2026 MLB Draft Preview: Carson Wiggins scouting report.
The 2026 is about a month away — the first round kicks off on July 11, 2026 — so its time to start offering capsule looks at players the Texas Rangers could select with their top picks. The Rangers’ first round pick is at #16, their second round pick is at #54, and their third round pick is at #89.
Leading up to draft day, we will be doing writeups of some of the players who could end up getting selected by the Rangers with one of their first three picks. Today we are looking at University of Arkansas pitcher Carson Wiggins.
Carson Wiggins is a 6’5″, 215 lb. righthanded pitcher who is a draft-eligible sophomore at the University of Arkansas. He turned 21 earlier this month. Coming out of high school in Roland, Oklahoma, in 2024, he was a top 100 draft prospect, but went undrafted due to signability concerns. His brother, Jaxon Wiggins, is also a pitcher who was drafted by the Cubs out of the University of Arkansas in the second round in 2023, and who was a consensus top 100 prospect coming into the 2026 season.
Wiggins is described as a “flamethrower,” with a fastball that has been clocked as high as 102 mph, and that averaged 98.7 mph in 2025, per MLB Pipeline. His fastball has good rising action and is a legit swing-and-miss pitch. He pairs the fastball with an excellent slider with good movement that also gets whiffs. He has a curveball and changeup, as well, though he apparently rarely used them pitching for the Razorbacks.
Wiggins is big and athletic, and his delivery isn’t high effort. However, his control is an issue, and he has a lot of improvement he needs to make in his command of his pitches.
Wiggins was used as a reliever as a freshman, throwing 14 innings over 14 games. He faced 59 batters and struck out 20 of them, but also walked seven unintentionally and threw six wild pitches. His freshman season was cut short due to an elbow issue that resulted in internal brace surgery, and he didn’t pitch this year. He has reportedly been throwing sides, however, and is healthy and ready to go for the MLB Draft Combine this week.
Baseball America has Wiggins at #123 on their board. MLB Pipeline has Wiggins at #84 on their board. Kiley McDaniel puts Wiggins at #145 on his top 150 list. Keith Law’s rankings have Wiggins at #71 on his board. Fangraphs has Wiggins at #40 on their board. Baseball Prospectus does not have Wiggins on their top 30 draft board.
Given how little he has pitched the past two seasons, there are a lot questions about Wiggins. Some of those should be answered when he throws at the Combine, and if he does well and shows he is 100%, he presumably would move up on draft boards. His brother missed his junior season at Arkansas due to Tommy John surgery and has blossomed as a pro, though an elbow injury this year has put Jaxon on the shelf most of 2026.
Wiggins has TORP potential as a starter, though in order to stick as a starter in the pros he is going to have to improve his command significantly and develop his third and fourth pitches. If a team wants to use him as a reliever, he could move quickly, with his fastball/slider combo making him a potential late inning weapon.
The Rangers have not been scared off by college pitchers coming off of injury, and Wiggins would appear to be ready to resume game action post-draft. Wiggins does have extra leverage as a draft-eligible sophomore who would presumably be eligible for an injury redshirt for 2026, meaning he would potentially have three years of eligibility remaining.
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