Jamie Arnold

School: Florida State Drafted/Committed: Never Drafted
Age At Draft: 21.3

BA Grade: 55/High

Arnold was one of college baseball’s most impressive pitchers as a sophomore in 2024. He posted a 2.98 ERA over 18 starts and finished third in the country with 159 strikeouts—behind 2024 top-five overall picks Chase Burns and Hagen Smith. He entered his 2025 draft year as the presumptive top college arm in the class and wasn’t quite as dominant, but still rock solid with an identical 2.98 ERA over 15 starts and 84.2 innings with a 33.9% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate. At 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, Arnold has a smooth delivery that features a deep, plunging arm action in back before he cascades down the mound and throws from an extremely low three-quarters slot. His low release height creates a flat approach angle and adds deception that amplifies his entire pitch mix. Arnold’s fastball sits 92-95 mph and will touch 97-98. The pitch has tremendous armside running life that makes it both a bat-misser and a groundball-inducer at its best, though his fastball command and production backed up slightly in 2025. Arnold’s no-doubt plus slider is a mid-80s sweeper with the depth and bite to be a knockout secondary against lefties and righties. Arnold mainly pitches off his fastball and slider, but he upped the usage of his mid-80s changeup, and the pitch has the movement profile to become at least above-average. He still needs to hone his changeup command. Arnold is a solid strike-thrower and a high-probability starter with midrotation upside. He’s solidly in the mix to be the first college arm selected and shouldn’t fall outside of the first 10 picks.

Scouting Grades: Fastball: 60 | Slider: 60 | Changeup: 60 | Control: 55.