2025 Draft Prospect - #72 - LHP - Ben Jacobs - Arizona State

 

On 12-5-24, MLB.com posted their top 100 prospects in the upcoming draft. Beginning 2-2-25, we will post it in backward order, ending with the pick for 1.1

https://www.mlb.com/prospects/2025/draft/    - 

#72        Ben Jacobs      LHP, Arizona State

20/years old        6' 1"      190

Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 50 | Overall: 50

Hailing from renowned California high school Huntington Beach, Jacobs began his college career close to home at UCLA. After getting just five innings on the mound as a freshman in 2023, he transferred to Arizona State and began his sophomore season pitching out of the Sun Devils bullpen, then eventually evolved into becoming their Friday night starter. He’s set to resume that role in 2025 after a summer in which he made a few solid appearances in the Cape Cod League and for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team.

When he’s clicking like he was at the end of 2024, Jacobs looks every bit like a prototypical college lefty with a starting pitcher’s repertoire and solid feel for what he’s doing on the mound. None of his individual offerings jump off the page, but he misses bats with all three of his pitches. It starts with a fastball that typically sits in the 92-94 mph range, touching 95-96 at times, but that elicited a 33 percent miss rate in 2024 thanks to some life up in the zone and his ability to hide the ball well. He has a traditional slider he throws in the 78-83 mph range and his low-80s changeup features good fade.

Jacobs has struggled with his command at times during his college career, but he repeats his delivery well and is competitive in and around the zone, so there’s some confidence he’ll get to more consistent strikes as he advances. His ceiling might be a little limited because of the lack of a true out pitch, but he’s the kind of back-end starter who has the chance to land in the top three rounds.

12-23-24  -  Top 50 college baseball prospects for 2025 MLB draft, per D1Baseball

https://www.ncaa.com/news/baseball/article/2024-12-23/top-50-college-baseball-prospects-2025-mlb-draft-d1baseball      -              

28    Ben Jacobs    LHP    Arizona State 

 

https://thesundevils.com/sports/baseball/roster/ben-jacobs/16881 -

SOPHOMORE (2024)

Evolved into ASU's ace as the season progressed, earning Pac-12 Honorable Mention honors

Named Prospects Live No. 2 left-handed pitching prospects for the 2025 MLB Draft

Was named the the U.S. Collegiate National Team in the summer, becoming the 43rd Sun Devil to accomplish the feat

Recorded action on the mound in the International Friendship Series…Completed the series with a 2.08 ERA and seven strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work … Finished with a 1-0 overall record…Yielded just two hits in a weather-shortened 3-2 win over Chinese Taipei in Cary, N.C., on June 30

Tossed 5.0 scoreless innings for Cotuit in the Cape Cod League with eight strikeouts over 5.0 innings

Finished with a 4.75 ERA and a team-best seven wins on the season, striking out 102 over 66.1 innings with a sub-.250 average against

The 102 strikeouts were 43rd nationally overall and 33rd following the end of the conference tournament season

His 13.84 K/9 was 11th nationally and tops in the Pac-12 and his seven wins were third in the league

Jacobs struck out a career-best 11 hitters in his Friday night win over USC, earning a quality start with a career-best 6.1 innings of work while allowing just a single run. He added a second quality start in 6.0 scoreless innings against Stanford with nine strikeouts

BEFORE ASU (UCLA, 2023)

Made seven appearances, including one start, as a freshman at UCLA

HIGH SCHOOL/CLUB

As of signing day, was the No. 6-ranked left-handed pitcher in the state of California, and No. 44 prospect overall ... Nationally, was the No. 50 LHP and No. 393 prospect overall ... Preseason Underclass All-American in 2021

Two-year varsity letterwinner ... Picked up a slew of awards after his senior season ... Was a First Team All-State selection by CAL-HI Sports and MaxPreps ... Also made First Team All-CIF Southern Section and First Team All-Surf League ... 2022 Surf League MVP ... In 2022, was 9-2 with a 0.93 ERA ... Huntington Beach HS record-holder for single-season strikeouts (99) and innings pitched (68.0)

Participant in the 2021 and 2022 Area Code Games ... Participant in the 2022 MLB Draft Combine

 

https://www.prospectslive.com/prospects-live/tag/Ben+Jacobs –

LHP Ben Jacobs - Arizona State

Prospects Live Ranking: #36 

Jacobs represents the highest-ranked Sun Devil on our Top 75 list, and it is for good reason. He saw limited time at UCLA, which led him to transfer to ASU, where he struck out 102 batters over 66.1 innings pitched—absurd numbers. The fastball is obviously Jacobs’ best pitch, and while the velocity sat in the low 90s, there is tons of carry to the pitch. He’s able to miss bats like crazy with that pitch. It’s a plus pitch, for sure. He’s got a solid slider to go along with his fastball. His curveball is better than his slider and has a ton of sweep. He also has a splitter in the low 80s and misses bats like crazy with that pitch. It’s just a solid four-pitch mix, and he commands all of them fairly well, although there is room for improvement. He’s a really fun arm and will likely be the Friday night guy for the Sun Devils this year. If he continues to improve his command on all his pitches, he could see himself being taken in the first round.