Kade Anderson isn't Mariners' only high-upside pitching find from 2025 draft

Last year's draft introduced plenty of new talent to the Mariners organization. Much of the news has been dominated by Kade Anderson, and for good reason. He's yet to pitch a single professional inning, but has wasted no time in strutting his stuff while facing other big leaguers in his first spring training.

However, he's not the only pitcher in the draft class that brings plenty to the table.

Griffin Hugus could already be in the running for most underrated Mariners pitching prospect

Hugus was taken in the third round with the 91st overall pick out of the University of Miami. By the numbers, his college career wasn't impressive. He spent two seasons at Cincinnati before transferring to Miami and posted a 4.70 ERA over 147.1 innings with a 1.45 WHIP. Originally coming out of the bullpen, he moved to the rotation in 2025 and made a total of 17 starts, representing more than 60 percent of his total collegiate workload.

His individual pitches don't really jump off the page. His fastball sits in the low-90s, occasionally touching the mid-90s, and misses opposing barrels. His slider and curveball are effective but need refinement. He has a changeup that he rarely utilizes. However, when used in tandem, they create an effective foundation for a young starting pitcher.

Eric Longenhagen had a similar outlook on Hugus, including a brief note about him in his recap of the first day of last year's draft.

" Hugus feels like a low-hanging fruit dev project. He’s well built, his delivery is pretty, and his arm slot creates natural fastball backspin and breaking ball depth, but he’s never performed in a superlative way. Miami doesn’t develop pitching well, and Hugus’ fastball approach might be in line for an overhaul."

Eric Longenhagen

"Low-hanging fruit dev project" seems like the perfect candidate for Seattle's pitching development program, which has already made the most out of other later draft selections like Bryce Miller (113th overall) and Bryan Woo (174th overall).

Hugus will join a farm system already rich with starting pitching talent. For now, Kade Anderson and Ryan Sloan will be the center of discussion regarding the future of the Mariners' rotation, but what's most exciting about Hugus is his seemingly untapped potential.

Seattle has no shortage of new arms in their organization, consistently adding more in the final few days leading up to spring training. Not everyone will find their way to the big leagues, let alone make a meaningful impact, but the Mariners are willing to give everybody a chance. Griffin Hugus is far from a finished product but he's not coming to the table empty-handed.