Seattle Mariners Select LHP Kade Anderson with Third Overall Pick in the 2025 MLB Draft

A surprising top of the draft works out in the Mariners’ favor

Mariners Scouting Director Scott Hunter wasn’t wrong when he called the 2025 MLB Draft “unpredictable.” With the Nationals shaking things up by taking prep shortstop Eli Willits first overall, the Mariners found themselves with a bevy of options. The Angels’ decision to go underslot with their first pick in order to rebuild their farm system opened the entire top of the draft to the Mariners, who were rewarded with a potential first overall pick in LHP Kade Anderson out of LSU at number three.

Since becoming the biggest winners of the MLB Draft Lottery back in December of last year and securing the number three overall pick, it’s long been scrutinized who the Seattle Mariners would eventually opt to select. In a wide open draft year that’s left countless options available at the top of the draft, most were unable to make heads or tails of which way they were ultimately leaning toward. However, with the pick officially in, we need speculate no longer. Kade Anderson, welcome to the Seattle Mariners!

The Mariners have long favored a high-floor/low-ceiling approach to the draft, opting for safer picks over riskier-but-thrilling profiles. Even as they’ve dipped a toe into the prep ranks in recent years, they’ve often selected players like Cole Young, who lacks a standout tool, but has already advanced to MLB at just 21 years of age thanks to that foundation of solid, across-the-board skills. With the selection of Anderson, they return to their roots as an organization that prizes MLB-adjacent college pitching at the top of the draft, such as seen in the selections of Logan Gilbert and George Kirby, currently anchors in the Mariners’ rotation.

Anderson has the potential to be yet another one of those anchors. The top college player on many boards, Anderson dominated the SEC all season and was one of, if not the best, pitcher in college baseball all season. A draft eligible sophomore, Anderson has the best blend of projectability, production, and stuff in this class. He has a polished four-pitch mix with three plus secondary offerings, and he attacks the strike zone with the mentality the Mariners prize in their pitchers. This is a tremendously exciting pick and Mariners fans should be ecstatic.

A 6’2 lefty out of LSU, Anderson has some room to fill out in his frame and has the chance to add some juice to his arsenal. With a fastball sitting at 93 currently, Anderson has touched 98 at various points this season and gets plenty of carry to make the pitch play at the top of the zone. He can also maintain his velocity deep into games, at times touching 96 even at pitch 100 in a ame. Outside of the heater, Anderson arguably has three plus pitches in his curveball, slider, and changeup, all pitches he commands well and can locate wherever he wants. It’s a tantalizing profile that should slot in comfortably ahead of Jurrangelo Cijntje and Ryan Sloan in the organizational rankings.

Anderson made headlines at the head of the Tigers’ rotation, dazzling as he cut a swath through the College World Series en route to LSU’s championship. He earned CWS Most Outstanding Player for his performance, making two starts including a complete-game shutout, becoming just the third pitcher to throw a complete game in the best-of-three finals since 2003.

“Not only is he a great pitcher,” said Scott Hunter, “but it’s a winning pedigree. Kade is a winning player and we’re extremely excited to put him in our culture, in our pitching program.”

It was the complete-game playoff effort that most impressed Hunter, but not for the reasons you might think. Anderson had given up a career-high five walks in the first four innings, including two hit batters, before battling back and turning in one of this best performances of the season. Anderson himself said postgame “it wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done.”

It was a watershed moment for Hunter, who said he was watching the game on a flight coming back from the draft combine. “I said, man, even when he doesn’t have his best stuff, he can find a way to get you. The first inning or two didn’t really go the way he wanted, and then we look up, and there he is in the ninth inning, winning.”

“That was the biggest thing for him, understanding that his job is to take the ball and pitch as long as he can.”

That mentality makes Anderson a natural fit for a pitching staff where the starters consider five innings unacceptable and six innings “the bare minimum,” as Logan Gilbert has said.

“When you have a guy who can touch 96 miles an hour on the 100th pitch of a big game, I think the sky’s the limit for guys like that,” said Hunter. “And obviously it’s something that we believe in here, that control the strike zone, attack hitters, fill up the zone mentality. Don’t be afraid to use your stuff. That’s where it really kind of solidified, this is going to be a match made in heaven for what we do as an organization.”

Makeup-wise, Hunter says Anderson is a natural fit for the Mariners organization, not only because of his talent on the mound and drive to go deep into games, but because of his mental approach to pitching as well.

“He’s a combination of like, George Kirby and Logan Gilbert. He very much wants to learn, wants to develop his pitches like Logan, and he’s kind of stoic, like George, just that silent competitor that may not say a whole lot, but when you talk to him, he says the right things, what’s important to us and what’s important to him. He’s not really a guy that’s all about fluff, to be honest with you. He’s serious...that personal stuff, the social media, that’s not really him. He talked all about his teammates and what it meant to him to be part of a winning culture.”

But maybe the most appealing aspect of Anderson for the Mariners, beyond his ability on the mound, is the culture of winning he’ll bring with him to Seattle.

“If we can find players that are good enough to play in the big leagues, but winning in Seattle means something, then we can start making true change,” said Hunter. “And I think he fits that culture extremely well...To get a player that has done it, not only in the SEC but has won a College World Series, and values winning more than his own progression through a system, that’s a culture-changer in our mind. And the more players we can bring into a system where that’s the first thing that matters, that’s hopefully what will change our luck here in regards to playoff runs and hopefully World Series.”

*

With picks 35, 57, and 91 still to come tonight, we at LL will have you covered with everything you need to know about these future Mariners. Whether it’s player analysis, strategy breakdowns, quotes from the team themselves, or anything in between, LL has your back for the 2025 MLB draft. Sound off on your thoughts below and GOMS!!