Nationals take high school shortstop Eli Willits, son of ex-MLBer Reggie, with No. 1 pick in draft
The 17-year-old Willits is the youngest player ever taken No. 1 overall. He's the son of ex-big leaguer Reggie Willits, who played six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels and also coached with the New York Yankees.
Willits, from Fort Cobb-Broxton High School, is a switch-hitter who is expected to develop a power swing.
'I feel like I have good hitability and I'm going to take that to the next level,' Willits said when asked about his strengths. 'And I feel like my power is up and coming, but I needed to get into an organization like the Nationals that can help develop that and take that to the next level.
The draft came one week after the
Nationals fired
longtime general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez. The
timing of the moves
added more uncertainty to a draft that might be one of the most unpredictable in recent years, including the choice of the No. 1 pick.
The Los Angeles Angels added another surprise with the No. 2 pick by selecting UC-Santa Barbara right-hander Tyler Bremner. Seattle followed by taking LSU lefty Kade Anderson.
The Colorado Rockies picked shortstop Ethan Holliday at No. 4, landing the son of longtime Rockies star Matt Holliday. Ethan, from Stillwater, Oklahoma, was a candidate to go first overall, just like brother Jackson Holliday with did with Baltimore in 2022. They would have been the first brothers to be drafted with the first overall pick.
Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred was greeted with boos by fans at the draft held at the Roxy Theater at The Battery, adjacent to the Braves' Truist Park two days before MLB's All-Star Game. Manfred noted the Braves chose eventual Hall of Famer Chipper Jones with the No. 1 overall pick and said this draft is 'a chance for a team to make a franchise-altering selection like the Braves made in 1990.'
The first three rounds were scheduled for Sunday night, with the remainder of the draft to follow on Monday.
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40 minutes ago
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2025 MLB NL CY Young Prediction: Odds, Expert Picks, including Paul Skenes vs Zack Wheeler
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Pre All-Star Break Stats and NL Ranks Paul Skenes Zach Wheeler 2.01 ERA (1st) 2.36 ERA (6th) 122.0 innings pitched (T-3rd) .189 opponent batting average (T-3rd) .181 opponent batting average (1st) 0.93 WHIP (5th) 0.86 WHIP (2nd) 131 strikeouts (8th) 154 strikeouts (2nd) 12 starts with 0 or 1 ER allowed 11 starts with 0 or 1 ER allowed 3 games of 3 ER or more 4 games of 3 ER or more 4 wins (T-104th) 9 wins (T-8th) 8 losses (tied-20th most) 3 losses (T-4th best) If you're looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports! There isn't much that differentiates the two besides the wins, losses, and strikeouts, which all favor Wheeler. Skenes does have 26 more ground-balls than Wheeler and seven fewer homers allowed (13 to 6), which may bother some. 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Detroit Tigers' No. 1 picks Spencer Torkelson, Casey Mize deliver 1-0 win over Guardians
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He threw 102 pitches, a season high, against Cleveland, 68 of them for strikes. "He's been incredible," Hinch said. "And tonight, it was not only a well-pitched game but when we needed it the most. I mean we've used our 'pen a lot. Had the doubleheader. Had multiple guys down. So, the responsibility falls on the starter, and Casey gave us everything." Advertisement Mize stranded five runners, with the game getting a little spicy in the seventh when Angel Martinez ripped a four-seam fastball deep to right center with one out. But Matt Vierling tracked it down at the wall in right-center, running into a padded door as he made the catch. The next batter, Bo Naylor, yanked a slider down the right-field line that bounced into the seats for a ground-rule double. Mize got out of trouble by getting a groundout to short from Johnathan Rodríguez to end the threat. "I felt like finishing the inning," Mize said. That "was important for me. I was happy how it ended. 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But to see that plan kind of working feels good instead of always searching between starts. Advertisement An All-Star collision for Gleyber Torres Detroit Tigers third base coach Joey Cora (56) and manager A.J. Hinch (14) and medical personnel look at second baseman Gleyber Torres (25) during the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field in Cleveland on Saturday, July 5, 2025. Second baseman Gleyber Torres was elbowed in the head on a tag while running to second base in the first inning. Guardians' shortstop Brayan Rocchio had to adjust to an off-line relay throw from Martinez and his momentum carried him into Torres, arriving at second after having walked as the game's second batter. Torres laid on the dirt for a few minutes as Hinch and the Tigers' trainer tended to him. He eventually got up and left the game. Báez moved to second base and Sweeney came in to play shortstop. "He got elbowed in the neck," Hinch said. "It kind of jarred him. 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Detroit Tigers give up 19 hits in 15-7 blowout loss to Seattle Mariners
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Crawford broke the tie with an RBI single, giving Seattle a 2-1 lead. Later in the inning, catcher Cal Raleigh drove center fielder Julio Rodríguez in with a sacrifice fly to right field, Rodríguez initially finding himself on third base after a bad throw from catcher Jake Rogers gave Rodríguez a steal of second base and an advancement to third base. Advertisement The running game played a critical role early on for the Mariners, with both of Seattle's runs initially getting into scoring position via a stolen base. Both Rodríguez and Arozarena each attempted two steals in the first three innings, with the Tigers only turning one of those attempts into an out after Mize picked off Rodríguez at second base in the first inning. Mize gave a lot of credit to the Seattle batters for their season-best day. "I think I've had games where I've had worse command," Mize said. "I feel I made some pitches they got hits on and I made some mistakes they also got hits on. So they were just swinging pretty well." Righty Keider Montero entered the game for Mize in the fourth inning with the Tigers down 6-1. A one-out, RBI single from Rodríguez off Montero in the fourth scored third baseman Ben Williamson from first, giving the Mariners a 7-1 lead. Advertisement Rodríguez added his second home run of the series in the sixth inning, a solo shot off Montero that gave the Mariners an 8-4 lead, while a two-out RBI from Williamson in the seventh gave the Mariners their ninth run of the game. Arozarena's two-run shot in the eighth gave the Mariners their 11th run, their second straight game with double-digit runs against the Tigers after scoring 12 on Friday. A bases-clearing double from Crawford highlighted a four-run ninth as the Mariners set their season-high in runs. The Mariners offense also registered 19 hits on Saturday, their highest total in a game in 2025. "Man, it was crazy," said Rogers. "I just felt like they were on everything, and when they weren't barreling it up [the ball] was finding a hole." Tigers bats can't keep up despite Greene's 4 RBIs Detroit Tigers center fielder Riley Greene (31) celebrates batting a home run against Chicago White Sox during the sixth inning of home opening day at Comerica Park in Detroit on Friday, April 4, 2025. Tigers left fielder Riley Greene had his seventh game with at least 4 RBIs on Saturday, but they marked a big part of a Tigers offensive output that fell short against Seattle. Advertisement With the Tigers down 7-1 in the fifth inning, Greene poked a George Kirby splitter to left field, just far enough to clear the wall for a three-run home run, his 23rd of the season. The home run gave Greene his 77th RBI of the year, eclipsing his previous career high (74 in 2024) in 43 fewer games played. It brought the Tigers back into the game with the lineup struggling through the first four innings. But it wasn't nearly enough to keep up with Seattle. After Colt Keith walked to lead off the first inning, Gleyber Torres smacked a double to the gap in left-center field, extending his career-high on-base streak to 24 games. It's the longest active on-base streak in the American League and is the first time a Tiger has had a 24-game on-base streak since Kerry Carpenter from Aug. 2-28 of the 2023 season. Greene drove Keith in two batters later on a shallow fly ball to left field to make it a 1-0 game. Arozarena caught the ball on the run but sailed a throw to home plate that catcher Cal Raleigh couldn't reach, allowing Torres to reach third. Advertisement Spencer Torkelson then reached after getting hit in the arm and Zach McKinstry loaded the bases after a walk, but Matt Vierling couldn't turn in a two-out RBI, grounding into a fielder's choice to end the inning with the Tigers ahead. It was the only lead the Tigers had all game. A seventh-inning RBI single from Wenceel Pérez and a two-run home run from McKinstry in the eighth brought the Tigers back within four runs, as they cut Seattle's lead to 11-7. A walk to Colt Keith brought the tying run in Gleyber Torres to the plate with one out, but a soft lineout against Mariners' reliever Matt Brash and a groundout from Pérez ended the threat. "We tried to scratch our way back, got the tying run at the plate for a couple of at-bats, which was awesome," said Tigers manager A.J. Hinch. "But clearly some ugly losses, and [it was] uncharacteristic of our pitching to put us in a deep hole." Advertisement With the loss, the Tigers tied their season-worst losing streak at three games. They look to avoid the sweep against the Mariners on Sunday, July 13, with first pitch at Comerica Park scheduled for 1:10 p.m. ET. You can reach Christian at cromo@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers score today: Mariners get 19 hits in 15-7 win
