The Athletic projects where Auburn's Ike Irish will land in 2025 MLB draft

[ASFN Admin]

The draft stock of Auburn iron man Ike Irish continues to rise as The Athletic has given him his highest projection yet.

Keith Law of The Athletic placed Irish in the top 10 of his latest MLB mock draft, released Thursday, pairing him with the Cincinnati Reds with the No. 9 overall pick. Irish is primarily a catcher, but he played several other positions including first base, left field, and right field. Many clubs see Irish as just a catcher, but Law feels that franchises are coming around to the idea of drafting Irish as a slugging outfielder.

Irish is one of two names who’ve really seemed to move up over the last month or so, as teams have become more comfortable with the idea of just taking Irish — who has only caught a couple of games since he missed two weeks in March with a fractured scapula — as an outfielder and letting him go rake. I would bet more on the Reds going with a college player than a high school one, and could see them on Kyson Witherspoon, Wehiwa Aloy or maybe Tyler Bremner.

Irish enjoyed his best season in an Auburn uniform this season by hitting .364 with 19 home runs, 58 RBI, and 11 stolen bases. He slugged .710 and hit .317 when putting balls in play. In 214 at bats, Irish struck out 14.3% of the time and walked 12.8% of the time, and logged 34 extra-base hits.

Cincinnati is the second National League Central club tied to Irish via mock draft. Earlier this week, USA TODAY Sports paired Irish with the Milwaukee Brewers at No. 20 overall.

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This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: 2025 MLB draft: Auburn's Ike Irish receives top-10 projection

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