LSU ace pitcher Kade Anderson goes third in MLB Draft
ATLANTA, GA - LSU ace pitcher Kade Anderson had to wait a couple of picks longer than expected to hear his name called in the Major League Baseball 2025 Draft, but when it was done the Madisonville native was selected No. 3 overall in the first round by the Seattle Mariners on Sunday night in Atlanta, Georgia.
Watching from his house in Louisiana, Anderson became LSU's second top-three pick in the MLB Draft in three years following Paul Skenes in 2023 to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Anderson is just one of many current LSU Tigers expecting to hear their names called over the course of the next two days and 20 rounds of the MLB Draft.
Rounds 1-3 of the draft are being conducted Sunday evening in Atlanta. Rounds 4-20 will be held starting at 10:30 a.m. on Monday.
More from an LSU release on Anderson can be seen below:
Anderson, a sophomore from Madisonville, La., is the fourth LSU player in the last four seasons to be among the Top 5 overall MLB Draft selections.
The other LSU Top 5 picks since 2022 are right-hander Paul Skenes (No. 1, 2023), outfielder Dylan Crews (No. 2, 2023) and infielder Jacob Berry (No. 5, 2022).
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Anderson, a First-Team All-American and First-Team All-SEC performer, was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2025 College World Series after leading LSU to its eighth national championship. He was also named last month the Baseball America College Pitcher of the Year.
He was 2-0 in the CWS with victories over Arkansas and Coastal Carolina, posting a 0.56 ERA while allowing just one run on six hits in 16.0 innings with 17 strikeouts.
Anderson fired only the second complete-game shutout in LSU’s College World Series history when he defeated Coastal Carolina on June 21 with a brilliant three-hitter in Game 1 of the CWS Finals.
He finished 12-1 on the season with a 3.18 ERA and 180 strikeouts in 119.0 innings. He completed the year No. 1 in the nation in total strikeouts and No. 7 in strikeouts per nine innings (13.61).
His total of 180 Ks this season is No. 3 on the LSU single-season strikeouts list, trailing only Paul Skenes (209 Ks, 2023) and Ben McDonald (202 Ks, 1989).
Anderson was No. 1 in the SEC in strikeouts (180), No. 1 in the league in innings pitched (119.0), No. 1 in wins (12), No. 6 in ERA (3.18) and No. 7 in opponent batting average (.211).
Anderson, who has a 3.57 GPA as a sport administration major/business administration minor, was voted a 2025 Academic All-American by College Sports Communicators, and he received the 2025 Corbett Award, presented by the Allstate Sugar Bowl to the top male athlete in the state of Louisiana.