Welcome to the 2025 draft edition of “Best Baseball Names” here at Kitchen Sink Sports! Today, we’re diving into the wonderfully weird world of the 2025 MLB Draft class names.

Baseball has a long, storied history of magnificent monikers. From legends like Catfish Hunter, Satchel Paige, and Rollie Fingers to modern-day hero Dick Lovelady of the Toronto Blue Jays, to name just a few.

The 2025 MLB Draft is underway, and there are some absolute winners in the name department. Let’s break down my personal favorites from the first 10 rounds!

First Round Standouts

The first round brought us some immediate heavy hitters in the name game:

• Ike Irish (Baltimore Orioles, pick #19) – Sounds like he should be serving pints of Guiness while telling tall tales about his fishing adventures.
• Kruz Schoolcraft (San Diego Padres, pick #25) – If this kid doesn’t make it to the majors, he has a promising career as either a yacht captain or the protagonist in a teen adventure novel.
• Gage Wood (Philadelphia Phillies, pick #26) – I’m just going to leave this one here.
• Steele Hall (Cincinnati Reds, pick #9) – This name screams “future closer” or possibly “superhero alter ego.” He should probably be traded to the Pirates.
• Tate Southisene (Atlanta Braves, pick #22) – A name that makes broadcasters pray for a ground out so they don’t have to pronounce it more than once an inning.

Mid-Round Name Magic

As we venture deeper into the draft, the names start to pop off:

• Sawyer Hawks (Arizona Diamondbacks, Round 6) – Mark Twain meets bird of prey in this glorious combination.
• Logan Sauve (Athletics, Round 7) – Perhaps the smoothest name in the entire draft.
• Murf Gray (Pirates, Competitive Balance B) – He should either be solving crimes in a 1940s noir film or a name for cartoon huskie.
• Wehiwa Aloy (Orioles, Competitive Balance) – Hawaiian for “this kid’s going to sell a lot of jerseys.”
• Malachi Witherspoon (Tigers, Round 2) – He is jumping off the pages of an unreleased Dickens novel.

Late Round Name Legends

Even in the later rounds, teams were still finding name gold:

• Boston Smith (Nationals, Round 6) – When you can’t decide between naming your kid after a city or keeping it traditional.
• Bruin Agbayani (Twins, Round 6) – Son of former MLB player Benny Agbayani, he must be a beast or a bear. I very badly want him and Boston to be on the same team in the future.
• Slate Alford (Angels, Round 9) – When he is not hitting dingers, he is narrating documentaries on the industrial revolution.
• Cale Wetwiska (Tigers, Round 7) – The kind of name that makes broadcasters double-check the pronunciation guide. Wet whiskahh?
• Shane Van Dam (Royals, Round 9) – Long lost son of a certain 1990s action movie star.

And The Winner Is…

After careful consideration, I’m crowning the Baltimore Orioles as the team with the best name draft in 2025. With Ike Irish, Wehiwa Aloy, Slater de Brun, and Jaiden Lo Re all joining their organization, the O’s announcers are going to have a field day.

My personal favorite? I’m giving the edge to Kruz Schoolcraft for sheer originality.

So there you have it, folks! The 2025 MLB Draft class proving once again that baseball continues to be the sport with the most creative names.

What’s your favorite name from this year’s draft? Did I miss any good ones? Let me know in the comments below!

Cheers!

Sarah

Rd	Pk	Team	Name	School	Pos	B/T	Class
1	9	Reds	Steele Hall	Hewitt-Trussville HS (AL)	SS	R/R	HS SR
1	19	Orioles	Ike Irish	Auburn (AL)	C	L/R	4YR JR
1	22	Braves	Tate Southisene	Basic HS (NV)	SS	R/R	HS SR
1	25	Padres	Kruz Schoolcraft	Sunset HS (OR)	P	L/L	HS SR
1	26	Phillies	Gage Wood	Arkansas (AR)	P	R/R	4YR JR
1C	31	Orioles	Wehiwa Aloy	Arkansas (AR)	SS	R/R	4YR JR
CB-A	37	Orioles	Slater de Brun	Summit HS (OR)	OF	L/L	HS SR
2	47	Angels	Chase Shores	LSU (LA)	P	R/R	4YR JR
2	62	Tigers	Malachi Witherspoon	Oklahoma (OK)	P	R/R	4YR JR
2	63	Phillies	Cade Obermueller	Iowa (IA)	P	L/L	4YR JR
2	64	Guardians	Dean Curley	Tennessee (TN)	SS	R/R	4YR SO
CB-B	73	Pirates	Murf Gray	Fresno State (CA)	3B	R/R	4YR JR
2C	75	Red Sox	Henry Godbout	Virginia (VA)	SS	R/R	4YR JR
3	86	Rays	Taitn Gray	Dallas Center-Grimes HS (IA)	C	S/R	HS SR
3	88	Twins	James Ellwanger	Dallas Baptist (TX)	P	R/R	4YR SO
3	91	Mariners	Griffin Hugus	Miami (FL)	P	L/R	4YR JR
3	99	Padres	Ryan Wideman	Western Kentucky (KY)	OF	R/R	4YR JR
4	127	Braves	Briggs McKenzie	Corinth Holders HS (NC)	P	L/L	HS SR
4	128	Royals	Nolan Sailors	Creighton (NE)	OF	L/R	4YR SR
4	131	Phillies	Sean Youngerman	Oklahoma State (OK)	P	R/R	4YR JR
4	134	Yankees	Pico Kohn	Mississippi State (MS)	P	L/L	4YR SR
5	145	Reds	Eli Pitts	North Atlanta HS (GA)	OF	R/R	HS SR
5	154	Orioles	Jaiden Lo Re	Corona Del Sol HS (AZ)	SS	R/R	HS SR
6	169	Angels	Luke Lacourse	Bay City Western HS (MI)	P	R/R	HS SR
6	171	Nationals	Boston Smith	Wright State (OH)	C	L/R	4YR SR
6	179	Twins	Bruin Agbayani	Saint Louis School (HI)	SS	L/R	HS SR
6	183	D-Backs	Sawyer Hawks	Vanderbilt (TN)	P	R/R	4YR SR
7	200	Athletics	Logan Sauve	West Virginia (WV)	C	R/R	4YR JR
7	219	Tigers	Cale Wetwiska	Northern Oklahoma College-Enid (OK)	P	R/R	JC J2
9	259	Angels	Slate Alford	Georgia (GA)	3B	R/R	4YR SR
9	264	Reds	Kien Vu	Arizona State (AZ)	OF	L/L	4YR JR
9	278	Royals	Shane Van Dam	NC State (NC)	P	R/R	4YR JR
10	300	Cardinals	Ty Van Dyke	Stetson (FL)	P	R/R	4YR SR

Team	Best Draft Names
Angels	3
Astros	0
Athletics	1
Blue Jays	0
Braves	2
Brewers	0
Cardinals	1
Cubs	0
D-Backs	1
Dodgers	0
Giants	0
Guardians	1
Mariners	1
Marlins	0
Mets	0
Nationals	1
Orioles	4
Padres	2
Phillies	3
Pirates	1
Rangers	0
Rays	1
Red Sox	1
Reds	3
Rockies	0
Royals	2
Tigers	2
Twins	2
White Sox	0
Yankees	1