Headed to the Show: Baseball’s Pauley and Fang Drafted to MLB After Standout Seasons

When Harvard baseball needed clutch pitching, Truman Pauley and Callan Fang delivered — and now the big leagues want in.

The two right-handers were selected on Monday in the 2025 MLB Draft, after anchoring one of the most improbable turnarounds in Ivy League history. Pauley was picked in the 12th round (373rd overall) by the New York Mets. Fang followed in the 13th, heading to the Minnesota Twins with the 389th pick.

Their dominant spring performance helped propel the Crimson from a sluggish start to a spot in the conference championship game — and now, the next level.

Pauley and Fang join a recent wave of Crimson pitchers to reach the professional level, including Chris Clark ’23 on the Angels, Jay Driver ’23 on the Guardians, Sean Matson ’24 on the Guardians, and Tanner Smith ’24 on the Padres. Unlike Harvard’s other sports teams, which see players drafted to the professional leagues only a handful of times over their histories, Harvard Baseball has seen 65, with Pauley and Fang.

Their selections follow a 2025 season that defied early expectations. After a 4–21 start, Harvard rallied to clinch a spot in the Ivy League playoffs, where both Pauley and Fang delivered standout performances that helped propel the Crimson to the tournament final.

Pauley, a rising junior, emerged as one of the Ivy League’s most dominant pitchers in his sophomore season. He led the league in strikeouts and opponents’ batting average, while ranking third in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings (5.37). Pauley’s performance led to him earning both Honorable Mention All-Ivy honors and a spot on the Ivy League All-Tournament Team.

The right-hander’s defining moment came in a pivotal April 11 start against Princeton, where he carried a no-hit bid into the ninth inning and recorded 12 strikeouts. The performance sparked a turnaround that saw the Crimson go from Ivy League bottom-dwellers to championship contenders.

In the Ivy League Tournament, Pauley had a standout performance against Columbia, striking out a tournament-record 13 batters while allowing just one unearned run across nine innings.

Pauley hasn’t taken a break from baseball after Harvard’s season ended, taking turns as pitcher for the Orleans Firebirds of Cape Cod Baseball League over the summer.

Scouting reports on Pauley highlight a lean, athletic build and a fastball that tops out at 95–96 mph with riding life. Brian Recca, the creator of the Northeast Draft Guide, noted in a post on X that Pauley features two types of sliders — one of them a tight, hard gyro-slider that he called “straight filth.” While his command remains a work in progress, evaluators see upside as a future bullpen weapon, noting that the raw stuff plays at the next level with continued development.

Fang, a rising senior, has been a mainstay of the Crimson rotation since his first year. The 2023 Ivy League Rookie of the Year and 2024 Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, Fang capped his Harvard career with 190 strikeouts in 164.2 innings, earning four All-Ivy nods over three seasons, including two First Team honors.

Baseball runs in the family for the pitching standout. Fang’s father Jeff played baseball at Johns Hopkins and became a member of the Johns Hopkins Athletic Hall of Fame.

Listed at 6-foot-3, Fang drew interest for his polish and pitchability. He brings a four-pitch mix that includes a low-90s fastball, a slow curveball, a slider, and a splitter or changeup — depending on the evaluator, both have flashed as his best secondary offering. Recca praised his deception, poise, and starter’s makeup, writing that he was a "fun pitcher to watch work on the mound" with “back-end starter traits.”

This spring, Fang again delivered in high-leverage moments. He threw six innings of one-run ball in the team’s tournament-opening win over Yale and was also named to the Ivy League All-Tournament Team.

Neither Fang nor Pauley have signed formal contracts with the Twins or the Mets, respectively. But if they do choose to sign, they will forfeit their NCAA eligibility and will not suit up for Harvard baseball again.

—Staff writer Dhruv T. Patel can be reached at dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @dhruvtkpatel.

—Staff writer Saketh Sundar can be reached at saketh.sundar@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @saketh_sundar.