The 2025 Major League Baseball draft is less than a month away.
After picking 20th in 2023 and 2024, the Toronto Blue Jays had an abysmal 2024 season and finished with a 74-88 record. With the fifth-best odds of picking first overall, the Blue Jays dropped to the eighth overall pick, where they’ve picked one other time. In 1998, they selected Felipe Lopez with that selection.
In this article, we’ll look at Gage Wood, a collegiate pitcher who just did something in the College World Series that only two other pitchers have done. The last draft prospect we looked at was Kyson Witherspoon.
Gage Wood’s bio
Wood stands at 6’0”, 205 lbs and pitches for the University of Arkansas. He ranks as MLB Pipeline’s 50th-best prospect, but will surely rise quickly up the rankings thanks to his College World Series performance.
The Blue Jays have picked 21 players from the state of Arkansas. Only five of those picks have been from the University of Arkansas, with the most recent selection being Jace Bohrofen, who the Blue Jays picked in the sixth round of the 2023 draft. Zach Jackson was their highest selection from the state of Arkansas, selected 102 overall. Like Bohrofen and Wood, he attended the University of Arkansas.
Gage Wood’s stats
Wood went undrafted from Batesville High School, honouring his commitment to the University of Arkansas to begin the 2023 season. He was teammates with Bohrofen that year and posted a 4.80 ERA and a 3.83 FIP in 30 relief innings. Wood struggled with command, finishing with a 16.4 BB% to go alongside a 30 K%.
The 2024 season was mainly spent as a reliever, starting just three of his 22 games. Overall, Wood finished with a 4.46 ERA and a 3.32 FIP in 40.1 innings pitched. That said, his BB% drastically decreased to 4.5%, while his K% remained high at 31.8%.
Coming into Monday’s first-round game against Murray State, Wood had a career-worst 5.02 ERA, pitching just nine games, or 28.2 innings pitched. However, his 2.92 FIP was encouraging, thanks an incredible 41 K%, as well as a good 5.7 BB%.
On Monday, Wood became just the third pitcher in College World Series history to throw a no-hitter and the first to do so since Jim Wixson in 1960. The other pitcher with a no-hitter was Jim Ehrler in 1950. Wood was one batter away from being perfect, as he hit a batter in the eighth inning, putting an end to his perfect game bid.
Not only did Wood not surrender a hit, but he also struck out an incredible 19 batters of the 28 he faced. That plummeted his ERA from 5.02 to 3.82, while increasing his K% from 41% to 46%. If he has another good performance in the College World Series, it’s not impossible to imagine he’ll jump even higher.
Gage Wood’s tools
A big reason for Wood’s ability to strike out batters is thanks to a fastball that sits 94-96 mph, which has reached as high as 98 mph. According to his MLB Pipeline bio, Wood’s fastball is one of the best in the draft thanks to its carry and Wood’s release point.
Wood’s best secondary pitch is his curveball, which sits from 82 to 85 mph and has the potential to be even better. His pitch mix is rounded out but a below-average slider and changeup. Thanks to back-to-back seasons with a low walk rate, it’s safe to say Wood also has good control.
Gage Wood’s grades
Here are Wood’s grades according to his MLB Pipeline bio.
| Pitch Type | MLB Pipeline |
| Fastball | 70 |
| Curveball | 55 |
| Slider | 45 |
| Changeup | 45 |
| Command | 55 |
Will the Blue Jays select Gage Wood?
It’s pretty clear that Wood will be selected somewhere in the first round. While another performance may bring him closer to the top 10 selections, there are legitimate injury concerns that could cause doubt.
Even if he’s not a top 10 prospect in this year’s draft, that doesn’t mean the Blue Jays wouldn’t consider him. Thanks to the signing of Anthony Santander, the Blue Jays are without their second-round pick this season, meaning they may attempt to underslot a player to use the saved money for their next pick in the third round.
While this shouldn’t happen (they should pick the best player available), it’s not inconceivable that the Jays do this, because they already have in the past. In 2018, they picked 12th overall and selected Jordan Groshans, giving him an underslot deal so they were able to overslot his high school teammate, Adam Kloffenstein, who they picked in the third round.
It doesn’t seem likely the Jays will do that, but it’s one of many things they could do when they pick eighth overall.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.