Eli Willits selected No. 1 in 2025 MLB Draft: Why Nationals went with high school shortstop with first pick

Willits is the son of former MLB player Reggie Willits

The Washington Nationals have selected Oklahoma prep shortstop Eli Willits with the No. 1 pick in Major League Baseball's amateur draft.

Willits, whose father Reggie played in the majors and now coaches at Oklahoma, was ranked as the best prospect in the class by CBS Sports. Here's what we wrote: 

Willits is considered to be the other prep shortstop with big-league bloodlines near the top of the class, but I ranked him aggressively in the spring and I see no reason to not do the same here. Reggie's son is a surefire shortstop with all the necessary weaponry to be a plus or better defender at maturation. He's also a promising switch-hitter with strong bat-to-ball and zone-management skills (though he seems unlikely to get to even average power). As an added bonus, Willits won't celebrate his 18th birthday until December -- studies have shown that such competence at a young age tends to bode well for the player's long-term outlook. I don't know that he'll go No. 1, but I would be shocked if he's available outside of the top five.

Willits is the third No. 1 pick in Nationals franchise history. Washington chose atop the draft in both 2009 and 2010, selecting ace Stephen Strasburg and outfielder Bryce Harper. He's also the youngest No. 1 overall pick in MLB Draft history and the youngest player in the draft overall.

"Just the high contact rate, the plate discipline, the patient ABs with the true switch-hit profiles becoming more valuable in this game," Nationals scouting director Danny Haas told reporters after the pick (via the Washington Post).

The Nationals' selection comes a week after they dismissed both general manager Mike Rizzo and field manager Davey Martinez. Washington named assistant GM Mike DeBartolo as their interim lead executive.