With the 77th overall pick in the third round of the 2025 MLB Draft, the Colorado Rockies have selected third baseman Ethan Hedges from the University of Southern California.
Hedges graduated from Mater Dei High School in California, the same school that produced current Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon.
In three years with the Trojans, Hedges slashed .308/.413/.488 with 18 home runs and 118 RBIs while playing all infield positions and even taking a few reps in the outfield. However, he is most at home at third base.
Hedges has a plus arm and good instincts at third base with decent agility. At the plate, he’s a hit-before-power batter. While he has some pop in his bat, Hedges hits more for average as a right-handed batter. He regularly barrels balls, resulting in stinging line drives, an approach that should play well at Coors Field.
Where Hedges draws some additional interest is as a relief pitcher. He made 15 appearances for 15 innings out of the USC bullpen in 2025, striking out 12 batters and giving up just one home run while posting a 2.40 ERA. He also tallied nine saves.
Hedges uses his plus arm to work with a four seam fastball that averages 93 MPH while also pitching a slider and a changeup.
For the second time this season, Ethan Hedges had a home run and a save in the same game ✌️
Hedges’ 3️⃣ saves are 2️⃣nd in the country and 1️⃣st in the Big Ten.
His 4️⃣ HR are 1️⃣5️⃣th in the NCAA and 4️⃣th in the Big Ten.#FightOn x @ethan_hedges pic.twitter.com/R0NjE000WS
— USC Baseball (@USC_Baseball) February 26, 2025
Hedges was a second-team All-American in 2025, a semi-finalist for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award, and MLB Pipeline ranked him as the no. 159 prospect entering this year’s draft.
After Day 1 of the draft had ended, Senior Director of Scouting Operations Marc Gustafson and Vice President and Assistant General Manager of Scouting Danny Montgomery took questions from media about what Hedges brings to the Rockies.
They see him as a third baseman with a serious arm and “defensive acumen.”
“His body control is elite,” Gustafson said. “His swing is to the off-gap. He’s a contact bat that’s going to grow into power. He’s got more growth to come. And the and the track record speaks for itself.”
“We don’t feel like he’s tapped into everything yet,” Montgomery said. “The power’s got a chance to be big. He’s still got some room to grow in that type of body, but he moves around really well at third as well as his arm strength is very good.”
However, probably, Hedges’ days as a pitcher are over.