2025 MLB Draft Profile: Jack Bauer
NAME: Jack Bauer
SCHOOL: Lincoln-Way East High School, Frankfort (IL)
POSITION: LHP
HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 6’3″/190 pounds
B/T: L/L
D.O.B: 01/08/2007
COMMITTED: Mississippi State
Scouting Report
Illinois high schools have produced multiple first round Major League Baseball draftees over the past decade. Quinn Priester, Ryan Sloan, Owen Murphy and current White Sox’s prospect Noah Schultz were high picks on the pitching side in recent years. This year, another young local player is aiming to be selected in Lincoln-Way East product Jack Bauer.
Lincoln-Way East is a four-year public high school located in Frankfort, Illinois, a southwest suburb of Chicago. Noteworthy alumni include Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Nick Allegretti and Miami Dolphins wide receiver A.J. Henning.
In Bauer’s junior year, his teammate Tyler Bell was a second-round pick by the Tampa Bay Rays, so there is a recent lineage of athletic success from Lincoln-Way East. Bell opted to attend Kentucky rather than turn professional however.
Bauer, a 6’3 left-handed pitcher, has made national waves this spring for his triple-digit fastball, something almost unseen in the high school ranks. He was clocked at 102 miles-per-hour in his third start this spring, and his fastball grades out as an 80 on the 20-80 scale per MLB Pipeline. He was consistently around low to mid 90s velocity-wise in his junior year, before a sudden jump in velocity during his senior year.
He pairs his high-octane fastball with a slider-sweeper hybrid, primarily sitting in the low 80mph range, and is displaying a feel for a changeup as well. Strike-throwing has been inconsistent for Bauer and something he will need to fix in order to mitigate potential reliever risk. The southpaw is the 44th ranked prospect overall at MLB Pipeline.
Bauer originally committed to play his college ball at Virginia but he flipped to Mississippi State after a coaching change. There is a chance of him never making it to campus if he takes gets drafted and starts his professional career.
White Sox senior pitching advisor Brian Bannister and his assistants have been able to make positive strides with young pitching talent in the organization’s minor league system, and would likely be able to help Bauer tweak his long-armed delivery if needed to improve his command.
The White Sox’s first two draft picks are at 10th and 44th overall with Bauer seemingly more likely to be in play for the latter of the two. Baseball America has him ranked as their 44th overall draft prospect, while Just Baseball slots Bauer at 42nd overall on their rankings. Prep pitchers especially come with a fair amount of risk, but amateur scouting director Mike Shirley and his staff have shown to not be afraid to take chances on high school players early in the draft if they deem the talent to be good enough.
Why Would the White Sox Draft Jack Bauer?
The White Sox recently have had an affinity for Midwest-area prep talent regardless of position and Bauer would seem to fit that mold given that he is local. They have drafted seven pitchers in the first and second rounds combined over the last five drafts, with three of those seven picks taken out of high schools.
Bauer has been largely projected to be drafted somewhere in the second round and the organization could have multiple options with their bonus pool amount at pick number #44. Despite his control issues, Bauer possesses a fastball that teams can only dream of from a high school pitcher, and thus has a tantalizing ceiling if harnessed and developed.
The White Sox know Bauer extremely well and various members of their scouting staff have seen him pitch on multiple occasions this past spring as well as in previous seasons. Brian Bannister’s philosophy is that club’s can never have too many lefties and it wouldn’t be a big shock if this local southpaw is the next in line for the Pale Hose.
Mock Draft Outcomes
In Mock Draft 2.0 here at FutureSox, James Fox projected the Griffin’s hurler to the Tampa Bay Rays with the 42nd overall pick. Kiley McDaniel of ESPN didn’t project Bauer in the top 40 in his latest at ESPN and Carlos Collazo of Baseball America left the southpaw out of his most recent attempt as well. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB Pipeline haven’t included Jack Bauer in their recent projections either.
