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MLB Draft Buzz: Latest on FSU ace Jamie Arnold; Could Alex Lodise sneak into 1st round?

On3 imageby:Ira Schoffel•07/12/25•

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FSU shortstop Alex Lodise. (Gene Williams/Warchant)

After an excellent, but perhaps not sensational, junior season, Florida State ace Jamie Arnold is no longer expected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, which is slated to begin on Sunday evening. He might not even go in the top five selections.

But the talented left-handed pitcher from Tampa won’t have to wait much longer than that.

According to at least a half-dozen mock drafts published in recent days, Arnold is still considered a consensus top-10 selection. And most of the pre-draft buzz has him going at No. 8 to the Toronto Blue Jays.

But while the former Florida State star has seen his draft stock slide slightly in recent weeks, teammate Alex Lodise continues his meteoric rise up the charts.

Once considered a potential middle-round draft pick, Lodise now is thought to be a sure thing to go in the first two or three rounds. And a couple of mock drafts actually project the athletic shortstop to go at the end of the first.

USA Today’s Gabe Lacques has Lodise being selected by the Baltimore Orioles at No. 30 overall, which is a “compensation pick” between the first and second rounds. MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo has Lodise going at No. 36 to the Minnesota Twins with a “competitive balance” pick before the second round.

Lodise, who transferred to Florida State from UNF before the 2024 season, is coming off of one of the greatest offensive seasons in Seminoles history. He batted .396 with 17 home runs and 67 RBIs, and his slugging percentage was a gaudy .715.

The St. Augustine product finished the season as a consensus first-team All-American, and he won the Dick Howser Trophy as the best player in college baseball.

While there is a chance Florida State lands two players in the first round, most analysts project Lodise to go in the second. On MLB.com’s list of top prospects in the draft, he checks in at No. 43 overall. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel has the shortstop being taken at No. 48 by the A’s; that would make him the fifth pick of the second round.

Arnold, meanwhile, is projected to go to Toronto at No. 8 in mock drafts by ESPN, MLB.com, USA Today and Bleacher Report. A CBS Sports mock draft has him going at No. 6 to the Pittsburgh Pirates, while the New York Times has him falling to the Chicago White Sox at No. 10.

Yahoo Sports lists the Florida State ace as the No. 5 prospect in the draft.

After a brilliant sophomore season, in which he struck out 159 batters in 105.2 innings with just 26 walks, Arnold saw his numbers drop off slightly as a junior. He pitched 84.2 innings and struck out 119 with 27 walks in 2025.

Arnold’s ERA stayed exactly the same at 2.98, but he finished 8-2 this year after going 11-3 as a sophomore.

Several other Florida State players and signees could be selected in the 20-round MLB Draft as well.

Junior outfielder Max Williams is listed as the No. 81 prospect in the draft by MLB.com. Pitcher Cam Leiter, who has missed a year-plus with an injury, is listed at No. 114.

Junior second baseman Drew Faurot checks in as the No. 158 prospect overall, and junior pitcher Joey Volini is listed at No. 216.

*Talk about this story with other die-hard Florida State baseball fans in the FSU Baseball Forum*

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