After claiming college baseball’s ultimate prize a year ago, two of LSU baseball’s best arms in 2025 will be in the spotlight during MLB All-Star Week. Pitchers Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson are set to represent their professional clubs in the MLB All-Star Futures Game next weekend in Philadelphia.
The futures game serves as a showcase for the best players who are yet to debut in MLB. This year’s edition will be played on July 12, pitting top prospects on farm teams for American League ballclubs against those in the National League.
Players from each level of Minor League Baseball, which begins in Single-A and ranks up in skill from High-A, Double-A and Triple-A, are represented on the rosters for 2026’s contest. Anderson and Eyanson, who respectively play in Double-A on the Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox farm systems, will be reunited as teammates on the American League’s 25-man roster.
Anderson currently ranks as the fifth best prospect in all of baseball and the top prospect in the Mariners’ system, according to MLB Pipeline. He was selected third overall by Seattle in the MLB Draft last summer and has dominated in his first professional season.
The power lefty has made 13 starts as a professional, all with the Double-A Arkansas Travelers. He’s been nothing short of exceptional there, boasting an 8-0 record and a 1.22 ERA. For context, 2023 first round pick Paul Skenes had a 1.32 ERA in 7 starts at the level above Anderson’s in 2024 before he got the call to the majors.
Eyanson joins Anderson after a similarly strong start to his professional career. He was selected in the third round of the draft last summer and was shut down by the Red Sox system for the remainder of 2025. In 2026, he had a strong spring that led to a quick rise out of High-A ball in the regular season. He allowed only one run, off of a home run, in 20⅓ innings at that level.
He now resides with Boston’s Double-A affiliate, the Portland Sea Dogs. While he has less sample size than his teammate, Eyanson’s been outstanding in his own right. He is yet to take a loss at any level of professional baseball, and he has a 1.48 ERA at his current level across 30⅓ innings.
The hot start to his professional career has jolted Eyanson up in scouting grades, where talent evaluators have been impressed with his plus slider and raised his overall grade to be firmly above average, as well as on prospect boards. MLB Pipeline ranks him as the second best player in Boston’s system and he sits 69th in Tuesday’s latest top 100 prospects list.
The timeline for when these two get called up is volatile, but it probably won’t come until next year at the earliest.
Anderson’s been incredible and entered pro ball with the expectation of an immediate impact-maker, but Seattle boasts one of baseball’s best rotations and can’t afford the risk of a rookie, no matter how talented, struggling in his first few starts.
Eyanson’s path to the show is a bit more clear. Boston has been dreadful in 2026 and are well out of any contention for a playoff spot. A trade deadline fire sale might free up space to let high-promise prospects break into the big league club. Still, it is unclear if that plan involves Eyanson, who would climb five levels of the Boston system in a year if he reaches the Red Sox in 2026.
No matter what, the futures game selection indicates the continuation of pitching pedigree to come out of LSU in the past half-decade.
The honor adds to a season that has seen several milestones for one-time LSU arms. This includes Kevin Gausman reaching 2,000 career strikeouts, Gage Jump’s electric start at the major league level, Aaron Nola and Paul Skenes’ selections to the Italian and American national teams at the World Baseball Classic and a likely nod to the All-Star Game for Skenes.
