2025 MLB Draft Preview: Daniel Dickinson scouting report
The 2025 MLB Draft is less than a month away — the first round kicks off on July 13, 2025 — so its time to start offering capsule looks at players the Texas Rangers could select with their top picks. The Rangers’ first round pick is at #12, their second round pick is at #52, and their third round pick is at #84.
Leading up to draft day, we will be doing writeups of some of the players who could end up getting selected by the Rangers with one of their first three picks. Today we are looking at LSU second baseman Daniel Dickinson.
Daniel Dickinson is a 6’0”, 180 lb. righthanded hitting second baseman. Dickinson didn’t make the varsity in high school until his junior season, and had no scholarship offers. He walked on at Utah Valley State in the WAC and was a high-performing regular there for two seasons. He then transferred this past summer to LSU, and has been the starting second baseman for their team currently competing in the College World Series. Dickinson turns 22 in December.
Daniel Dickinson’s bat is what makes him a potential second- to third-round pick. He’s a hit-over-power guy in most of the write-ups I’ve seen, earning praise for his bat-to-ball skills and ability to use the whole field. He does not have a lot of present power, and there’s questions as to whether he will be able to get to even average game power with wood bats. However, the contact ability and potential power projections provides offensive upside.
Dickinson primarily played second base at Utah State, but also played some shortstop and third base. At LSU he has played only second base, but is expected to be able to stick at second base as a professional, with some suggesting he might also be able to handle third base, though his arm would not be an asset at the position. His speed grades out as average.
Dickinson Slashed .372/.441/.592 as a freshman at Utah Valley State, following that up with a .367/.469/.661 slash line as a sophomore, with 18 home runs and 32 steals in 37 attempts. In the Cape Cod League last summer he had an underwhelming performance — he walked 14 times against 13 Ks in 104 plate appearances, but slashed just .205/.350/.253. This spring for LSU, he slashed .311/.460/.529 in 64 games, with a 39:37 BB:K ratio, 23 times reached via HBP, and a 9 for 12 record stealing bases. Keith Law notes that Dickinson “cooled down” offensively once SEC play began, which is a problem, and Dickinson has been hitting in the bottom third of the order for LSU in the College World Series.
Baseball America has Dickinson at #57 on their top 500 list. MLB Pipeline’s draft rankings have Dickinson at #72. Keith Law’s top 100 list puts Dickinson at #55. Kiley McDaniel’s top 150 list has Dickinson at #65. Fangraphs has Dickinson at #28 on their board.
Dickinson is someone who I could see dropping some as boards get updated, as his relative lack of performance against the better competition once conference play began will be a knock against him, and may lead to concerns that he won’t be able to handle better pitching. That’s exacerbated by the fact that he is somewhat limited in terms of where he will land defensively.
Teams are always going to value bat-to-ball skills, and a team that believes in his future power potential could take him in the second round. He’s the type of player the Rangers could look to grab in the third or fourth rounds.
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