Gage Wood showed a month ago at the College World Series that he has no fear of the spotlight.
Now, the former Arkansas right-handed flamethrower will try to prove that all over again at the major-league level. The Philadelphia Phillies loved what they saw of Wood, and so they selected Wood with the 26th overall selection of the MLB Draft on Sunday night in Atlanta. Wood’s selection gives Arkansas its 11th first-round pick in program history.
Wood’s projected slot value at No. 26 is $3.49 million, but he and the Phillies are hoping he’s in the Philadelphia organization long enough to make a whole lot more than that. Wood made just 10 starts this past season because of a shoulder injury that made him miss 7 weekend starts.
But Wood certainly made up for lost time in 2025, returning from the injury in mid-April and finishing his junior season in Fayetteville with a 4-1 record and a 3.82 ERA.
Then came the real highlight of Wood’s final season at Arkansas. He helped the Razorbacks get all the way to the College World Series, and once Wood got there he set Omaha on fire with a moment it’ll never forget. Wood fired the 3rd no-hitter in the history of the CWS, setting an Arkansas record with 19 strikeouts in the process to help the Hogs to a 3-0 victory over Murray State. The performance was not only legendary in itself, but it kept Arkansas’s national championship dreams alive.
Wood hit 1 batter and hurled 119 pitches in the no-no. No, Wood couldn’t help Arkansas win that elusive first national championship, but his no-hitter will never be forgotten, and now the Phillies are hoping there’s plenty more magic in that right arm.
They celebrated the selection of Wood with this post on Sunday night:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
