2025 MLB Draft Deep Dive: Aiva Arquette

In the coming weeks and months at Just Baseball, we’re excited to bring you high quality amateur baseball content, working to make college baseball and the draft more accessible.

Part of this work will be deep dives into draft-eligible prospects, balancing scouting and analysis to give you a thorough portrait of a particular player. First up is Oregon State infielder, Aiva Arquette.

Age: 21.8 on Draft Day

B/T: R/R

HT: 6’5

WT: 220

Hometown: Kailua, Hawai’i 

2024 Stats: 48 G, 229 PA, .325/.384/.574 (.959), 45 R, 14 2B, 1 3B, 12 HR, 6 SB, 17 BB, 40 SO

Background and Bio

Aiva Arquette was the top prep prospect out of Hawaii in the 2022 draft class. Then a lean 6 ‘4, 200 pound frame with tons of projection out of St. Louis High School.

Arquette’s profile was buoyed by his defensive skill-set, rather than an impact bat. It’s a profile that piqued the Diamondbacks’ interest. They took him as an 18th-rounder, despite the slim chance he would sign. He’s now eligible as one of the top college bats in the class.

Arquette has filled out and now stands at 6’5, 220 (he’ll be 21.8 on draft day). He spent his first two collegiate seasons at the University of Washington, before transferring to Oregon State after Head Coach Jason Kelly departed from Texas A&M following the 2024 season.

As a prep draft prospect, Arquette occupied space in the 100-200 range on industry boards. Scouting reports noted an offensive profile relying on projection, with a combination of long levers, slow foot speed and a swing that could get steep making some evaluators wary of whether his skillset could match his physical gifts. What a difference three years makes.

College Performance and Scouting Report

As a freshman at Washington, Arquette showed flashes of the offensive upside his profile promised. He launched five home runs in just 15 games in an injury impacted season, before taking off in his breakout sophomore season.

In 2024, Arquette put up an impressive first full season as a starter. Primarily playing at second base, he hit .325/.384/.574 (.959) with 12 home runs (27 extra-base hits), 17 walks, and 40 strikeouts in 48 games. Digging under the hood of his college data, we see a well-rounded offensive profile in which he does a little bit of everything well.

Arquette hits from the right side. Fairly upright with a slightly open front foot and a shoulder high hand set, Arquette leverages a leg lift and stride in his swing. He’ll manipulate the height of both in counts where the pitcher has leverage. Since his prep career, he’s cut down on some of the noise in his pre-swing movement. The whole operation now looks fairly quiet.

2024 Data

Quality of contact was the driving force behind Arquette’s breakout season.

A 90th percentile exit velocity of 107 mph was 92nd percentile in D1 baseball, with a max of 113 mph trailing closely behind (91st percentile). Arquette hits the ball hard, with consistency, and I’d argue there’s more to come if he can improve his swing decisions a shade in 2025.

Arquette demonstrates good bat-to-ball skills, too. An 80 percent contact rate in 2024 was supported by a solid 69.1 percent out of zone contact percentage (73rd percentile), although there is some swing and miss to hit game. His 13.1 percent in zone whiff rate was right around average.

Areas of Opportunity: Swing Decisions

Let’s talk about swing decisions, as that feels like the opportunity for refinement in 2025.

Arquette is a fairly patient hitter. His 43.5 swing percentage (72nd percentile) is a good foundation. He can sometimes be a little passive in the strike zone and a little aggressive out of it.

A 63rd percentile in-zone swing percentage and a chase rate approaching 27 percent are a little low and a little high respectively.

If Arquette wants to maximize his strengths in 2025 (doing damage on contact), chasing breaking pitches less, and being more aggressive in-zone will help him get there. Arquette uses the whole field well, but some drafting teams may see an opportunity to wring out more damage from his skillset.

A 50th percentile pulled fly ball rate is an untapped resource for teams who like to maximize pulled batted ball events.

Arquette backed up his strong sophomore campaign with a good performance on the Cape.

In 29 games for Chatham, he hit .291/.357/.437 (.793), with three home runs with eight extra-base hits (and a max exit velocity of 104 mph). Crucially, Arquette primarily handled shortstop in his Cape stint, playing 22 games there with a smattering at second and third base. 

Defense

Like JJ Wetherholt in the 2024 cycle, Arquette is transitioning to shortstop in his draft-eligible season in a move that could maximize his draft stock. Arquette received praise for his defensive development this summer. He moves well for such a physical prospect.

His arm is above average and there’s enough there to make the throws at shortstop. His actions and internal clock improved steadily throughout his Cape stint, offering him a strong platform on which to play shortstop full-time in his junior season at Oregon State.

While he may eventually move to third base or the outfield, starting at the top of the defensive spectrum should only help his cause. 

Headlines and Takeaways

Arquette has positioned himself as one of the premier college bats in the 2025 class. He’s close to a certain first rounder, and the ceiling is the first handful of picks in July.

This season, pay attention to his swing decisions as improvement can maximize his ability to do damage. Additionally, how he handles shortstop full-time is another edge potentially boosting his profile next July.

With thanks to @TimStats for support with Data Viz