Next up on our road through the conferences leading up to the MLB Draft, we have put the Horizon League and Mountain West together. Also, as the title states, I coupled Oregon State in with the Mountain West. While there could easily have been an entire piece written about this Oregon State team, it felt right to include them with some of the other teams in their region. The obvious headliner here is potential top three selection, Aiva Arquette, but there are a lot more names to get into and learn about as we get closer and closer to draft day.
This is the 9th conference preview released headed into the draft, you can find the rest below:
The first player to be mentioned here in this weird combination of conferences is one of the most polarizing and intriguing prospects in the entire 2025 draft cycle, Oregon State’s Aiva Arquette. Arquette was originally drafted out of high school in the 18th round, but chose to bet on himself and attend Washington. After a shaky freshman year with limited playing time, he really broke out in 2024 enough in the spring and on the Cape that summer to get the chance to play at Oregon State in 2025. He controls his 6’5” frame well at the plate with easy, loose mechanics and top of the class bat speed. He has easy plus raw power and it transfers to the field, being able to hit for exit velos north of 110 mph with ease and consistency. There are some swing and miss concerns in his profile, but he improved on them in 2025 and with some professional development, he can put his elite barrel control and timing to use and improve on the whiffs even more at the next level.
Statistically, Arquette slashed .354/.461/.654 (1.115 OPS) in 2025 while hitting 19 homers and 17 doubles. Defensively, he has the ability to stick at shortstop at the next level. He has soft hands and a good arm that plays well at the position. He hadn’t played much short at the collegiate level before Oregon State, but he immediately looked comfortable and played the position with a lot of confidence. While he is just an average runner, his athleticism plays up on the dirt with his quick reactions. Arquette was a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award this year and has played himself into the top eight pick range with the chance to go as high as the top 3. His profile as a power hitting shortstop with experience and projectability will have a lot of teams fighting for him come draft day.
The first of a few Fresno State players being mentioned here is the junior third baseman, Triston “Murf” Gray. Gray’s stock began to rise in his freshman season, where he was named the Mountain West freshman of the year and really began to climb following his huge season on the Cape last summer. He has professional size at 6’4”, 230 pounds and his physical play matches it. He has huge raw power to all fields and explosive bat speed. His game power is mostly to his pull side, but he has the ability to hit all of the gaps with ease. He doesn’t whiff hardly at all when he stays in the zone, but some of the only concerns about his profile are about his swing decisions and chasing pitches out of the zone. He is a very aggressive and somewhat free swinger, but some of that may have to be honed in a bit at the next level if he doesn’t want professional pitchers to take advantage of it.
In 2025, Gray hit 18 homers and 22 doubles with a 1.037 OPS and low strikeout numbers. Defensively, he has plenty of arm to stick at third base and the glove isn’t bad either. The only thing that may hold him back on the dirt is his overall quicknee/first step. He isn't the best athlete, so he may be forced off of third base and into right field, where he can get the most out of his strong arm. If his athleticism still doesn’t play in the field, first base would be where he may end up, and with his power-hitting profile, that wouldn’t be the worst thing. In 2025, his production earned him both Mountain West co-player of the year honors and an invitation to the MLB Draft combine, where he can showcase his skills in front of every professional organization. Gray will likely land somewhere in the third-to-fifth round range for the draft this year to a team looking for a power bat and an overall ball of clay at the plate.
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