LSU baseball’s Kade Anderson wins 2025 College Pitcher of the Year Award

LSU baseball’s Kade Anderson was named the 2025 College Pitcher of the Year by Baseball America on Thursday.

Anderson is a sophomore pitcher from Mandeville, La., who has started in both of his seasons for the Tigers. As a freshman, Anderson made appearances as the midweek starter and as a reliever on the weekends.

Then, in his sophomore season, Anderson was called to the Friday night starter role, which he embraced and had a breakout season.

In the 2025 season, Anderson recorded a 3.18 ERA and a nation-leading 180 strikeouts across 119 innings. In 11 out of his 19 games, he recorded double-digit strikeouts.

When the stage got bigger, Anderson rose to the occasion as he allowed just one run and struck out 17 batters in the 16 innings he pitched during the College World Series.

He was named the tournament’s most outstanding player after securing LSU a win over Coastal Carolina with a complete-game shutout, just the third ever in the CWS finals history.

“His next pitch should be for some place in the Washington Nationals organization,” LSU head coach Jay Johnson said after the game. “There’s nobody closer to the major leagues than that right now.”

The Nationals hold the No. 1 pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, and Johnson thinks Anderson should be the first off the board. MLB Insider and former MLB scout Kiley McDaniel agrees.

In McDaniel’s most recent MLB mock draft, he named Anderson the first overall pick. According to MLB.com, Anderson is the No. 2-ranked prospect in the draft this year.