Big 12 Well Represented on First Day of MLB Draft

Despite no Mountaineers, the Big 12 was still well represented in the first day of the 2025 MLB Draft on Sunday.

Arizona’s Brendan Summerhill highlighted seven Big 12 baseball players selected on the first day of the 2025 MLB Draft. Summerhill was selected with the 42nd pick by the Tampa Bay Rays.

Despite battling injuries, Summerhill posted a career-best .343 batting average in 44 games in 2025. He finished with 35 runs, 12 doubles, six triples and 34 RBI as he helped the Wildcats advance to the Men’s College World Series.

With the 42nd pick in the 2025 @MLBDraft, @RaysBaseball selects Brendan Summerhill from @ArizonaBaseball pic.twitter.com/ymwNm2DAcX

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) July 14, 2025

Aaron Walton was the second Wildcat chosen on the first day of the draft after being picked by the Cleveland Guardians with the 66th pick. In his only season with Arizona, he posted a .320 batting average as he led the Wildcats with 71 runs scored, 22 doubles, 49 RBI and 19 stolen bases.

Arizona State’s Brandon Compton was selected with the 46th pick by the Miami Marlins. Compton finished the 2025 season with 49 runs, 58 hits, 19 doubles and 54 RBI as the Sun Devils advanced to the Los Angeles Regional.

Ben Jacobs was the second Sun Devil picked as the Detroit Tigers took him in the third round with the 98th pick. Jacobs led the Conference with 120 strikeouts in 16 starts. He finished the season with a 4.95 ERA and a team-high 83.2 innings pitched.

Oklahoma State’s Nolan Schubart was selected in the third round by the Cleveland Guardians with the 101st overall pick. Schubart became the 13th Cowboy in program history to earn All-American honors in multiple seasons in 2024. In 2025, the junior started all 55 games and led the team with 19 home runs and 57 RBIs.

Antonio Jimenez became UCF’s ninth-highest pick and the sixth to be drafted in the third round after he was taken with the 102nd pick by the New York Mets in the third round. The sophomore finished second on the team in home runs (11), runs scored (55), RBIs (51) and extra-base hits (25).

Cincinnati’s Landyn Vidourek rounded out the Conference’s selections on the first day as he was chosen with the 104th pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was the fourth Bearcat to be selected in the top three rounds and first since Ian Happ went ninth overall in 2015. He tallied 39 stolen bases in 2025, which led the Big 12 and tied for 13th nationally.

Most of this story was taken from the Big 12 press release.

For a related story, WVU baseball product JJ Wetherholt played in the MLB Futures Game.