MLB States Play Standout Players For 2025, 2026 Class
Image credit: Kayson Cunningham is one of the top hitters in the 2025 MLB Draft class. (Photo by Bill Mitchell).
Major League Baseball and USA Baseball held its annual States Play event from Sept. 22-24 in Arizona, an opportunity to showcase some of the top players from primarily the 2025 high school class as well three prominent 2026 players.
The event split players into East and West teams for a series of games, which again showed the strength of Texas talent for 2025, with shortstop Kayson Cunningham proving again why he’s one of the most talented hitters in the nation.
These were some of the standout players from States Play.
Kayson Cunningham, SS, Texas
There’s no 2025 hitter in the country who is more consistently on the barrel than Cunningham. On the first day, the Texas Tech commit nearly hit for the cycle, going double, single, triple and then a groundout to second base in his final at-bat. There’s seemingly no cold zone in any section of the plate to attack Cunningham, who tracks pitches well and has an extremely quick, short and adjustable swing from the left side to be able to put the bat on the ball regardless of where it’s pitched. He pulled his his inside a fastball on the inner third for a double, then promptly stole third base and scored on the errant throw from the catcher. He pulled an 89 mph fastball up and in for a line-drive single to right field to bring home a run. His next time up, he got another 89 mph fastball up and in, kept his swing compact and pulled it for a triple that landed on the right field warning track.
Omar Serna, C, Texas
Serna’s raw power and arm strength are both outstanding tools for his age that grade out among the best in the country for a 2025 prospect. It only took a couple of innings for the LSU commit to showcase both of them. In his first plate appearance of the event, Serna smoked a ball over the center fielder’s head for what ended up being an inside-the-park home run when the ball got stuck underneath the center field fence. In the second inning, Serna showed outstanding arm strength on a throw to second base for a caught stealing. He demonstrated his arm strength again the next game with another caught stealing at second base.
Eli Willits, SS, Oklahoma
Willits is still 15, one of the most talented hitters in the 2026 class and the son of former big leaguer Reggie Willits. The lefthanded hitter tripled twice in the first game, pulling a breaking ball down the first base line for his first one, then showcased a smooth, compact swing on an 88 mph fastball that he drove into the right-center field gap for his next triple. He took consistent quality at-bats throughout the next game as well, drawing a walk and then using a short, simple stroke to line a ball to center field and hustle into second base for a double. An Oklahoma commit, Willits also played well at shortstop. He ran into the wall to catch a pop up in foul territory in shallow left field, then later charged a groundball to field it on a short hop and showed good body control to make a quick transfer and accurate throw on the run to get the out at first base.
Minjae Seo, RHP, Texas
Seo had a dominant outing in his game two start. The 2025 righthander struck out the first three batters he faced, finishing with six strikeouts in three scoreless innings with two walks and no hits allowed. A Vanderbilt commit, Seo touched 93 mph and mixed in a changeup that at times is his best secondary pitch, but in this outing it was his curveball that was most effective. The first hitter he faced, his curveball that got two swinging strikes—including the strikeout—and he used it again to freeze a lefthanded hitter for a strikeout looking in a 2-2 count.
Josiah Hartshorn, OF, California
Hartshorn has been one of the bigger risers of the 2025 class from his performance throughout the travel circuit this summer, displaying a strong mix of contact skills and righthanded power. The trend of impressive offensive performance continued at States Play, with Hartshorn going 2-for-3 with a walk in his first game. In a 3-2 count, he hit a line-drive single to right field off a 92 mph fastball to drive in a run. Later in the game, Hartshorn worked his way to another 3-2 count, then doubled to right field. After entering the next game as a pinch-hitter, Hartshorn stayed back on a fastball and sent a triple to right field.
Jarrett Sabol, C, California
Sabol’s offensive game has drawn attention, and his power was on display at States Play. Sabol got an 89 mph fastball at the belt that he pulled over the right field wall for a home run. He reached base in both his plate appearances in the second game, lining an 88 mph fastball for a single to center field and drawing a walk, showing the ability to track pitches well with a selective approach. Sabol is a Southern California commit.
Donavan Jeffrey, 1B, Virginia
Jeffrey is 6-foot-2, 215 pounds, one of the strongest players in the 2025 class with big righthanded power that he showed by doubling to the opposite field in his first two plate appearances. A Miami commit, Jeffrey got behind in the count 0-2, then sent a fastball down the right field line for his first double. His next trip to the plate, he got ahead 2-0, got a fastball up in the zone and kept his swing simple on a fastball up in the zone to drive it to right field, bouncing off the warning track and over the fence for the ground-rule double.
Zach Strickland, RHP, California
Strickland started game two and retired nine of the 10 batters he faced over three scoreless innings. The 2025 righthander gave up a single, didn’t walk anyone and struck out five, including a swinging strikeout on a 93 mph fastball—his highest velocity of the day—to end his outing. Strickland mixed in a low-70s curveball and a low-80s changeup, with much of his success coming by pounding the strike zone with his fastball to get empty swings on that pitch. He’s a UCLA commit.
Trent Grindlinger, C, California
One of the top catchers in the country for 2025, Grindlinger demonstrated his arm strength to erase multiple baserunners. He caught a runner stealing in the first game, then in the second game on a first-pitch high fastball, he quickly fired the ball to first base with a strong throw right on the bag to back pick the runner straying too far from the base. At the plate, he took an inside-out swing on a 1-2 fastball, sending it to right field for a single to drive in a run.
Anthony Pack, OF, California
Pack has quick-twitch actions manifest in multiple ways on the field. He’s a plus runner who moves around the outfield with ease. He also has extremely quick hands at the plate and a short lefthanded swing, giving him more time to stay back and recognize pitches, something he did well here has he piled up walks, then used his speed to wreak havoc on the basepaths. At 5-foot-10, Pack isn’t that big, but his bat speed helps him drive the ball with impressive impact for his size.
