LSU Tiger Baseball Champion Gets High Marks for Power Ahead of MLB Draft

The 2025 MLB Draft is almost here, and after winning the NCAA National Championship, the LSU Tigers can expect to hear a lot of names called. In fact, they might even have the top overall pick in the draft.

An LSU Tiger At #1 In The 2025 MLB Draft?

When the MLB Draft kicks off, the Washington Nationals will be on the clock. For most of the year, they were expected to take high school hitter Ethan Holliday. But as LSU kept building towards that national championship run, left handed pitcher Kade Anderson was screaming up mock drafts. In most mock drafts being put out by major news outlets, Anderson is now listed as the projected #1 overall pick.

But there will be other LSU Tigers that make their way into the 2025 MLB Draft too. Including some hitters that are starting to gain momentum in these mock drafts too.

LSU Tiger Power Hitter Looking For Draft Slot Too

One of the hitters getting a lot of praise is the same hitter the Tigers looked to over and over this last season to help put runs up on the board. That's first baseman Jared Jones.

Jones hit .323 this past season, with 22 home runs, 76 RBIs, and 37 total extra base hits. Over his 189 college games, Jones hit 64 total home runs, and more importantly...won two National Championships. But honestly, MLB teams don't really care about those championships. They want to know what you're going to do for them.

LSU's Jared Jones Is One Of The Best Power Hitting Draft Prospects

Bleacher Report put together a ranking of the Ten Best Power Hitters in the 2025 MLB Draft Class, which did include Jones. This ranking list included all of the high school and college players that will be in this year's draft. Stillwater High School star Ethan Holliday did rank as #1 on their list, and for good reason.

Holliday's dad is World Series Champion Matt Holliday. During his 15-year MLB career, Matt Holliday was a 7-time All Star, 4-time Silver Slugger, and won the National League batting title in 2007. That season he finished second in MVP voting.

Ethan Holliday's older brother, Jackson, was the #1 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft. So there's a lot of pedigree with Holliday, and not a stretch to say he's the top power hitting prospect in this year's draft.

Can LSU's Jared Jones Be A First Round Draft Pick?

Jones comes in as the #5 ranked power hitter on Bleacher Report's list. That sounds like it would be good enough for Jones to be a first round draft pick. But the MLB Draft is weird. Jones is more likely to be a second-day draft pick. Still a decently high pick, but not a player taken in the top 30 picks.

One of the things that scouts are concerned about with Jones is his strikeout rate. If he is chasing college pitching too much, he might have trouble catching up with minor league baseball pitching. There's also concerns with his defense and speed, which aren't horrible, but they're not good enough to hide any hitting deficiencies.

While Jones can blast a ball when he makes contact, it's not going to be enough for an MLB team if his contact rate is so low that it won't matter. Jones will get a shot, just probably not in the first round.