of roll overs. I see Thompson as a projected ace one day I think he is one of my top sleepers in this draft.

8.     Pico Kohn (Mississippi State) Age: 22 Class: Senior

The Mississippi State ace turned out a nice season through the midst of all the coaching changes and drama of this last season. Only playing three seasons at Miss State after missing 2023 due to an injury Kohn finally put together a full healthy season and he was one of the main reasons the Bulldogs got to the NCAA Tournament. Kohn this season got his fastball up to 91-94 and was able to elevate the pitch up to hitters because they had a hard time picking up the spin on the fastball due to how weird Kohn's arm slot was.

Kohn also had a very nice slider and changeup that both sat in the low 80s to pair with the fastball so he has the ability to pitch north-south to hitters and get them to chase both ways. I think he has more room to fill out to get more athletic so I could possibly see him adding some more strength and velocity in the future.

9.     Caden Hunter (Southern California) Age: 21 Class: Junior

I had a hard time debating between the last few on this list but I opted with Caden Hunter in the nine spot. In his only year the USC he started in 14 games with 66 innings and 73 strikeouts this season and was their Friday night starter for majority of the season this year.

He has really good carry on his fastball which sits low 90s and causes a lot of swings and misses. His go-to swing and miss pitch though is his changeup as it sits in the low 80s and then he has his slider also causes swings and misses. He throws a lot of strikes so I believe teams see the potential in him as a front line start and that's why he is in my top ten.

10.  Cade Crossland (Oklahoma) Age: 21 Class: Junior

The former ace at Weatherford Junior College in 2024 is draft eligible after sliding into the Oklahoma starting rotation this last year. Striking out 84 batters in 68 innings for the Sooners this year even battling a back injury throughout this season we saw some glimpse of potential in bigger spots for him such as in the Regionals vs Nebraska, when he held them to zero runs and struck out nine.

His fastball sits low to mid 90s but has run it up to 97-98 this season. His second best pitch is his changeup as he gets very high chase rates on the pitch as he sits 83-85 on it as it gets nice depth on it as it looks more like a sinker with how the spin looks on it. The one downer that makes me hesitant for putting Cade at this spot is his control issues. Even with the injury he dealt with this season I still have some concerns for his control.

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