For the first time since 2019, before Brian Barber took over as amateur scouting director, the Phillies used their first-round draft pick on a college player, taking right-hander Gage Wood from the University of Arkansas with the 26th overall selection Sunday night.

Arkansas baseball pitcher Zach Root was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers with the 40th overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft Sunday night. His teammate, Charles Davalan, went to the Dodgers with the 41st overall pick as Los Angeles tapped into the Arkansas pipeline with back-to-back selections.

Root relies less on his fastball and more on a pitch assortment featuring a changeup, curveball and slider that produced 126 strikeouts in 99⅓ innings last season (fifth in NCAA Division I).