Eagles’ Dempsey emerges as fast-rising MLB draft prospect
- Rick Weber
- Athletics
- Contributors: James Greco, Photos
5 – minute read
Evan Dempsey joined the Florida Gulf Coast University baseball team as a relative unknown. Perfect Game, which boasts the world’s largest baseball scouting service, ranked him 418th overall, 133rd nationally among right-handed pitchers and 58th overall in Florida.
And now? As he finishes his third season at FGCU, the communication major from Tampa is one of the fastest-rising prospects in the lead-up to the Major League Baseball draft July 11-13. He was named the Atlantic Sun Conference Pitcher of the Year as FGCU headed to the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed. Because of weather, the Eagles’ first game was rescheduled for May 21.
Baseball America projects Dempsey to be selected 67th overall, the first pick in the Competitive Balance Round B that comes after the second round and before the third. Other services have him projected to be picked anywhere from the first through third rounds with the belief he will blossom further by focusing on pitching and giving up hitting — a rare elite combination that earned him the 2025 Paul Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year and a 2026 semifinalist spot.
So, how has Dempsey achieved rising-star status at FGCU?
“I don’t feel like the rankings were wrong coming out of high school,” he says. “You know, I still had a lot of development that needed to come, and I wasn’t necessarily dominant in the eyes of the scouts. I think coming to FGCU and learning a lot more about the mental and physical side of pitching was key.
“Last year was a good steppingstone for being able to get comfortable starting games and go out there and get my name out a little bit. And then (last) summer, putting on a lot of weight and adding to all my pitches and making them better helped me.”
Tollett transforms talent
Dempsey credits the analytics approach taken by head coach Dave Tollett, who has more than two decades of experience harnessing talent at FGCU and transforming it to the next level. Chris Sale, who has had an illustrious MLB career that includes the 2024 National League Cy Young Award, was coached by Tollett.
“Pitch grips and overall mental approach — that’s what he preaches a lot,” Dempsey says. “If I throw a bad pitch, it’s about doing anything to put that pitch behind you and being able to come back with the next one and fill up the zone.
“I feel like we work on a lot of things that programs around the country don’t home in on. I think we really work on numbers-based plays, on high-percentage plays, whether it’s getting bunts down, throwing breaking balls in the zone — all that stuff.”
Dempsey showed promise in 2024, making the Atlantic Sun Conference All-Freshman Team. But he exploded as a sophomore when he was a consensus First Team All-American (Perfect Game, Baseball America, College Baseball Foundation, D1Baseball.com). He led the team in hits (71) and doubles (18) while playing outfield but also took the mound and pitched more than 68 innings with a 1.97 ERA.
That made him a worthy winner of the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year award, presented annually by the College Baseball Foundation to the player who excelled as a pitcher and position player. With that, he joined an exclusive list that includes Paul Skenes, who won the award in 2022 and was the No. 1 overall draft pick and won the NL Rookie of the Year and NL Cy Young Award in consecutive years.
“I thought that was really cool,” Dempsey says of his honor. “When I look back at who’s won it in the past, there are some really big names on there. I think it shows a lot of commitment and a lot of hard work that I put in to excel on both sides of the ball. You see it a lot in kids from younger ages, but eventually they choose one or the other. I guess I just never made that choice, stuck to both and tried to keep them the same for as long as possible.”
True to the green and blue
In the offseason, D1Baseball.com added Dempsey to its All-Loyalty team. This team celebrates mid-major stars choosing to return to their schools rather than enter the transfer portal for a big financial payoff with a name, image and likeness deal.
Dempsey had told his representative to reject any offers.
“It was like a five-minute decision to come back to FGCU,” he says. “I didn’t think about it too long, and I never explored any (other) opportunities. My advisor knew that I didn’t want to leave, so if there was (an offer), he didn’t tell me about it. And I didn’t want to know.”
Why was that such an easy decision?
“Well, it’s a great campus,” he says. “We have a great facility here and great faculty as well. I live 30 seconds from the field, so I wake up every morning and I can walk to the field. It’s a beautiful field and a great environment.”