In the second round of the 2025 draft the Phillies took a second college arm in LHP Cade Obermueller from Iowa. Obermueller was drafted in the 19th round by the Rangers last year, but declined to sign.
Obermueller is another short pitcher, but not as sturdily built as Wood, which does bring some questions about his ability to hold up as a starter. He did make 15 starts this year and 83.1 innings pitched this year. The industry seems mixed on him with MLB Pipeline rating him as the #53 prospect in the draft, but he was 82 on ESPN’s list, 97 on Keith Law’s, and all the way down at 193 on BA’s list.
The reports all agree that he has a low slot and a sweeping horizontal slider. He saw a velocity and control jump this year, and now sits low 90s and will reach up to 98. There is disagreement about whether he has a vertically oriented fastball or a sinker, and the Phillies will almost certainly have him throwing both in the long term. He needs to work on his changeup, especially since it is an arsenal that will lean towards platoon problems.
Obermueller is not as high upside as Wood, but he was a good performer (3.02 ERA 32 BB 117 K) at a school (Iowa) that is not regarded as always bringing out the best from their pitchers. If Obermueller can actually sit mid 90s with the velocity gains while getting some pro pitching development there is probably a mid rotation starter in here. However, there is a lot of reliever risk to his arsenal and size, which gives him some decent fallback, but probably not what you want in a second round pick.