Get to know No. 9 Draft prospect JoJo Parker

JoJo Parker is MLB Pipeline’s No. 9 prospect for the 2025 Draft. Here’s everything you need to know about him.

FAST FACTS

MLB Pipeline ranking: No. 9
Position: SS
Height/weight: 6-foot-2, 200 lbs.
Bats/throws: L/R
Age: 18 (Born Aug. 8, 2006)
School: Purvis (Miss.) High School

MLB PIPELINE SCOUTING GRADES (20-to-80 scale)

Hit: 60
Power: 55
Run: 50
Arm: 55
Field: 50
Overall: 55

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

1. He’s one half of a dynamic duo

Consider the odds of your 18-year-old being a ranked amateur prospect, then multiply them by two, because the Parker family expects to have two children selected in the early rounds of the 2025 Draft – JoJo is Mississippi’s top prep prospect, but right behind him is his twin brother, Jacob, Pipeline’s No. 109 prospect.

As if to remind us to always treat twins as individuals, the Parkers have very distinct profiles. Jacob, an outfielder, is bigger and stronger than his brother with more of a power swing and less upside as a pure hitter, accounting for their difference in rank. No worries, because JoJo being named the Gatorade Mississippi baseball player of the year and becoming a darling of their draft class mostly on his own hasn’t changed the twins’ relationship.

“We’re each other’s biggest fans, but also each other's biggest competitors.” JoJo said in a recent interview with MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince. Their chances of remaining teammates in pro ball are pretty remote – although considering how unlikely it was they’d both be highly-touted prospects, one in 30 doesn’t sound so bad – but they’re both committed to Mississippi State, should they both decide to head to college instead.

Looking well ahead, as of 2025, 10 sets of twins have made it to the Majors, the most recent being active relievers Taylor and Tyler Rogers, who were also the fourth set to play together at the Major League level.

2. He’s another outstanding Mississippi shortstop

Funnily enough, for the second year in a row, Pipeline's No. 9 prospect heading into the Draft is a prep shortstop out of Mississippi. Last year it was Konnor Griffin, who would later be drafted 9th overall by the Pirates. Griffin is a close friend of the Parkers, and his dad, Kevin, a college softball coach, thinks especially highly of JoJo and his brother.

“I think they’re the two best high school players in this draft," said Griffin in an interview with Mississippi Scoreboard Magazine. "I know guys are ranked ahead of them, but I’ve seen just about every (high school) prospect in the country the past two or three years.”

It's one man's opinion, but the fact that Griffin raised his own top prospect does lend him some extra credibility.

3. His dad has a fascinating story of his own

Jacob and JoJo’s dad, Joseph “Jop” Parker, is a lawyer and sitting county court judge. He was also left paralyzed after suffering a severe spinal cord injury playing football at 16. That was, of course, well before his sons were born, but that experience and the way it’s shaped his life since has helped him give them an extra dose of perspective on their own careers.

“Having [someone who overcame] that adversity living in your house is proof that you can do anything you put your mind to.” JoJo said. And it makes sense – how could anything that happens between the lines be the end of the world, if such a life-changing event wasn’t for their dad?

“We have the ability as human beings to choose joy,” said Jop. “That’s the foundation we’ve built with the boys. Give effort, have a good attitude and leave it on the field.”

4. He's a proven winner

Don't let his status as a high schooler fool you -- Parker is a seasoned professional.

Okay, sort of. While he may not be throwing BP – “I think that’s why God gave him twins,” said JoJo of that particular physical limitation – in 2015, Jop Parker managed the Mississippi Smash, a travel ball team of eight-year-old Purvis kids (Jacob and JoJo among them, of course), to a USSSA Southeast Region World Series. The local Hattiesburg American ran a story on the exceptionally tiny champions that featured a quote that has a way of stopping you in your tracks 10 years later.

"We want to teach our kids the game – how to win and how to lose," the elder Parker said of that team. "We want to develop a camaraderie between the kids as teammates, because they're going to have to rely on each other."

At least as far as his own kids are concerned, sounds like a mission accomplished.

5. He’s putting his very small town on the map

Purvis, Miss. is a town of under 2,000. Purvis High School has a student body of about 600. As you might expect, we're not talking about an area scouts regularly tap for talent. In fact, the Parkers are set to increase Purvis’ ballplayer production by a full 50% – their high school has turned out just four other picks since the institution of the amateur draft, just one of whom has made it to the Majors (Walter Young, who played 14 games for the 2005 Orioles).