The 2025 Major League Baseball Draft is just days away, and one Alabama Crimson Tide pitcher is hoping to hear his name called on Day 2 or even Day 1.
Alabama right-hander Riley Quick, the Crimson Tide’s Saturday starter this past season, has been a name to watch on MLB mock drafts this season. Quick wrapped up the 2025 season by going 8-3 with a 3.92 ERA and 70 strikeouts to 24 walks over 62 innings. He started the year 5-0 before suffering his first loss on March 21 against Tennessee.
All in all, it was a strong followup season for Quick, who underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery in early 2024 that cut his sophomore season short. He returned in 2025 to help Alabama reach 40 wins in the regular season for the first time in 23 years.
On Friday, ESPN updated its 2025 MLB mock draft. Veteran college baseball writer Riley McDaniel sees Alabama’s Riley being a second-round pick by the Kansas City Royals at No. 61 overall.
Over at The Athletic (subscription required), veteran baseball analyst and author Keith Law is more bullish on Quick and sees the Alabama hurler as a first-round pick by the Philadelphia Phillies with the No. 26 overall pick.
In another mock draft, longtime MLB.com draft analyst Jonathan Mayo sees Quick as a supplemental first round pick by the New York Yankees with the No. 39 overall selection. And while not an actual mock draft, Yahoo Sports’ Jonathan Shusterman lists Quick as the No. 35 overall player in his Top 50 player rankings ahead of MLB’s draft.
Shusterman said of Quick:
“Quick offers an unusual combination of size and athleticism — listed at 6-foot-6, 255 pounds, Quick was also a top recruit as an offensive lineman in high school — and showed well in the Crimson Tide rotation this spring after Tommy John surgery wiped out his sophomore season. With a penchant for coaxing grounders with his high-velocity sinker, Quick could become a mid-rotation workhorse and perhaps more than that if he can find a way to miss more bats.”
The 2025 MLB Draft is set for July 13-14 during All-Star Week festivities in Atlanta. The first round of the draft will be televised on ESPN, with subsequent rounds broadcast and available to stream on MLB Network. The draft will feature a total of 20 rounds over two days.
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