PHOENIX – Competition is rife at the 2025 MLB Draft Combine. Players are constantly in search of something to differentiate themselves from the pack.
Daniel Pierce, MLB’s No. 18 Draft prospect, has a unique flex he can break out: LeBron James followed his dad, Paul Pierce, on X -- for a few minutes, at least -- before realizing it wasn't the Boston Celtics’ 10-time All-Star.
This Paul Pierce took over as the head baseball coach at Mill Creek High School in Hoschton, Ga., this year, getting to coach his son, Daniel, during what was his senior year.
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“There's always good times, there's always bad times,” Pierce said of having his dad as his coach. “He always told me, ‘You know, when we go home and go off the field, there's no more baseball,’ but you know how that works – that's never how it usually is. We're always talking about baseball whether it was good or bad, and I think he kind of understands the game a little bit more, so he knows this is hard and when I struggle, he doesn't try to say a whole lot. So it's been cool though. Not many get to experience it, and I'm blessed to have it.”
Hoops was never really on the younger Pierce’s radar, name coincidences aside. Born into the hotbed of college football and growing up less than an hour away from the Georgia Bulldogs’ campus, where he has committed to play to if he doesn’t turn pro, a premium athlete with a cannon for a throwing arm would seemingly have his path paved for him. But from high school on, Pierce traded in the gridiron for the diamond on a full-time basis.
“I liked it a lot, but I got moved to quarterback and I got blindsided a couple of times and I decided that was quickly not for me,” Pierce said. “I did not like getting hit a whole lot, so I hoped baseball would work out.”
Baseball has certainly worked out. At the Draft Combine solely to meet with front office brass from numerous clubs, Pierce has the chance to carry on a considerable legacy as a prepster from the Georgia high school ranks, which have delivered eight first-round picks since 2018. Pierce is quickly trending toward making it nine.
Standing 6-feet and weighing 185 pounds at 18 years old, Pierce is still a work in progress. But a strong résumé of production on the showcase circuit, along with a blossoming physique, has earned the right-handed hitter high marks and numerous superlatives, putting a clear up arrow next to his name.
It’s a lofty comparison, but if you see some similar traits to the Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. when he was the same age and a similar build, you would be on the right track. Pierce says he models himself after the rising star.
“Just the way he hustles,” Pierce said of what he enjoys watching most about the No. 2 prospect in the 2019 Draft class. “I just like the way that he plays the game hard and he knows he has game-changing speed, so he's always putting it on display and trying to make things happen.”
While it’s unfair to put any young player in the same stratosphere of Witt, who won a batting title, Silver Slugger and Gold Glove in just his third big league season in 2024, Pierce carries many of the same intangibles – the 18-year-old’s hit tool (55) is actually higher than Witt’s was (50) during the Draft process and they both boasted above-average wheels (60).
When organizations make a decision on their first-round pick, there’s often much more that goes into the choice than the on-field product. How will they handle living away from home? How will they handle failure? Pierce draws high marks for his off-the-field makeup and in-game acumen in particular, the latter of which he hopes leaves a lasting impression with the club he soon calls home.
“I think just how much [I] love the game and how much [I have] fun playing it,” Pierce said of the mark he hopes to make. “How I kind of see the game versus how others see the game and that the IQ that I carry on the field, I think stands out amongst my peers.”