Category: Baseball

The Guardians have made their choice and it’s a college pitcher as many suspected it might be.

Peterson is a 6’5, 225 lb right-handed starter from Florida. Peterson was the 20th ranked prospect in the draft according to MLB Pipeline

“In 2023, Peterson was a Top 100 prospect, not to mention a two-way player, from the Florida high school ranks, but some inconsistencies during his senior year likely priced him out of the range where he would have considered signing instead of heading to Gainesville and the University of Florida. He earned a spot in the Gators’ rotation as a freshman and has never relinquished it. He’ll front that staff in 2026 and if he can continue to iron out some things, has the stuff to be the first college arm to come off the board in July.The 6-foot-5 Peterson presents an exciting combination of now stuff and projection. His fastball sat in the mid-90s as a sophomore and he’s shown the ability to reach back for 98-99 mph, both last spring and in short looks this fall. The pitch can show good carry at times, though it can flatten out occasionally and get hit more than it should. Florida calls a lot of sliders and Peterson’s mid-80s breaker has improved into a solid out pitch, though there are some scouts who think his 12-to-6 hammer curve is a better, but not utilized, offering. His changeup has also improved with solid fade and depth.Peterson’s slot has returned to a higher three-quarters slot, similar to where he was in high school, that could serve him well. He can get a little over-aggressive in his mode of operation on the mound, leading to some command issues. There aren’t many college arms with better pure stuff in this class and if he can take another step forward in terms of execution, he could show up in top of the Draft conversations.”

With the 17th pick of the 1st Round, the Houston Astros selected outfielder Logan Hughes from Texas Tech.

“Hughes is a compact, barrel-chested outfielder and lefthanded hitter with a three-year track record of hitting for both average and power. He spent a season at Stetson in 2024, then transferred to Texas Tech for his sophomore and junior seasons. In 2026, Hughes slashed .375/.510/.735 with 18 home runs and 16 doubles. Of the 29 college hitters with at least 45 home runs in the last three seasons, Hughes’ career 12.2% strikeout rate rank behind only UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky. Hughes is close to physically maxed out with a 5-foot-11, 210-pound frame, but he’s got plenty of present strength and no need to project on power. He’s got plus raw power right now, with the contact skills to consistently get to that power in games. Hughes is a patient and selective hitter who does a nice job staying within the strike zone, and he has a penchant for putting the barrel on the ball even on the rare occasions when he does expand the zone. He has solid bat speed, and a swing that is quick to the ball and long through it. He makes plenty of contact against top-tier velocity and quality secondary pitches. While Hughes has a well-rounded offensive game, he’s a more limited defender. He’s a below-average runner who will need to play an outfield corner, and he might be only a fringy or below-average defender in either left or right. His profile is similar to Marlins 2025 second-rounder Brandon Compton, and he could find himself taken in a similar range on draft day.” – Baseball America

The bat is legit for Hughes and the Astros get a prospect with a big time hit tool, something they haven’t added in a while. Great pick.

The Cincinnati Reds used the #18 overall pick in Saturday’s MLB Draft to select shortstop Justin Lebron out of the University of Alabama. Ranked 9th overall on MLB Pipeline’s list of the top draft-eligible prospects in the class, the 6’2” 190 lb right-handed hitter boasts a 70 grade on his speed, 60 grade on his power, and 60 grades on both his arm and fielding.

After hitting .338 as a freshman and .316 as a sophomore for the Crimson Tide, Lebron saw his rate stats drop across the board as a senior. Still, he hit .277/.386/.534 in 285 games with 16 homers and 42 steals, flashing the kind of power/speed combo that had him long in the mix for the potential top overall pick in this year’s draft before sliding late.

The biggest question with Lebron, though, is whether he’ll be able to hit breaking pitches better than he has so far. He struggled to just a .230 average in SEC games this season as the pitching in the best conference in the country adapted to how to pitch him, and that’s obviously something he’ll need to work on going forward. The rest of his game, however, looks 100% the part of a top-tier talent.

Brayan Bello has not, apparently, fallen back in love with Baseball, as Craig Breslow hoped he would. Or maybe he’s fallen in love with Worcester. Either way, he will not be starting today in place of the injured Ranger Suárez. Instead, the Sox are handing the ball to Eduardo Rivera, who has made one appearance for the Sox so far this year, a tidy 3.1 inning relief appearance against the Yankees back in April, when he allowed just a single hit and struck out 3.

Rivera’s been in the bullpen for the Woo Sox this year, so don’t expect a lot of innings out of him. And unfortunately for the Sox, a lot of important members of the relief corps have seen action lately, with Garrett Whitlock and Tyron Guerrero having thrown in back-to-back games, likely making them unavailable. Opposing starter Freddy Peralta is in the middle of a bad stretch in a bad season, though, so this could be a slugfest.

First Pitch: 4:10 PM

TV: NESN, FS1

Mets lineup

A.J. Ewing – CF
Juan Soto – LF
Francisco Lindor – SS
Carson Benge – RF
Jorge Polanco – DH
Eric Wagaman – 1B
Francisco Alvarez – C
Brett Baty – 3B
Zack Short – 2B

SP: Freddy Peralta – RHP

Red Sox lineup

Anthony Seigler – 2B
Ceddanne Rafaela – CF
Wilyer Abreu – RF
Caleb Durbin – 3B
Masataka Yoshida – DH
Andruw Monasterio – 1B
Jarren Duran – LF
Carlos Narvaez – C
Tsung-Che Cheng – SS

SP: Eduardo Rivera – LHP

Broadcast info

First pitch: 4:10 PM EDT
TV: SNY
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2

Box Score

The Brewer offense had a solid day today against a 2026 All-Star, Pittsburgh starter Braxton Ashcraft. But Brandon Sproat had a second straight poor, inefficient start for the Brewers, and a late meltdown by one of the team’s more reliable but suddenly struggling relievers gave the Pirates a late lead. Milwaukee tried to mount a ninth-inning rally but came up just short, and the Pirates had a big comeback win.

Ashcraft got off to a good start: after falling behind Christian Yelich 3-0, he came back and got him to pop out to shallow left. Garrett Mitchell struck out looking at an 0-2 pitch and, frustratingly, unsuccessfully challenged the call, putting the Brewers behind the eight ball for the rest of the game. Brice Turang flew out to left, and Aschraft had a 1-2-3 first inning.

Sproat’s start wasn’t as good. He yanked a fastball on a 2-2 pitch to leadoff hitter Jake Mangum and hit him in the foot to give Pittsburgh a leadoff baserunner. Brandon Lowe got a mistake on an 0-2 fastball down the middle but got a little bit under it and flew out to center for the first out, but Sproat yanked another pitch, this one a 1-2 curveball after seven straight foul balls, that just grazed the tip of Bryan Reynolds’ shoe. Esmerlyn Valdez hit an 86-mph ground ball that could’ve been a tailor-made double play with a slightly different infield positioning, but it found the hole between Joey Ortiz and Cooper Pratt and scored Mangum from second.

Sproat came back with a nice strikeout of Ryan O’Hearn, who wasted Pittsburgh’s first challenge, too. Another yanked fastball on 0-2 got past catcher William Contreras and allowed Reynolds and Valdez to advance to second and third, which mattered when Nick Gonzales hit a ground ball to Ortiz, who bobbled the ball and didn’t have a play on anyone; a rare error that cost the Brewers another run. On his 34th pitch, Sproat finally got Tyler Callihan to ground out to end the inning. It was a sloppy first: both batters that Sproat hit came around to score, despite the fact that he didn’t walk anyone and his only hit allowed was a not-hard-hit single.

The Milwaukee offense had a hole to dig out of today, but they very quickly did so. Contreras got things going in the second by lining a double into the left-field corner, and three pitches later — on a sinker right in the happy zone — Jake Bauers crushed a ball 112 mph into the seats in right field. Back to even at 2-2.

The inning ended quickly after that — Luis Lara hit a looping liner to second base, and after Pratt flew out, shortstop Jared Triolo made a nice play to rob Sal Frelick of a hit. Triolo led off the bottom of the second with a line drive, but Turang made a nice leaping catch for the first out. On the first pitch to catcher Henry Davis, he popped up a bunt in foul territory — Sproat made a diving attempt and almost caught it, but needed a minute. He continued with a dirty jersey, but walked Davis five pitches later. Sproat started in a 1-0 hole against Mangum after his second pitch-timer violation, but on 2-2 Mangum hit a ground ball to Ortiz, which turned into a fielder’s choice out at second base. On an 0-1 pitch to Lowe, Mangum took off for second and, for some reason, did not slide, enabling Contreras to throw him out at second base. It was another inefficient inning, but Sproat kept Pittsburgh off the board.

Ortiz was living on the edge to start the third when he risked the team’s second challenge on a 2-1 pitch with nobody out in the third, but he was right. Unfortunately, Ortiz ended up lining out on 3-2, so it didn’t matter much. Yelich got a hanging slider on 3-2 but could only foul tip it into the catcher’s glove for the second out. Another strikeout of Mitchell ended the inning.

Sproat started the bottom of the third with a couple of strikeouts of his own, but with two outs, Valdez, who had the Pirates’ one hit in the first inning, got a hold of a cutter and hit it out to dead center. His home run restored the Pirates’ lead. Things went a little sideways after that; Sproat hit O’Hearn with a 2-1 pitch and then walked Gonzales on five pitches. For the second straight inning, the Brewers got someone up in the bullpen, but Sproat got Callihan to fly out to left on a 3-2 pitch and was able to finish the inning with the Brewers down just one.

After a soft lineout by Turang, Contreras smoked a ball for the second straight at-bat, but this 108-mph line drive was caught in center by Mangum. Bauers struck out on three pitches chasing a curveball way out of the zone, but that was after he was upset by Ashcraft’s quick pace on the mound.

Sproat was done after three rocky innings. That he allowed only three runs was almost surprising; he only allowed two hits, but he walked two and hit three batters, and it took him 83 pitches to record nine outs — his second extremely inefficient outing, after he needed 92 pitches to get through four in his last start. Craig Yoho replaced Sproat in the fourth, and he started by striking out Triolo but then walked the nine-hole hitter, Davis, on four pitches. A Mangum ground ball to Pratt started what was almost a 6-3 double play, but it wasn’t quite hit hard enough, and Mangum beat the throw to first. Lowe was next, and he hit a ball hard toward first, but Bauers made a nice pick on the short hop and stepped on first for the third out.

Lara led off the second with his first career extra-base hit, a double into the gap in right that Mangum slid to cut off, lest Lara end up with a triple. Pratt followed with a looping fly ball to left, which Callihan dove for but couldn’t come up with — it got past him, and Pratt ended up at second with a double, which scored Lara from first and tied the game. The Brewers’ light-hitting players weren’t done, either: Frelick got a hold of a 1-1 slider that didn’t get low enough and hit it to the seats in right field for a two-run homer that gave Milwaukee their first lead of the game. It was Frelick’s fourth homer and first since April 30.

After Ashcraft picked up outs on an Ortiz fly ball and another Yelich strikeout, Mitchell and Turang drew back-to-back two-out walks. That gave Contreras, who’d scorched two balls today, a chance with two on and two outs, but he struck out to end the inning. Still — the Brewers had taken a 5-3 lead against the Pittsburgh All-Star, and they’d pushed his pinch count up to 98 through five innings, getting into the bullpen early in this doubleheader.

Yoho, back out for the fifth, got Reynolds to ground out and struck out Valdez. On a 1-1 pitch with two outs and nobody on, Contreras unsuccessfully challenged a changeup that missed outside, and Milwaukee was without a challenge for the last four-plus innings of the game. It didn’t matter, either, as two pitches later Yoho got O’Hearn waving at a changeup for the third out.

Carmen Mlodzinski relieved Ashcraft in the top of the sixth and on his first pitch got Bauers to fly out to right-center. Lara walked on four non-competitive pitches, and Pratt got into a long battle after falling into an 0-2 hole that ended with a solid single to center. Milwaukee was unable to capitalize on their rally, though: Frelick grounded into a fielder’s choice that would’ve been a double play had Triolo not dropped the ball on the transfer, and Ortiz flew out to center field to end the inning with runners stranded on first and third.

Chad Patrick entered in the bottom of the sixth (relieving Yoho, who had a very nice day of work) and gave up a leadoff baserunner when Gonzales reached on a high chopper for an infield hit. Callihan lined out to Lara in left for the first out, and Patrick quickly got out of the inning with a 4-6-3 double play from Triolo.

Yelich tried to bunt for a hit to lead off the seventh — he put down a good bunt but couldn’t quite beat the throw on a very close play at first. Too bad, because the next batter, Mitchell, lined a ball into left that he turned into a hustle double. Turang also hit one hard into left, but his 104-mph fly ball was too close to Callihan, and there were two outs. Contreras, though, looped a two-out RBI single into left, and the Brewers’ lead was up to 6-3 after Mitchell raced home on what would’ve been a close play with a different player running. Bauers drew a walk to extend the inning, but Lara flew out to center to end what was still a productive inning.

Trouble came in the bottom of the seventh. Davis added a single to his two walks, at which point the Brewers removed Patrick in favor of Aaron Ashby. Mangum grounded a single through the right side that was followed by a looping liner off the end of the bat from Lowe that loaded the bases with nobody out. None of Pittsburgh’s three hits to start the inning were hit all that hard, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles, sometimes.

The batter with the bases loaded was notorious Brewer nemesis Bryan Reynolds, but Ashby made him look foolish chasing a 1-2 curveball for the first out. But Valdez, who’d already homered and hit an RBI single in the game, was up next, and Ashby ominously fell behind. On a 3-1 pitch, an Ashby sinker got way too much of the plate, and Valdez drove it out to right field for a scoreboard-flipping grand slam. Ashby struck out the next two to end the inning, but the damage had been done; the Pirates led 7-6 after seven innings.

Now facing an unfortunate deficit, the Brewer offense needed to get going again. Mlodzinski was still pitching in his third inning, and he started the inning with a strikeout of Pratt. Frelick got into a long battle but also struck out on a foul tip on the eighth pitch of the at-bat, and an Ortiz groundout ended the top of the eighth.

Bryse Wilson’s return to the Brewers came with him trying to keep the Pirates’ lead at one in the bottom of the eighth. He did that quite deftly, with a flyout and two groundouts, and the Brewers went to the ninth needing a run with the top of the order coming up.

Lefty Gregory Soto entered for the Pirates, and the Brewers somewhat surprisingly did not pinch-hit for the struggling Yelich. He came through, though, with a solid single to left to start things off, and with Yelich on first, the Brewers sent Jackson Chourio to the plate in place of Mitchell. Chourio, though, popped out in foul territory near first base for the first out. Turang was next and drew a walk in a weird at-bat for the home-plate ump (he called a 3-1 pitch that wasn’t all that close a strike — and of course Milwaukee was out of challenges — and then called a closer 3-2 pitch a ball, which the Pirates couldn’t challenge after using their last one earlier in the inning).

Double-play machine Contreras was up with one out and runners on first and second, and he hit a ground ball to shortstop — it probably would’ve been hit slowly enough that the Pirates wouldn’t have been able to end the game with a double play, but Triolo dropped the ball when trying to throw to second and everybody was safe, and the Brewers had the bases loaded with one out. Andrew Vaughn, noted lefty destroyer, pinch-hit for Bauers… but hit a ground ball to third that turned into an unconventional 5-2 double play. Game over.

What a drag of a baseball game. The Brewers played pretty sloppy baseball and were then undone by a stinker of an outing from Aaron Ashby, whose struggles in the last month have become far too much to ignore.

Milwaukee’s offense did plenty to win the game — they had 10 hits, including doubles for Contreras, Lara, Pratt, and Mitchell, and home runs by Bauers and Frelick. But Sproat and Ashby were bad today, which overshadowed nice outings for Yoho (three strikeouts, no hits in two scoreless innings) and Wilson (three quick outs in his return to the Brewers). Valdez destroyed the Brewers: he had three hits, two of which were homers, and knocked in six of Pittsburgh’s seven runs.

Milwaukee will look to recover in the second game of today’s doubleheader in about an hour. Shane Drohan starts for the Brewers in game two, with Bubba Chandler on the mound for Pittsburgh.

The Texas Rangers, with the 16th selection in the 2026 MLB Draft, select Gio Rojas, a lefthanded pitcher out of Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. We wrote up Rojas in late June as part of our draft previews.

Gio Rojas is a 6’4”, 190 lb. lefthanded pitcher out of Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. He turned 19 on June 29, making him an the older side for a prep player. He has a mid-90s fastball that hits 98, has good size and athleticism, and quality slider.

Baseball America has Rojas at #17 on their board. MLB Pipeline has Rojas at #8 on their board. Kiley McDaniel puts Rojas at #21 on his final list. Keith Law has Rojas at #25 on his board. Fangraphs has Rojas at #14 on their board. Baseball Prospectus has Rojas at #22 on their top 30 draft board.

I mentioned in my write-up that I wasn’t sure whether to include Rojas in the previews, as I thought he would likely be off the board when Texas picked, but he dropped to them, and he’s now their first first round high school pitcher taken since Cole Winn in 2018.

Milwaukee Brewers vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, July 11, 2026, 4:05 p.m. ET

The Pittsburgh Pirates are hosting the Milwaukee Brewers for the middle match of this three-game weekend set to close out the first half of the season

The Pirates will have Bubba Chandler on the mound for his final first-half start. Chandler pitched four innings, giving up six hits and four earned runs in his most recent start. While he struggled to keep runs off the board, the offense had his back. The Buccos walked away with an 11-5 win that saw them score seven runs in the final two innings.

The Brewers are countering with left-hander Shane Drohan, who is having a strong start to his rookie season. The 27-year-old from South Florida made his debut on April 8 as a starter but moved to the bullpen for the rest of April and May. Drohan returned to the starting rotation in June, and he has won in five of his seven starts since rejoining the rotation. One of those was his last appearance against the St. Louis Cardinals on July 6. He pitched six innings, giving up six hits and three runs, as the Brewers beat the Cardinals 4-3 inside Busch Stadium.

Now, Drohan gets a taste of the Pirates, who are looking to go into the All-Star break with momentum.

Location: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA

Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet Pittsburgh

Pitching Matchup: Shane Drohan (4-2, 2.97 ERA) vs. Bubba Chandler (3-8, 4.82 ERA)

BD community, chime off in the comments section below.

Fresh off a dramatic come-from-behind 4-3 win on Friday night, the Rockies will be looking for another victory in San Francisco.

Kyle Freeland (2-7, 7.46 ERA) will be making his 17th start of the season for Colorado (39-57). In Freeland’s last start, he gave up six runs on nine hits, including one homer, over five innings in an 8-7, 11-inning loss to the Dodgers on July 6. 

Freeland is 8-9 in 27 appearances (24 starts) against the Giants in his career with a 4.35 ERA. At Oracle Park, the veteran lefty is 2-5 with a 3.63 ERA in 11 starts. Today’s game is Freeland’s first against San Francisco this year.

The Rockies will face 31-year-old RHP Tyler Mahle (1-8, 5.70 ERA). They just saw him in Colorado on July 5 when he surrendered four runs (three earned) on eight hits with five strikeouts and no walks in 4.1 innings. In that game, the Rockies were rescued by Kyle Karros, who hit a three-run homer in the eighth to help the Rockies notch a 7-6 comeback win.

In his career, Mahle is 2-1 with a 5.21 ERA in seven starts against the Rockies. The Rockies lead the season series against the Giants 5-3.

Earlier on Saturday, the Rockies recalled RHP reliever Jeff Criswell from Triple-A Albuquerque and sent RHP reliever TJ Shook back down to the Isotopes.

First Pitch: 2:05 p.m. MDT

TV: Rockies.TV

Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM KOA Rockies Radio Network; KNRV 1150 AM (Spanish)

Giants SB Nation Site:McCovey Chronicles

Lineups:

For the Rockies:

For the Giants:

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The 2026 MLB Draft is set to take place in Philadelphia today at 1:00 pm, and it is going to be a monumental day for the Atlanta Braves. On the heels of their disappointing 2025 season they hold they 9th overall pick — the highest pick for them since 2019 — along with an extra first round pick at 26th overall thanks to Drake Baldwin winning Rookie of the Year. You can stick around Battery Power for wall-to-wall coverage of the draft over the next two days, and here we’ll be keeping up with every pick from day one. We will be updating this article as each pick is announced so follow along, have fun, and join us for a chat in the comments.

First Round

1. Chicago White Sox – SS Roch Cholowsky, UCLA
2. Tampa Bay Rays – SS Grady Emerson, Fort Worth Christian HS (TX)
3. Minnesota Twins – C Vahn Lackey, Georgia Tech
4. San Francisco Giants – RHP Jackson Flora, UC Santa Barbara
5. Pittsburgh Pirates – OF Derek Curiel, LSU
6. Kansas City Royals – OF Zion Rose, Louisville
7. Baltimore Orioles – OF Eric Booth Jr., Oak Grove HS (MS)
8. Athletics – OF Drew Burress, Georgia Tech
9. Atlanta Braves – OF AJ Gracia, Virginia — The Braves are going to be looking to spread out money once again this draft, going a bit down the consensus boards to draft a top tier hitter with the potential to play up the middle at the next level. Gracia joins a system with replenished position player depth. More info from Battery Power’s draft expert Matt Powers can be found in our main post here https://www.batterypower.com/atlanta-braves-prospects/135309/braves-select-aj-gracia-with-9th-pick-in-2026-mlb-draft
10. Colorado Rockies – SS Tyler Bell, Kentucky
11. Washington Nationals – 2B Chris Hacopian, Texas A&M
12. Los Angeles Angels – OF Jared Grindlinger, Huntington Beach HS (CA)
13. St. Louis Cardinals – OF Trevor Condon, Etowah HS (GA)
14. Miami Marlins – SS Jacob Lombard, Gulliver Prep HS (FL)
15. Arizona Diamondbacks – C Ryder Helfick, Arkansas
16. Texas Rangers – LHP Gio Rojas, Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS (FL)
17. Houston Astros – OF Logan Hughes, Texas Tech
18. Cincinnati Reds – SS Justin Lebron, Alabama
19. Cleveland Guardians – RHP Liam Peterson, Florida
20. Boston Red Sox – SS Jake Schaffner, North Carolina
21. San Diego Padres – RHP Coleman Borthwick, South Walton HS (FL)
22. Detroit Tigers – RHP Cameron Flukey, Coastal Carolina
23. Chicago Cubs – RHP Cade Townsend, Mississippi
24. Seattle Mariners – 3B Ace Reese, Mississippi State
25. Milwaukee Brewers – SS Trey Ebel, Corona HS (CA)

Prospect Promotion Incentive Picks

26. Atlanta Braves – OF Carter Beck, Indiana State — A surprise pick, the Braves grabbed a guy who had a great combine and was rising up draft boards late. More from Matt Powers: https://www.batterypower.com/atlanta-braves-prospects/135475/carter-beck-2026-mlb-draft-26th-pick-ppi

27. New York Mets – RHP Carson Wiggins, Arkansas

28. Houston Astros – RHP Jack Radel, Notre Dame

Competitive Balance Round A

29. San Francisco Giants – LHP Carson Bolemon, Southside Christian HS (SC)

30. Kansas City Royals – RHP Taylor Rabe, Mississippi

31. Arizona Diamondbacks – RHP Blake Bryant, Citizens Christian HS (GA)

32. St. Louis Cardinals – RHP Tegan Kuhns, Tennessee

33. Tampa Bay Rays – SS Taj Marchand, James Island HS (SC)

34. Pittsburgh Pirates – SS Landon Thome, Nazareth Academy HS (IL)

35. New York Yankees – LHP Hunter Dietz, Arkansas

36. Philadelphia Phillies – SS Tyler Spangler, De La Salle HS (CA)

37. Colorado Rockies – C Daniel Jackson, Georgia

Second Round

38. Colorado Rockies – RHP Logan Reddemann, UCLA

39. Toronto Blue Jays – LHP Cole Carlon, Arizona State

40. Los Angeles Dodgers – SS Bo Lowrance, Christ Church Episcopal HS (SC)

41. Chicago White Sox – 2B Cole Prosek, Magnolia Heights HS, (MS)

42. Washington Nationals – OF Chase Brunson, TCU

43. Minnesota Twins – C Carson Tinney, Texas

44. Pittsburgh Pirates – SS Aiden Ruiz, The Stony Brook HS (NY)

45. Los Angeles Angels – 2B Jarren Advincula, Georgia Tech

46. Baltimore Orioles – OF Ty Head, North Carolina State

47. Athletics – LHP Mason Edwards, USC

48. Atlanta Braves – RHP Kaiden McCarthy, Vermont Academy (VT) – The Braves get a high octane arm out of the high school ranks. More from Matt Powers: https://www.batterypower.com/atlanta-braves-prospects/135521/braves-select-kaiden-mccarthy-with-48th-pick-in-2026-mlb-draft

49. Tampa Bay Rays – RHP Ben Blair, Liberty

50. St. Louis Cardinals – SS Rocco Maniscalco, Oxford HS (AL)

51. Pittsburgh Pirates – 2B Chris Rembert, Auburn

52. Miami Marlins – LHP Ethan Kleinschmit, Oregon State

53. Arizona Diamondbacks – SS Carson Kerce, Georgia tech

54. Texas Rangers – SS Connor Comeau, LC Anderson HS (TX)

55. San Francisco Giants – RHP Kaden Waechter, Jesuit HS (FL

56. Kansas City Royals – RHP Jack Slightom, Lyons Township HS (IL)

57. Houston Astros – LHP Wes Mendes, Florida State

58. Cincinnati Reds – SS Eric Becker, Virginia

59. Cleveland Guardians – LHP Logan Schmidt, Ganesha HS (CA)

60. San Diego Padres – SS Elliot Lascelles, Upper Canada College HS (ON)

61. Detroit Tigers – SS Tyson LeBlanc, Kansas

62. Chicago Cubs – OF Caden Sorrell, Texas A&M

63. New York Yankees – LHP Sean Duncan, Terry Fox SS (BC)

64. Philadelphia Phillies – OF Caden Bogenpohl, Missouri State

65. Seattle Mariners – OF Jake Brown, LSU

66. Milwaukee Brewers – OF Sawyer Strosnider, TCU

Competitive Balance Round B

67. Boston Red Sox – OF Owen Hull, North Carolina

68. St. Louis Cardinals – OF Andrew Williamson, Central Florida

69. Detroit Tigers – RHP Evan Dempsey, Florida Gulf Coast

70. Cincinnati Reds – 1B Mulivai Levu, UCLA

71. Miami Marlins – RHP Ryan Peterson, Sam Houston

72. St. Louis Cardinals – RHP Dawson Montesa, West Virginia

73. Athletics – RHP Gabe Gaeckle, Arkansas

74. Minnesota Twins – RHP Brett Renfrow, Virginia Tech

Compensation Round

75. Chicago Cubs – 1B Myles Bailey, Florida State

Third Round

76. Colorado Rockies – C Jack Natili, Cincinnati

77. Chicago White Sox – RHP Joey Volchko, Georgia

78. Washington Nationals – SS Luke Williams, Franklin Regional HS (PA)

79. Minnesota Twins – RHP Ethan Wachsman, Grandview HS (CO)

80. Pittsburgh Pirates – RHP Jason DeCaro, North Carolina

81. Los Angeles Angels – 3B Gavin Grahovac, Texas A&M

82. Baltimore Orioles – RHP Dominic Voegele, Kansas

83. Athletics – RHP Jacob Dudan, North Carolina State

84. Atlanta Braves – RHP Jensen Hirschkorn, Kingsburg HS (CA) — The Braves dip into the prep pipeline again with another righty that’s going to take an overslot bonus to sign. Hirschkorn has a 6’7” frame with room to project to an already mid-90’s fastball. From Matt Powers: https://www.batterypower.com/atlanta-braves-prospects/135562/braves-select-jensen-hirschkorn-with-84th-pick-of-2026-mlb-draft

85. Tampa Bay Rays – RHP Gavin Giese, Dana Hills HS (CA)

86. St. Louis Cardinals – OF Caden Ferraro, Texas Tech

87. Miami Marlins – SS Cam Kozeal, Arkansas

88. Arizona Diamondbacks – OF Brayden Dowd, Florida State

89. Texas Rangers – LHP Brody Bumila, Bishop Feehan HS (MA)

90. San Francisco Giants – OF Peyton Bonds, Rutgers

91. Kansas City Royals – LHP Maxx Yehl, West Virginia

92. New York Mets – OF Aiden Robbins, Texas

93. Houston Astros – SS Keon Johnson, First Presbyterian HS (GA)

94. Cincinnati Reds – RHP Ty Horn, Nebraska

95. Cleveland Guardians – OF Tre Broussard, Houston

96. Boston Red Sox – SS Jace Mataczynsk, Hudson HS, WI

97. San Diego Padres – RHP Ryan Lynch, North Carolina

98. Chicago Cubs – RHP Carson Jasa, Nebraska

99. New York Yankees – C Brendan Brock, Oklahoma

100. Philadelphia Phillies – RHP Ruger Riojas, Texas

101. Seattle Mariners – RHP Nathan Taylor, Cincinnati

102. Milwaukee Brewers – OF Kyle Jones, Florida

103. Toronto Blue Jays – SS Ryan Cooney, Oregon

Fourth Round

104. Colorado Rockies – RHP Ben Davis, Mississippi State

105. Chicago White Sox – RHP Eric Segura, Oregon State

106. Washington Nationals – RHP Cooper Harris, Flower Mound HS (TX)

107. Minnesota Twins – RHP Tommy LaPour, TCU

108. Pittsburgh Pirates – LHP Andruw Giles, Basic HS (NV)

109. Los Angeles Angels – OF Rylan Lujo, Georgia

110. Baltimore Orioles – OF Kevin Roberts Jr., Jackson Prep HS (MS)

111. Athletics – SS Roman Martin, UCLA

112. Atlanta Braves – RHP Cole Dennis, Bishop Snyder HS (FL) — Three straight prep pitchers for the Braves as they go for another hard-throwing righty in Cole Dennis. More from Matt Powers: https://www.batterypower.com/atlanta-braves-prospects/135571/braves-select-cole-dennis-with-112th-pick-in-2026-mlb-draft

113. Tampa Bay Rays – OF Collin Bland, Houston HS (TN)

114. St. Louis Cardinals – SS Dee Kennedy, Kansas State

115. Miami Marlins – OF Wessley Roberson, Glynn Academy (GA)

116. Arizona Diamondbacks – RHP Josh McDevitt, Missouri

117. Texas Rangers – RHP Hudson Calhoun, Ole Miss

118. San Francisco Giants – RHP Carlos Martinez, Hofstra

119. Kansas City Royals – OF Dominic Battista, Oswego East HS (IL)

120. New York Mets – LHP Shane Sdao, Texas A&M

121. Houston Astros – SS Kam Durnin, Missouri

122. Cincinnati Reds – LHP Ethan Norby, East Carolina

123. Cleveland Guardians – 3B Kade Lewis, Wake Forest

124. San Diego Padres – C Robbie Lavey, George Washington

125. Detroit Tigers – SS Dominic Pellegrin, Holy Cross HS (LA)

126. Chicago Cubs – RHP Dylan Marionneaux, Northwestern State

127. New York Yankees – OF Paul Gutierrez-Contreras, Cal State Fullerton

128. Philadelphia Phillies – RHP Deven Sheerin, LSU

129. Seattle Mariners – 3B Trevor Lucas, UNC Wilmington

130. Milwaukee Brewers – RHP Julian Garcia, St. John Bosco HS (CA)

131. Toronto Blue Jays – C Will Brick, Christian Brothers HS (TN)

132. Los Angeles Dodgers – RHP Russell Sandefer, Florida

Compensation Rounds

133. Houston Astros – IF Beau Peterson, Mill Valley HS (KS)

134. San Diego Padres – OF Alex Conover, Oklahoma State

135. Philadelphia Phillies – RHP Jaxon Jelkin, Kentucky

The pick is in, and the Washington Nationals selected infielder Chris Hacopian from Texas A&M. Hacopian is one of the best pure hitters in the draft with a rare blend of contact skills, power and plate discipline. He is also a local product, who went to Winston Churchill High School and the University of Maryland before transferring.

This selection is all about the bat. That is where Hacopian is going to be providing his value. There is a chance that Hacopian can stick at second base, but he is not much of a fielder or a runner. However, the kid can mash, and at the end of the day, that is the thing you are most looking for.

Between college and a number of summer leagues, Hacopian has just over 1,000 plate appearances recorded on Baseball Reference. In those plate appearances, he has 128 walks and 83 strikeouts. He has never struck out more than he has walked in his life. Hacopian just has rare contact skills, and never misses a fastball.

When you look at his underlying data from this season, it is very impressive. Hacopian’s exit velocities and plate discipline numbers are good, but the contact skills are where he really shines. His zone contact rate of 92.7% is rare. Most guys who make that much contact are slappy hitters like Luis Arraez, but Hacopian packs a punch as well.

This season Hacopian played through some injuries at Texas A&M. He still hit .319 with a .983 OPS while walking more than he struck out though. However, he was not quite as dominant against SEC competition as he was in the Big 10 at Maryland though. The injury and some bad batted ball luck could explain that.

If you could poke one hole in his offensive game, it would be that Hacopian hits more ground balls than you would like. However, the Nats have done a good job at getting hitters to elevate more consistently. They have done it with James Wood, Luis Garcia Jr. and Jacob Young.

Honestly, Hacopian has some similarities to Garcia, though he has better plate discipline. Yesterday, I wrote about how rare Garcia’s hit/power combination is, and Hacopian has a similar thing. Like Garcia though, there is a chance that Hacopian might have to move to first base at some point.

The hope is that Hacopian will tap into a little bit more power. He is already an awesome hitter, but that would make him even better. If he can do that, the bat will play at first base easily. This is just a guy who rolls out of bed and rakes.

As we mentioned at the top, the local connection is very fun as well. Hacopian went to high school in the DMV and played with his brother at Maryland for his first two years. We already have a local star in James Wood, and hopefully Hacopian can be another. 

Hacopian was heavily linked to the Nats by Keith Law, who has been on this for a while. We wrote about Hacopian as a potential option all the way back in December. This is a 60 grade hitter who has a chance to have at least average, if not better power. The defense and speed are not there, but clearly Paul Toboni and the draft room just fell in love with the bat. Welcome home Chris Hacopian.

I’ve done my best this year to avoid many Pitching write ups. After the team went kind of pitching nuts last year, I figured they’d probably filled the cupboard and may focus elsewhere. However, top draft prospect lists right now are jam packed with Pitching in the 25-50 range in their prospect lists. So TINSTAPP be damned, you can never have enough Pitching, and here’s a few interesting arms I haven’t already written about (I already did a very cursory overview of Jared Grindlinger since I suspect he’ll just play OF and a full writeup of Hunter Dietz). These writeups will all be pretty shallow, but enough to get a sense of the player’s potential and issues.

Logan Schmidt, LHP – Ganesha HS, Pomona, CA

Logan is a 6’4” 215 lbs 17 year old (he’ll be 18 within a month of the draft) with a commitment to LSU. He’s the 21st ranked player on BA’s draft board, but they mocked him to the Phillies in their most recent staff draft. I had no intention of writing him before that mock draft. Schmidt is the 3rd 2027 draft reclass I’ve written up this cycle. I’d be shocked and thrilled if he got to 36. He has a Plus or better 4-seam Fastball that he works in the 92-96 MPH range and got up to 98 early this Spring with good arm side run. His best secondary offering is a breaking ball some call a Curve, some call a slider. It has great spin and late tail action and works well off his Fastball. He throws from a 3/4 slot that may also lend itself to a Sweeper down the line. Like most Prep pitchers he has a Changeup that needs work, but it’s more advanced than most as he throws it with similar arm speed and release to his Fastball. There’s something almost old-timey about his pretty relaxed looking delivery below.

Brody Bumila, LHP – Bishop Feehan HS, Attleboro, MA

Arguably the draft’s biggest payout lottery ticket, Brody is a 6’9”, 245 lbs 18 year old with a commitment to Texas. Bumila doesn’t just throw cheese, he throws extra spicy pepper jack. He throws it 96-99 mph with top speeds of 101 mph this year. He gets good arm side run and extension, so the ball appears even faster to hitters with his length and release point. He also works inside, which has to have a bit of that Kruk vs. Randy Johnson feel for the hitters. So why is this kind of flamethrower available this low? Well, his Slider is almost non-existent and his Chaangeup is good and could be a plus pitch, but needs development. However, it’s mostly because he needed left elbow surgery last year and missed all of 2025. As with all very tall pitchers his control is also a question mark. It projects as average, but even slight degrees of deviation in arm action play way up when your levers are this long. The below video is basically the entire game, both Offense and Defense, so you’ll have to jump around to see his stuff, which is almost exclusively the Fastball. This pick would also mean the Phillies somehow beat all 3 other franchises for drafting the largest human in the first round this year, barely beating out the Flyers.

Logan Reddemann, RHP – UCLA

I’m loading up and Logans and Lefties a bit this write-up with 2 of each. This Logan is a 6’2” 185 lbs 21 year old who is almost the exact opposite of Brody above. As one of the possibly safer, low ceiling picks of the draft. He’s a control first starter with a collection of 5 average to above average pitches. His Fastball generally sits 94-96 mph and can pull back for an occasional 98 or 99 mph. He locates it very well and can move it around the plate with equal success. His changeup may be his best pitch. He mixes in a Cutter, Slider/Sweeper, and a 12-6 Curveball. None are strike-out pitches, but all can mix in effectively, Logan would likely move quickly into an MLB rotation as a 3rd or 4th Starter and stay there for years. There’s no Ace ceiling and probably a low-ish risk of Bullpen roles. He is what he is, and can probably carve out a mid-rotation career if he stays healthy. He works quick.

Carson Bolemon, LHP – Southside Christian HS, Simpsonville, SC

Bolemon is a 6’4”, 210 lbs 19 year old with a commitment to Wake Forest. The Phillies have drafted a lot of “old for their class” prep players the last several years (Matthew Fisher last year, Aiden Miller to name just 2) and Bolemon is on the older for his class side. He’s kind of a perfect mix of the last 2 profiles here: Reddemann’s control and broad pitch mix with a little bit more height and a history of the same pitching arm surgery as Bumila. There are some screaming red flags here that may send Boleman on to Winston-Salem for College. Along with the history of pitching elbow surgery, you also have a 2-3 mph loss in Fastball velocity. If healthy, the 89-93 mph Fastball pairs up well with both a potentially plus Curve and Slider, which play well off eachother. His Changeup is clearly his 4th best pitch but should end up an average offering. Without further velocity the ceiling is probably a #3/4 Starter. If he builds up to get back those 2-3 mph he seems to have lost, there could be a number 2 Starter profile in here.

Jensen Hirshkorn, RHP – Kingsburg (Calif.) HS

Another massive Prep arm, Jensen is 6’7”, 205 lbs 18 year old with a commitment to LSU. Hirshkorn is also a starter on his High School baseball team and rolled straight into his baseball season from that. Sometimes with multi-sport athletes you can see a bigger jump in stuff once they focus on one sport professionally (all kids who want to should play multiple sports, I think that’s beyond invaluable). That is something to keep in mind here as Hirschkorn’s 4-seam Fastball sat 90-93, which is solid average. He pairs it with a 2-seamer, a Slider that’s currently his knee buckling best pitch with high spin and bite and a Changeup that flashes plus. I think there’s enough here you can dream on a top of the rotation ceiling if we see the growth I mentioned earlier. Without that, I think you’ve got mid-rotation potential or a Slider/Fastball reliever.

There aren't many left-handed pitchers who make an upper 90s fastball look so routine.

Watching Gio Rojas, the velocity almost becomes secondary. The ease of his delivery, the confidence with which he attacks hitters and the late life on his fastball made him one of the most difficult prep arms to square up in not just South Florida, but the entire country.

Saturday marked the culmination of years of development as Rojas was selected with the No. 16 overall pick by the Texas Rangers during MLB All-Star Weekend in Philadelphia. The slot value for the 16th pick is $5.05 million.

Here's a look at the Stoneman Douglas standout's journey from one of South Florida's most dominant left-handers to professional baseball.

From the Rockies to the Sunshine State

Born in the Denver area, Rojas grew up in the suburb of Lakewood, gaining statewide recognition as the top player in Colorado by multiple outlets. After his freshman season with the Tigers, he transferred to national power Stoneman Douglas, in part due to his commitment to the University of Miami on Oct. 29, 2022, before playing an inning of high school baseball.

With Stoneman, Rojas dominated. On the bump, he was 28-1 with a 0.65 ERA, striking out 285 over 162 innings. Opponents hit just .132 against the 6-foot-4 lefty, who had a WHIP of .672 during Stoneman's run of six consecutive FHSAA state championships, three of which he was a part of.

With Team USA's 18U team, he pitched 11 scoreless innings during the WBSC U-18 World Cup, earning All-World Starting Pitcher recognition after a complete game shutout against Korea in the Super Round.

Rojas' selection would add to what's starting to become a lengthy list of Stoneman Douglas alumni drafted early on, a list that includes longtime Cubs first basemen Anthony Rizzo, Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony, and Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo, who has mentored Rojas throughout high school.

Follow Sports Reporter Alex Martin on X at @NP_AlexMartin or via email: amartin@usatodayco.com. For additional high school sports coverage, be sure to follow @usatodayhss on Instagram and X.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gio Rojas selected by Texas Rangers with 16th pick in 2026 MLB Draft

Texas Rangers lineup for July 11, 2026 against the Houston Astros: starting pitchers are Kumar Rocker for the Rangers and Peter Lambert for the Astros.

The Battle for the Silver Boot continues!

Pederson — DH

Langford — LF

Jung — 3B

Nimmo — RF

Burger — 1B

Duran — SS

Carter — CF

Lopez — 2B

Diaz — C

6:05 p.m. Central start time. The Rangers are +105 underdogs.