Best Under-the-Radar College Baseball Pitchers to Know

Every year the media is flooded with the top draft picks, breakout performances, and superstars. But let’s shine some light on the players who aren’t getting the attention they deserve to this point, yet are still putting up gaudy numbers. Here’s a few pitchers in the college baseball space that are not getting nearly enough attention.

Liam O’Brien, RHP, Hawaii

It’s no surprise I included arguably the Bows best arm on this list, who allowed his first run of the season last weekend to UCSB. The Gonzaga transfer has been lights out thus far in his time for the Rainbow Warriors and since jumping from the bullpen to the rotation, has become an anchor for this pitching staff.

Pitching to a 1.07 ERA over seven appearances and four starts, racking up 28 strikeouts over 25 ⅓ innings, holding opposing hitters to a .098 batting average. With a 6-foot-5 frame, O’Brien has a short arm action with velocity in the mid-90’s and a hammer for a breaking ball that has kept great hitters off-balance all season.

O’Brien has been incredible limiting damage allowing just eight hits this season, and only one extra-base hit, reflected in his 0.75 WHIP. Just one of the many quality arms the Rainbow Warriors have rolled out this season.

Trey Beard, LHP, Florida Atlantic

Florida Atlantic has put together a great start to their 2025 campaign and Trey Beard has led the way on the mound. Not to discredit the rest of the staff, because they’ve been nails all season, as the Owls are pitching to a 3.86 ERA. Beard has racked up 62 strikeouts in 33 innings over six starts this year, which is tied for first in the country with Liam Doyle.

With a 4-0 record and 1.91 ERA, opposing batters are hitting just .169 against the southpaw despite only sitting at 91.1 topping out at 94, Beard has generated a 36% WHIFF and 26.7% chase rate on his fastball. With an over-the-top delivery, his heavy-fastball has a ton of late life paired with a nasty changeup that has decimated right-handed hitters.

Beard also throws a big curveball with a significant velocity change and tons of vertical break, sitting at 76.6 and has generated a 59.3% WHIFF and 25.8% chase rate. The variance in stuff and ability to land multiple pitches for strikes has made Beard one of the toughest at bats in the country.

Drew Whalen, RHP, Western Kentucky

Western Kentucky has been one of the most impressive pitching staffs in the country this year, finding themselves in the top-six in ERA, and WHIP. Drew Whalen is no exception to the rule, who has 35 strikeouts over 23 innings.

With a 4-0 record in five starts, Whalen holds a 2.88 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and a .255 batting-average against. The sophomore has sat 92, but been up to 94 this season, and punched out seven or more hitters in four of his five starts.

Whalen has used an extremely effective cutter that borders on a slider that he throws 39% of the time and generates a 69.5% WHIFF, paired with his main off-speed, a splitter, which has fooled hitters all season and generated a 67.8% WHIFF.

With a five-pitch mix, with lots of swing and miss potential while hardly issuing any walks to this point in this season (3% walk rate), Whalen has become one of the better mid major arms in the country.