2025 MLB Draft Preview: Max Belyeu 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 University of Texas outfielder Max Belyeu.
Max Belyeu is a 6’2”, 195 lb. left handed hitting outfielder who just complete his junior season at the University of Texas. Belyeu was the #167 prospect on the BA draft board in 2022, when he came out of Aledo High School as a guy with a nice hit tool and some power potential. After barely playing as a freshman, he was named Big 12 Player of the Year in 2024 as a sophomore, and was performing well as a junior before thumb surgery cost him a couple of months. Belyeu turned 21 last December.
Belyeu is a bat-first guy, with his power currently projecting better than his hit tool. Belyeu gets good reviews for his bat-to-ball skills and a quick bat. There are concerns about Belyeu’s tendency to chase pitches, particularly against spin, and MLB Pipeline notes that he “struggled against non-fastballs” last summer both with the national team and in the Cape Cod League. He has power to all fields, with his pull power particularly notable.
Belyeu played some center field in the Cape Cod League this past summer, but has been exclusively a corner outfielder for UT, mostly playing right field. His arm is his biggest strength defensively. He gets knocked for his reads and routes in the outfield, though BA notes he could be an above-average defensive COF with more reps. His speed grades out as average.
After 21 plate appearances as a freshman, Belyeu slashed .329/423/.667 with 18 home runs in 249 plate appearances as a sophomore, with 44 Ks against 27 walks. In his disappointing Cape performance in 2024, he slashed .222/.306/.352 in 63 PAs, with 21 Ks against 5 walks. In his junior season, with the thumb injury limiting him to 32 games, he slashed .303/.410/.576 in 156 plate appearances, with 21 walks against 39 Ks.
Baseball America has Belyeu at #32 on their top 500 list. MLB Pipeline’s draft rankings have Belyeu at #31. Keith Law’s top 100 list ranks Belyeu at #35. Kiley McDaniel’s top 150 list has Belyeu at #48. Fangraphs has Belyeu at #24 on their board.
Baseball America’s mock draft from June 9 has Belyeu going to the Yankees at #39. BA’s May 12 mock draft also had Belyeu going to the Yankees at #39. Keith Law’s mock draft didn’t include Belyeu. Kiley McDaniel’s mock draft from June 18 doesn’t have Belyeu going in the first 40 picks. Jim Callis’s mock draft from the end of May had Belyeu going to the Mets at #38. Jonathan Mayo’s mock draft from June 6 did not have Belyeu going in the first round. Jim Callis’s June 12 mock draft had Belyeu going to the Twins at #36. The Callis/Mayo combined mock draft from June 20 did not have Belyeu going in the first round.
I wrote up Belyeu today due to popular demand. I think the chances of him getting taken by the Rangers are low, since the chances of him being taken at #12 would seem to be extremely remote (I’d say he’s not going at #12 but then we would have said the same thing about Kumar Rocker going third overall in 2022), and it seems unlikely he’ll last to #52. He’s the type of college hitter that teams tend to snag in the late first/supplemental first/early second round.
The thumb injury that cost him time might end up dropping him some, as there’s less info from his junior season to work from, and the concerns about his ability to handle spin and offspeed stuff, combined with a lack of a real carrying tool, could see him last until Texas picks in the second round. If so, the Rangers will have to decide how confident they are in Belyeu’s ability to improve his selectivity and pitch recognition.
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