Angels Draft: A surprising choice at the no. 2 spot is emerging at the college level

The Angels were one spot away from landing the no. 1 pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, in which case their selection would have been an incredibly easy decision -- take Ethan Holliday. However, by landing the no. 2 pick in a year in which the top-end talent is not nearly as good as the past two drafts, the Angels' selection is anything but easy. Factor in that the Angels are owned by the always penny-pinching Arte Moreno, and the team could for sure go the cheap route with their highest pick in a couple decades. Well, reputable sites' mock drafts are all over the place, but one collegiate arm is gaining some steam of late.

Angels Draft: A surprising choice at the no. 2 spot is emerging at the college level

The University of Tennessee and the Los Angeles Angels have a solid working relationship, given how important Christian Moore and Ben Joyce are to the future to the organization. Well, Liam Doyle is gaining a lot of traction of late in mocks and some have him going no. 2 to LAA. Per Keith Law of The Athletic:

"Everyone thinks the Angels will take a college player and attempt to move him quickly to the big leagues, as they did with Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel and seemed set to do with Christian Moore... There’s been more smoke around them taking one of the two college lefties, as both appear likely to be able to throw in the big-league bullpen in the second half of this season, if the Angels wanted them to do so. All that said, they’ve been heavy on Hernandez recently too."

Keith Law

The other lefty Law is referring to is Jamie Arnold from Florida State, but Doyle might have both the higher floor and ceiling given his physical stature and stuff. Doyle throws a four-seam that he can run up to 100 MPH, a nasty cutter, and will mix in both a slider and splitter as well. Arnold has touched 97 MPH once and 98 MPH once this season, but sits ~93 MPH with his 4S and 2S. Velocity is not everything, of course, but Doyle also generates above average ride with his heater -- he averages a whopping 19.5" IVB on his fastball.

MLB.com has Doyle ranked as their no. 10 prospect. So, Law's belief that the Angels might lean towards the Volunteer with their pick is an acknowledgement of their history of going under-slot value in the first round, and opting for the best available college player. Doyle could certainly be that given his 2.17 ERA (12th best of qualified D1 pitchers), 2.07 FIP (fourth best), 0.80 WHIP (second best), 15.31 K/9 (the single best mark).

Some say Seth Hernandez, who Law reports the Angels are in on, could become the best pitcher of the group and he is ranked as MLB.com's no. 2 overall prospect. However, the Angels are normally reticent to take a high schooler that high in drafts and Doyle is clearly more battle-tested and MLB-ready. Well, the Angels' philosophy of speeding their prospects through the affiliates indicates that they will pass on the high schooler and take a player like Doyle under-slot. Some might push back and say the Angels should not try and rush their rebuild. Well, who knows? Taking Doyle over Hernandez and Arnold could wind up being the best course for the franchise.

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