A total of 39 players were chosen in the 2025 MLB Draft before the Los Angeles Dodgers could make a selection. The Dodgers (along with the New York Mets and Yankees) exceeded baseball's surcharge tax threshold in 2024, meaning that each had their first-round pick moved back 10 slots.

So it was that University of Arkansas pitcher Zach Root fell to the Dodgers at No. 40.

Root didn't pitch in 2025 after the collegiate season ended. Pitching for advanced Class-A Great Lakes in 2026, Root has established himself as a prospect to watch.

Root has a 1.55 ERA, 45 strikeouts and only 15 walks in 29 innings to start his first professional season. He's allowed 14 hits (and only one home run) in nine starts.

This week, MLB Pipeline selected Root as the best prospect to emerge from the Dodgers' 2025 draft class.

"Root features a pair of quality secondary pitches in a low-80s curveball and a fading 83-85 mph changeup," wrote the MLB.com triumvirate of Jim Callis, Sam Dykstra and Jonathan Mayo. "He also has switched from a low-90s sinker to a mid-90s four-seamer, and his arsenal has been too much for High-A hitters."

Not bad for a pick once panned so badly that Jim Bowden of The Athletic declared the Dodgers one of the "biggest losers" of the first day of the draft.

Bowden's comment was less specific to his evaluation of Root, and more about the fact that the Dodgers allowed the competitive-balance tax rules to push them so late in the draft order.

Root, 22, made his professional debut in the Spring Breakout game, a prospect showcase in March pitting the Dodgers' best minor league players against those of the Chicago White Sox. The left-hander pitched three innings and tied a Spring Breakout record with eight strikeouts.

In that game, Root's fastball averaged 97.2 mph and topped out at 99 mph. The pitch has continued to befuddle Midwest League hitters.

On May 27, he struck out a career-high nine batters across four scoreless innings against the Dayton Dragons.

In his next outing on June 2, Root extend his streak of scoreless appearances to 19.1 innings. On June 7, Root was named the Midwest League pitcher of the week.

The scoreless streak ended when Root allowed one run in five innings in his most recent start on Tuesday, but his trajectory is clear. Less than three months into his Dodgers career, Root appears to have little to prove before a promotion to Double-A is in order.

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