How Lodise cousins -- and Day 1 Draft picks -- pushed one another to pro stage

This story originally ran previously, before Alex Lodise was drafted with the No. 60 pick by the Braves and Kyle Lodise was drafted with the No. 76 pick by the White Sox.

PHOENIX -- Every Thanksgiving and every Christmas, Alex and Kyle Lodise knew what they were getting into. The cousins -- who grew up roughly 90 minutes apart in Florida and Georgia, respectively -- cherished the opportunity to spend the holidays together, but also to compete 3-on-3 family style.

Alex, his dad, Billy, and his older brother, Anthony vs. Kyle, his dad, Dan, and younger brother, Jordan. Basketball. Football. Anything with a ball really, they competed in it. And hard.

“You had about 15-20 minutes once you got to the house, all the ‘good to see you guys!’ but then after that, it was all competition,” said Kyle.

But it was on the baseball field that the cousins shined. Though they were solid players coming out of high school in 2022, the MLB Draft wasn’t really on their radar. Alex started his collegiate career at the University of North Florida before transferring to Florida State in 2024, while Kyle went to Division II Augusta University before transferring to Georgia Tech in 2024. In an age of hyper-focused recruiting that identifies talent earlier than ever -- but is also complicated by the ever-evolving transfer portal -- the duo both maintain that getting playing time as freshmen at their respective programs helped expedite their growth.

“It came down to: ‘I just want to go somewhere I would play,’” Kyle said.

“I was pretty similar,” Alex agreed. “I wasn't very highly recruited out of high school either. I had one offer and … it honestly was the best thing for me to go somewhere and play 50 something games.”

Alex, now the No. 43 prospect in the 2025 class, is coming off one of the best individual seasons in the illustrious history of Florida State baseball. Named the Dick Howser Trophy Award winner, given to the National Player of the Year, Lodise also won ACC overall Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. The 21-year-old slashed .394/.462/.705 with 17 homers, 38 extra-base hits and 68 RBIs in 58 contests.

Kyle, now the No. 79 prospect in the 2025 class, also vaulted his way up Draft boards this spring and finished as a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist. In his lone season of ACC competition, the 5-foot-11 righty hitter delivered a 1.095 OPS with 61 RBIs and 39 extra-base hits in 55 games, while also going a perfect 13-for-13 on stolen-base attempts.

The numbers are similar. Their builds are similar. They even share the same nickname -- Lodi. So it’s nearly a foregone conclusion that the duo, tight off the field, would bond together over baseball.

“I mean, it's honestly really special,” Alex said. “We talk to each other about different pitchers, approaches, swing, really whatever it was. We could feel comfortable with each other enough to where whatever was going on, we could ask each other, talk to each other, help each other out.”

“There were a lot of times during the year where we just, immediately after a game, we talk to each other, pick each other's minds,” Kyle said. “It's just really unique having someone that's playing the exact same position you are, and as being obviously first cousins, just being able to have that connection and have those conversations.”

By now, you’re surely thinking, “Why didn’t these two just team up and play together?” As the old axiom goes: there’s only one shortstop on the field. Alex and Kyle played together for a bit when they were younger, but they’ve mainly thrived on carving their own paths. That doesn’t mean there hasn’t been the occasional Lodise vs. Lodise showdown, though.

The 2025 ACC schedule didn’t pit the two against each other. But there is one moment that stands out from their one-on-one battles: when Kyle’s club was trailing during a blowout in their high school years, he took the mound … just to see Alex digging in against him.

“I hit a ground ball to the third baseman and he booted it,” said Alex.

“So I call it an out,” said Kyle, laughing.

“Oh, it for sure was an out,” a laughing Alex agreed.

The cousins will make their money in pro ball with their bats. That they received an invite to the 2025 MLB Draft Combine and are on the precipice of beginning their journey with Major League organizations is something they had always felt was there, but until their recent success in the ACC, hadn’t had the proof positive to have their belief reinforced.

They watched big league shortstops -- Derek Jeter, Carlos Correa, Trea Turner -- and admired, idolized, compared their skill sets. Now they’ll put them to the test.

“What's made it special is that we've been in touch through the entire thing,” Alex said, “and the fact that we both didn't start at the school that we finished at -- that we had to work our way there -- kind of just adds another side of it that makes it even more special.

Kyle agreed, saying: “Yeah, I think just how close we are in terms of: we both play shortstop, we both were in the ACC and so there's a lot of similarities, so it just makes it super competitive.”

But if the possibility of two Lodise shortstops in pro ball is wild, how about three? Kyle’s younger brother, Jordan, is a standout at Brunswick (Ga.) High School, the same place Kyle starred. Jordan is committed to the University of Central Florida, but he’s also eligible to be selected in the 2025 Draft.

Nobody is more excited about that possibility than Kyle, who said:

“It honestly would be surreal to see three Lodises all come off the board at shortstop.”