After two years of anticipating history, it finally happened.
Etch it in stone. Grab a sharpie. Take a photo. Record the moment. Three Corona High baseball players were selected in this year’s 1st round of the 2025 MLB Draft. It’s never been done before.
Seth Hernandez was selected No. 6 overall to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Billy Carlson was selected No. 10 overall to the Chicago White Sox. Brady Ebel was selected No. 32 overall by the Milwaukee Brewers.
There have been a good number of high school duos drafted in the same class, and two pair are from Southern California. Harvard-Westlake’s Jack Flaherty and Max Fried both went in the first round in 2012. Chatsworth’s Mike Moustakas and Matt Dominguez went in the Top 12 of the 2007 draft.
MORE ON HERNANDEZ
Hernandez went 9-1 this past spring with a 0.39 ERA in 11 appearances. He struck out a mind-boggling 105 batters in 53 1/3 innings and walked just seven. From the plate, he batted .300 with 30 hits, 30 RBIs, seven homers and 24 scored runs in 31 games.
In 2024, he led Corona High to a CIF Southern Section Division 1 championship with skills from the plate and the mound. He batted .352 with 37 hits, 34 RBI and eight homers. Hernandez had an OPS of 1.080 including a slugging percentage of .666.
One of his best games that season was against Etiwanda, going 2 for 3 with two homers and six RBI. The Panthers won 11-0.
Hernandez finished his high school career 19-1 from the bump.
The standout senior committed to Vanderbilt was the 2024 California Gatorade Player of the Year. This year, he won the award again, but was also named 2025 National Gatorade Player of the Year.
What MLB.com says about Hernandez:
”On the radar for quite some time, Hernandez started making it clear as a junior, when he won National High School Invitational MVP honors after tossing a complete-game shutout to help his Corona High School team win the tournament, that he’d be the top high school arm in the Class of 2025. He cemented it by showing elite stuff at summer showcase events like USA Baseball’s 18U National Training Camp and the Area Code Games, then positioned himself as the best overall arm in the class with a strong spring that included another masterpiece at the NHSI.
Hernandez has an ideal projectable 6-foot-4 pitcher’s frame with the athleticism teams love to see from young power arms. Always on time with an online and loose delivery, Hernandez has big stuff and a feel for all four of his pitches. While he touched triple digits at the Area Code Games, he typically sits in the mid-90s, touching 97-98 mph. His best secondary offering is his changeup, and it’s plus right now, thrown with a lot of confidence and missing bats with it thanks to its good action and how it plays off of his fastball plane well. His curve, a true 12-to-6 spike curveball, has the chance to be plus with hard, tight and late action to it, sometimes registering RPMs in the 3,000 range. He started featuring a harder slider more on the showcase circuit.
In addition to his pure stuff, Hernandez does a solid job finding the zone, especially considering his age and power stuff. Committed to Vanderbilt, he gets very high marks for his work ethic, showing the ability to make adjustments and corrections to put himself in position to be one of the first pitchers taken in the 2025 Draft.”
MORE ON CARLSON
Carlson hit .365 with six homers and 34 RBIs at shortstop for the Panthers this past spring. In 2024, Carlson batted .367, 36 hits, 21 RBIs and 10 doubles in 33 games.
He was the fifth high school shortstop selected in the top 10 picks.
Carlson’s long, wiry frame at 6-foot-2, 180 pounds makes him an athletic, sure-handed shortstop that could be in the majors sooner than later.
What MLB.com has about Carlson:
“The 2025 Draft class is deep in southern California and Corona High School has been a regular stop all spring, with three potential early-round picks on the team that won USA Baseball's National High School Invitational last year. Carlson's skills at shortstop that were on display at a variety of summer showcase events, including the Area Code Games and Major League Baseball's High School All-American Game, have continued to show up during his senior year to allow him to float up to the top of the first round.
All summer, Carlson impressed with his athleticism and bat speed from the right side of the plate. It's more of a line-drive approach at present with a good swing, but he has the chance to grow into more impact and average or better power, though not all evaluators were sold on his hit tool. There's an up arrow next to his run tool as he's worked to get faster and could be a plus runner in time. Even with all of his offensive upside, his glove might be ahead of his bat, with some scouts putting as high as a 70 on his arm strength and defensive actions at shortstop.
At one point, Carlson was thought to be a legitimate two-way player, with a fastball in the mid-90s and feel for spinning a breaking ball. But it will be his five-tool potential at a premium position that will get the Tennessee recruit selected in the top half of the first round, though his age at Draft time (19) might rule out some teams.”
MORE ON EBEL
Ebel is 6-foot-3, 200 pounds and just 17 years old (turns 18 on July 25). He’s a third baseman with MLB bloodlines — his father Dino Ebel is the third-base coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Ebel batted .341 with 31 hits and 17 RBIs this past spring for the Panthers.
What MLB.com says about Ebel:
“Ebel grew up around the game, with his father, Dino, serving as the Dodgers’ third-base coach. His experience working with big leaguers for a long time was clearly on display throughout the summer showcase circuit at events like the Area Code Games and Major League Baseball’s High School All-American Game. He also helped Corona High School win the 2024 National High School Invitational last spring and looked like he might join Seth Hernandez and Billy Carlson as Corona teammates who could go in the first round, but a tough spring at the plate has hurt his Draft stock.
Over the summer, Ebel showed he could do a lot of things well, albeit without wow tools, along with some physical projection that could enable his skills to play up. It’s clear he’s been around professional hitters, with a smooth left-handed swing and an advanced approach at the plate. He found the barrel consistently and performed well against high-level stuff over the summer, but concerns about bat speed and impact have carried over to his senior year. There could very well be more power to come as he fills out his 6-foot-3 frame, but he was hitting too many balls on the ground this spring.
Ebel doesn’t run well and many see a move to third in his future, where he was already playing this spring in deference to Carlson, which would put a little more pressure on the power side of his offensive profile. He does have a plus arm that is impressively accurate and would play from anywhere. His baseball IQ could allow everything to play up and is a big reason why many still see the LSU recruit hearing his name called early on in the Draft.”
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