(Cover photo: OU Daily)

The 2025 MLB Draft is fast approaching. The draft will be 20 rounds over 3 days and starts on Sunday, July 13.

It will be a part of the MLB All Star Game festivities in Atlanta with the first 3 rounds on Sunday, July 13, starting at 5:00 p.m. (CDT) and can be seen on both the MLB Network and ESPN. Rounds 4-20 will begin on Monday, July 14, at 10:30 a.m. and will be streamed on MLB.com.

Just like previous years, the Sooner State will be well represented and this year it should be represented early. A total of 3 Sooner State alums are expected to go no later than the first 15 pick with 2 of them possibly going in the top 5 with some “experts” projecting either of those 2 going number 1.

Leading up the the draft, we will take a look at a total of 10 players projected to go in the draft from the state of Oklahoma, but expect more names from the Sooner State to be called over the 2 days. (Caden Powell was not talked about by anyone last year and he was taken in the 6th round by the Astros.)

Today’s player: Cade Crossland

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Crossland has taken an interesting route to get to this point where it is expected he’ll be drafted come Monday. Coming out of high school in Rockwall, TX where he was a 2nd Team All Stater, Crossland headed to Arkansas to pitch for NCAA D2 Ouachita Baptist. He struggle for the Tigers and his sophomore year he pitched for Weatherford JC in Texas where he became a top level JUCO prospect.

His time in Norman took a hit with an injury in the Fall that stunted his development, but Skip Johnson saw enough of him to insert him in the weekend rotation between the Witherspoon twins.

As the season went on, Crossland showed signs of improvement with a really good fastball that sat in the mid 90’s and peaked in the high 90’s at times. He culminated his season with a 7 innings, no runs masterpiece vs Nebraska in the Regionals where he struck out 9 against only 2 walks. For the season, Crossland averaged over 11 K/9 innings.

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Prospect Rankings

*Prospect Ranking: MLB Top 250 (MLB), ESPN Top 150 (ESPN), Keith Law Top 100 (Law)

• MLB: 207
• ESPN: 76
• Law: N/A

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Scouting Grades Reports

*When looking at the scouting grades, MLB uses a “20-80” system: 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average, 70-80 is well above average.

MLB Pipeline

Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Slider: 45 | Changeup: 60 | Control: 45 | Overall: 40

After struggling to throw strikes at NCAA Division II Ouachita Baptist (Okla.) as a freshman in 2023, Crossland transferred to Weatherford (Texas) JC and emerged as the best junior college prospect in the Lone Star State last year. After moving to Oklahoma, he strained a back muscle during fall practice and it bothered him throughout the spring, when he recorded a 6.32 ERA. His 84 strikeouts in 68 1/3 innings and his final outing — nine whiffs in seven runs while allowing just an unearned run against Nebraska in the NCAA regionals — are more indicative of his potential.

Crossland usually operates at 91-94 mph but can push his fastball as high as 98, getting high chase rates thanks to its carry and armside run. Hitters also can’t lay off his plus 83-85 mph changeup, which fades and sinks. He spins both his heater and cambio at higher rpm than his low-80s breaking ball, which has slurvy break but does manage to miss some bats.

Crossland works from a simple side-step delivery and three-quarters arm slot. His control is still a work in progress, though he has reduced his walk rate from 17 percent as a freshman to 14 percent as a sophomore to 10 percent as a junior. He needs to find more strikes and a better breaking ball, but he’s a left-hander with a pair of interesting pitches.

Keith Law

N/A

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Outlook

Crossland is another intriguing prospect to watch. While MLB has him at 207, ESPN has him all the way up at 76 which would put him in the 3rd-4th round range. While hoping he goes that high (maybe a team will take a chance that high and try to sign him under slot value), Crossland looks more like a 2nd day guy going before the 10th round.

Cade has a really good changeup to go with his fastball and when he has both working, he’s hard to hit. He will need to develop a third pitch for his arsenal if he wants to be a starter in the future. Otherwise, Crossland could be looking as a left handed option out of a bullpen for a club.

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