Nationals’ Eli Willits Becomes 3rd Youngest Player to Be Drafted No.1 Overall Pick in MLB Draft

On Sunday, Eli Willits was picked as the No.1 overall draft pick of the 2025 MLB draft by the Washington Nationals.

Nationals’ Eli Willits Becomes 3rd Youngest Player to Be Drafted No.1 Overall Pick in MLB Draft

Eli Willits (Image via X/@KREFsports)

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On Sunday, Eli Willits etched his name in history books. The youngster was drafted as the No.1 overall pick of the 2025 MLB draft by the Washington Nationals. He also become the 3rd youngest player to be drafted as the No.1 overall.

Before the draft, Ethan Holliday was ranked top of the MLB Pipeline’s prospect draft and was expected to be picked by the Nationals. However, the team decided not to draft him and instead went with Willits and made him their top pick.

At age 17 years and 216 days, Willits is the third youngest player to be drafted No.1 in the MLB. He is just behind MLB Hall of Famer, Ken Griffey Jr. (17 years, 193 days) and Tim Foli (17 years, 180 days) in this. Griffey Jr. was drafted in 1987 by the Seattle Mariners, whereas Foli was picked by the New York Mets in 1968.

Willits has been one of the top performers in recent years. Last season, he led his team to the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association Class B state title for a 6th successive season.

During this, he batted with a high .473 average while having 14 doubles, one triple, 8 home runs, 34 RBIs, 27 walks, 47 stolen bases, and 56 runs scored. He also struck just 4 times and posted a .602 on-base percentage, .912 slugging percentage, and 1.514 OPS in 128 plate appearances.

Eli Willits ‘grateful’ to complete dream of going No.1 overall in 2025 MLB draft

Eli Willits became the No.1 overall pick of the 2025 MLB draft as the Washington Nationals selected him as their top pick. Following this historic moment, the 17-year-old expressed gratitude to complete the dream of going No.1 overall.

Eli Willits
Eli Willits (Image via X/@TalkinBaseball_)

After reclassifying from the 2026 draft, Willits was the youngest prospect on the MLB Pipeline. He though was ranked 5th in this and many expected Ethan Holliday to follow in the footsteps of his brother, Jackson Holliday, and be the No.1 draft pick.

The Nationals, though, decided to go with Willits instead of Holliday and drafted him ahead of everyone in the class. Meanwhile, Holliday was picked up by the Colorado Rockies as the No.4 overall pick.

Every kid’s dream is to be the No. 1 overall pick. That’s just something I set my standards to. It’s what people say [about] the best pick in the Draft. If you go No. 1 overall, no one can go above you. I’m just grateful and thankful for God to put me in this situation.

Willits is a second-generation big leaguer. His father, Reggie Willits, spent 6 seasons in the MLB with the Los Angeles Angels. He would then work as a coach for the New York Yankees from 2018 to 2021.

Nationals claim Eli Willits was their top guy through the draft process

Ahead of the 2025 draft, many expected the Washington Nationals to go out there and pick up Ethan Holliday as the No.1 pick. However, the team surprised a few people by opting for Eli Willits. After drafting Willits, the Nationals claimed that he was always their top guy through the draft process.

Eli Willits
Eli Willits (Image via X/@SleeperNats)

While speaking on the choice of drafting Willits, interim General Manager Mike DeBartolo expressed that the team had been keeping an eye on him for a while and were happy to see them officially land him.

Eli was the top guy on our board. I would say he was our top guy throughout the process. We had our eye on him throughout. He was the guy we wanted all along, and we’re really excited that it worked out so well.

This development for the Nationals comes a week after they parted ways with manager Dave Martinez and GM Mike Rizzo. Following another poor campaign, the organization decided it was time to move on from them.

The Nationals enter the All-Star break having won just 2 of their last 10 games. They have lost 4 games in a row and are 38-58 for the season after they got swept by the Milwaukee Brewers.

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