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I can’t explain this. Sorry. Look elsewhere. Talk to a priest. Read some tea leaves. Walk the Himalayan foothills and hope the universe reveals its secrets.

The Red Sox won their eighth straight game today. They did this behind a minor league reliever making his second big league appearance. They did this with a quad-A lineup loaded with five players carrying an OPS below .700. They did this on the strength of two two-run home runs, one by a player who has essentially been deemed useless by the entire baseball world.

Is this a mirage or are the Red Sox actually back in the race? It’s hard to say. To the extent that they’re doing this via multi-hit games from Andruw Monasterio and shutout outings by Eduardo Rivera and four relievers, then it sure looks like a mirage to me. And let’s not pretend that the Mets are any kind of true test. But the wins are real. They count. And the trash pile that is the American League in 2026 is real. And, today, the 2026 Red Sox, one of the weirdest and most disappointing Red Sox teams of my lifetime, sit just a half game out of the third Wild Card spot.

Studs

Eduardo Rivera: Eduardo, welcome to the realm of random Red Sox players whose weird outlier performances ensure they’re remembered for years to come. Making the second appearance of his big league career — both of which came as openers — Rivera once again held the opposition scoreless into the fourth inning. He’s had trouble finding the strike zone in AAA, but he throws hard and kept the Mets off balance tonight.

Andruw Monasterio: He got the two hardest parts of a cycle and missed out on the easy parts! What are you thinking, Andruw?!?!

Masataka Yoshida: On an afternoon when the bullpen was missing two of its key arms, his 8th inning homer to give the Sox sorely needed insurance was massive.

Dud

Jarren Duran: He goes 0-4 every day now. That’s just how it is. Accept it and it will bring you peace.

Play of the Game

Game winning home run in the fourth inning? Game wiinning home run in the fourth inning.

The Cubs finished up the first day of the MLB Draft by selecting Northwestern State (LA) right-handed pitcher Dylan Marionneaux win the fourth round. The junior right-hander went 4-2 with a 3.51 ERA in 14 starts with the Demons of the Southland Conference. He struck out 81 and walked 18 in 84.2 innings. Marionneaux was named to the first-team Southland Conference All-Conference team this year. He had committed to transferring to Alabama for his senior season before the Cubs drafted him. That’s about all I know about him.

So this one is a head-scratcher, although the Cubs almost certainly drafted Marionneaux because he’s willing to sign for a below-slot bonus that would allow the Cubs to give an big above-slot bonus to one of many high school players still on board for Sunday. Marionneaux is not listed on any of the published lists of draft prospects, and Baseball America covers the top 500 prospects.

Even if Marionneaux is a “signability” pick for another, better player later on, there must have been something that they liked about him anyways. Certainly his control numbers look good. And sometimes these signability players end up surprising everyone. Riley Martin was a fifth-year senior the Cubs drafted out Quincy University in 2021 who signed for $1000. But before he got hurt, Martin was looking like he was going to be an important part of the Cubs bullpen this year.

Last year’s third-round pick, Dominick Reid, and their fifth-round pick, Kade Snell, weren’t quite so out of the blue as Marionneaux is, but they were below slot picks that allowed them to draft high schoolers Kaleb Wing and Josiah Hartshorn, who are now two of the Cubs top propsects.

If you’re looking at high school players still on the board in the fifth round, there’s right-hander Joseph Contreras, son of former All-Star pitcher José Contreras, two-way player Archer Horn, right-hander Savion Sims, outfielder Blake Bowen and others.

So while I’m convinced that Marionneaux is a below-slot pick designed to have money for someone else later, I believe that there is something the Cubs must have liked about him besides that. And like Riley Martin, he could surprise us. Still, it’s impossible to grade this pick until the Cubs finish the draft.

Day One of the 2026 MLB Draft has come and gone, and the Mariners have gone back to a familiar draft strategy. After a few years of using early picks on high-upside high schoolers like Cole Young, Colt Emerson, and Ryan Sloan, among others, the Mariners took a hard pivot back towards college players, similar to their draft tendencies in the early years of Jerry Dipoto’s tenure. Their first four picks are all college players, three of the four college position players: 3B Ace Reese, OF Jake Brown, RHP Nathan Taylor, and 3B Trevor Lucas (four players, one last name between them).

In a draft that lacked much industry consensus about order outside of the top handful of names, the Mariners’ first-round choice was actually a surprisingly easy one. Mariners Director of Scouting Scott Hunter spoke predraft about the challenges of this particular draft, further complicated by how late the Mariners picked in it, saying that while typically the organization would have a group of three to four names they’d be looking at, this year it was more like a dozen-plus.

Those names filtered down quickly, however, as the power-hitting third baseman from Mississippi State, Ace Reese, fell down draft boards and directly to the Mariners. Despite his light-tower power, Reese’s draft stock took a hit after his contact rates fell during his draft year, something Hunter and Reese attributed to a combination of injury – Reese fought through a foot injury to begin the season – and a coaching change at Mississippi State where the hitting philosophy didn’t resonate as much with Reese.

Predraft, Hunter noted the strength of the Mariners’ system remains in their young core up the middle, even if that core has graduated to the big leagues, and the desire to accent that with outfielders, especially seasoned college outfielders who could move quickly. Despite an early run on college hitters, the Mariners were able to find exactly that college outfielder in the second round with LSU’s Jake Brown, who was one-time roommates with current Mariners prospect Kade Anderson. Brown inherited a leadership role when Anderson departed and oversaw the clubhouse during a time of some cultural upheaval. In addition to Anderson’s strong recommendation of his former teammate, Brown also impressed the Mariners at the MLB Draft Combine with his speed – they see a potential center fielder in him – as well as the power potential in his bat.

“Kade texted me today saying, hey, you guys are actually pretty smart up there, laugh out loud*” joked Hunter after the pick.

*This is not me sticking to the no chatspeak rule on the site, Hunter actually said “laugh out loud”

The Mariners went back to familiar ground in the third round, taking RHP Nathan Taylor from the University of Cincinnati. Taylor is a slider-heavy pitcher who Hunter says the Mariners pitching development is excited to get their hands on.

“Our PD group felt like there was a dial turn or two that we can get even more out of what he’s doing right now. And obviously, over the last 10 years, we gravitate to guys who do things like that, that command the strike zone….that have good deliveries, they’re physical, and our PD guys and our scouts line up and say, this is a guy we can help and fits in our program, that’s an easy pick for me, and it sounds like Nate was pretty excited about it as well.”

Day One ended with the Mariners taking Trevor Lucas out of UNC Wilmington. For all of you bemoaning the loss of Ben Williamson, may I introduce you to Ben Williamson Lite? A third baseman by trade, the Mariners believe Lucas has the potential to move all over the diamond, but definitely the ability to stick at the hot corner in an organization that’s thin on those types. But the Mariners are also bullish that they can pull some more power out of the contact-forward infielder.

“Talking to our PD group, they believe they can add a little more bat speed and a little more impact just by some of the programs we will put him through. So…you have to take chances on certain guys, but the underlying foundation of controlling the zone, playing good defense, being versatile – especially in this year’s draft – those guys were at a premium right now.”

The Mariners paid a premium, as well – per MLB’s Daniel Kramer, all but one of the picks are signing for slot value, with only Lucas saving them about $450K to use tomorrow. Don’t expect that to necessarily unlock the floodgates for high school players, though: post-draft, Hunter described day one as “interesting”, which we all recognize as the filler word it is.

“Now we go back in that room and re-rack for Day Two, because it’s a little thin right now, so we’re gonna have to get creative.”

As for why the Mariners passed up on prep hitters early, Hunter said the organization’s assessment of the high school class this year was that it wasn’t as deep as in years past, and the depth there was concentrated in the pitching ranks – one of the draft’s riskiest demographics. He said they had a “handful” of prep pitchers and “two to three” prep bats identified, but between their self-imposed limitations and the limitations of their bonus pool, one of the smallest in the draft, they just couldn’t make anything work, even though they tried to be aggressive in a couple of spots.

“It’s like Jerry told me when I first took this job,” said Hunter. “Every draft you just think of like it’s a 3-1 vount. If it’s there, swing. If it’s not, don’t. And we stayed the course with that. When the guys we thought we would maybe dive into a little bit and look for a little extra money weren’t there, we didn’t chase it, and we wound up making some good decisions…we stayed the course.”

Missouri baseball continues to prove it belongs under the brightest lights. The Tigers showcased their elite talent in the fourth round of the 2026 MLB Draft, as two of the program’s best got snatched up by the big leagues.

Clutch right-handed pitcher Josh McDevitt was the first Tiger off the board, going 116th overall to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Moments later, the Houston Astros kept Mizzou’s momentum rolling by capturing shortstop Kam Durnin with the 121st overall pick. These selections are sure to solidify both players’ status as cornerstones for the program and a huge victory on the Tigers’ recruiting side at the national stage.

The Pitching Weapon: Josh McDevitt

After spending three seasons with the Tigers developing his craft, the right-handed ace took his game to a whole other level during his final season in Columbia. Serving as the anchor of the rotation, McDevitt racked up a career-high 102 strikeouts over 79.1 innings across 15 starts.

Alongside this, he etched his name into the schools record books, cementing the 11th-most strikeouts in a single season in program history. In doing so, he teamed up with Brady Kehlenbrink to become the first pair of Mizzou teammates to each strikeout 100-plus batters in a season.

During his 2026 campaign, he tossed five innings to secure a massive SEC series victory over Vanderbilt, while also anchoring a critical road series win against Kentucky. He also recorded a dominant seven-strikeout performance to help lead the Tigers in their conference win over Arkansas. To cap off his campaign, McDevitt helped the Tigers earn their first SEC Tournament win since 2017 against Ole Miss.

Arizona is getting a battle-tested arm who knows how to dominate under immense pressure and tough SEC play.

The Offensive Star: Kam Durnin

A huge powerhouse transfer from Wichita State, Durnin overcame an early-season injury to start 43 games at shortstop and lead Mizzou in nearly every major offensive category.

Last season, he posted a team-leading .329 batting average, a .570 slugging percentage, a .438 on-base percentage and a stellar OPS of 1.008. From sparking a memorable 11-run comeback against UIC with a 415-foot blast to hitting two home runs against No.5 Georgia, Durnin continuously weaponized his power against the toughest of competition. He saved his best for last, hitting a major .425 over his final 10 games and reached base seven times in nine postseason plate appearances to lead Mizzou in their SEC Tournament victory.

With his selection, Durnin officially becomes the third active Mizzou product currently inside the Astros organization. He heads to the professional ranks to reunite with former 2024 Tiger standouts Bryce Mayer and Trevor Austin.

Houston has quickly transformed into a home away from home for elite Tiger talent, but there is not doubt that Durnin’s presence at shortstop and his team-leading bat will be sorely missed at Taylor Stadium.

Takeaways

Losing two foundational pillars such as McDevitt and Durnin leaves massive holes to fill on the diamond and up to bat next spring. However, seeing both talents developed into top-125 MLB Draft picks provides the Mizzou coaching staff with something to look forward to on the recruiting trail and in the transfer portal.

Alongside this, head coach Kerrick Jackson has already proven he is not wasting any time reloading the roster. The Tigers, ranked 19th nationally in the transfer portal ratings, have been active in the portal, successfully locking down players to combat the draft departures.

Click here to read our full Mizzou baseball transfer portal tracker and meet all the new additions joining the Tigers.

As expected Cade Townsend was the first Rebel off the board, followed by Taylor Rabe, who experienced a meteoric rise due to his outstanding run at the end of the season.

Ole Miss tied Arkansas and Georgia Tech for most picks in the top 30, with Tech having two taken in the top eight.

Townsend was selected by the Chicago Cubs 23rd overall with a value of $3.95 million. The Cubs are an organization in desperate need of pitching depth and Townsend will have the chance to prove himself quickly. Townsend is now the highest draft pick in Ole Miss history, beating Chris Coghlan by 13 slots.

Taylor Rabe also beat Coghlan by six spots, going 30th to the Kansas City Royals. This is the highest player out of Mississippi drafted by the Royals since they took Ole Miss commit, Cody Reed out of Northwest Community College back in 2013. Reed was later traded to Cincinnati for Johnny Cueto who later led the Royals to a World Series title that season (2015).

Hudson Calhoun joins his pitching mates after being selected in the 4th round by the Texas Rangers. At pick 117, his bonus slot is valued around $664k. However, Calhoun went much higher than projected which may mean he has agreed to a cheaper deal and is for sure done in Oxford.

Two high school commits were selected early as well. Taj Marchand was taken by the Tampa Bay Rays with the 33rd overall pick. Cole Prosek was taken 41st overall by the Chicago White Sox, who seem to love former Rebs. Prosek is a Magnolia Heights grad who is slotted to make almost $2.5 million.

Day 1 of the MLB Draft wraps up with three Rebels being selected. Stick with the Cup to see what Rebels might be selected later in the draft.

The Yankees had one pick remaining on Day 1 of the MLB Draft, which was set to adjourn after the fourth round and related compensation selections. They had already added a pair of lefty pitchers in top pick Hunter Dietz and Sean Duncan, as well as a backstop in Brendan Brock. So once the order wrapped back around to them at No. 127 overall, the Yankees branched out from the battery.

The newest Yankee is Cal State Fullerton outfielder Paul Gutierrez-Contreras II, who simply went by Paul Contreras during the majority of his time as a Titan. The university has a good baseball program, one that has produced All-Stars like Matt Chapman, Justin Turner, Tim Wallach, and the man who went No. 1 overall in Derek Jeter draft, Phil Nevin. Gutierrez-Contreras will now aim to join this well-regarded fraternity.

Although Gutierrez-Contreras wasn’t ranked among the Top 250 by MLB Pipeline, they did have a short write-up on him available shortly after his selection, referencing his accolades as Big West Co-Player of the Year this past season:

Contreras spent a year at Modesto Junior College before moving on to Cal State Fullerton. He was named Big West Co-Player of the Year as a junior in 2026 following a .346/.441/.633 line to go along with 14 homers. He’s a big, physical right-handed hitter who made some subtle changes at the plate to unlock some of his tools as a junior. Still only 20, he’s played right field mostly in college, but some scouts think he should get a look in center as a pro.

Baseball America did have Gutierrez-Contreras on their larger board, at 372nd overall. They noted his no-batting-glove look, which will certainly make fans think of Jorge Posada, or more recently, Trent Grisham. Here’s a little more from them:

Contreras is well-built with lean strength throughout his frame. He has a simple setup with a small leg kick, but his swing can get a bit long at times. Contreras is a patient hitter who makes lots of contact against all pitch types, with solid gap-to-gap power as well. His miss rate jumps against harder fastballs, which will be more of a question at the next level.

Gutierrez-Contreras will turn 21 on August 5th and seems like a fairly likely sign, perhaps under-slot of the $603.5K figure given his general ranking in comparison to where he was drafted.

Born in Turlock, CA, and a graduate of Joseph A. Gregori High School in nearby Modesto, Gutierrez-Contreras has done a very nice job of raising his draft stock in the past year. He hit .293/.407/.431 in 145 plate appearances for the Duluth Huskies of the wood-bat Northwoods League last summer in Minnesota with an .838 OPS that was 77 points better than the league-average OPS. He followed that up with the aforementioned stellar spring for Cal State Fullerton, with 24 extra-base hits in 52 games and a 1.074 OPS that ranked third in the Big West Conference.

I’m always a fan of drafting players who have actual playing experience with a wood bat, and Gutierrez-Contreras certainly also did his share of mashing as a Titan. The 127th overall pick does not have a prestigious track record—two-time All-Star and gangly 2015 NL batting champion Dee Strange-Gordon is probably the best position player ever taken there—so it’s important to keep expectations in check. I think Gutierrez-Contreras is a perfectly solid pick here and should be a nice outfielder to add to the system.

Welcome to New York, Paul!

Carson Wiggins attended Roland High School in Roland, Oklahoma, where he quickly set himself apart from the pack as a legitimate baseball pitching prospect on the travel ball circuit as well as in the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association. Between his freshman and senior seasons, Wiggins transformed from a tall and lanky 5’10”, 145-pound string bean into a 6’5”, 210-pound baseball behemoth. On the power of a fastball that sat in the mid-to-upper-90s and a devastating breaking ball, the big right-hander struck out 261 batters in 117.0 total innings with the Roland Rangers and posted a 0.97 ERA in 36.0 innings in his senior year, allowing nine hits and striking out 93 batters.

A highly scouted pitching prospect, who many believed was the number one high school pitching prospect in the state, Wiggins had had a strong commitment to the University of Arkansas and was not drafted in the 2024 MLB Draft as a result. His older brother, Jaxon, had been drafted by the Cubs with the 68th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft out of the university, and now coach head coach Van Horn would have another Wiggins to work with.

The right-hander got off to a quick start in his first season at Arkansas, striking out batters in bunches out of the Razorbacks bullpen. Through 14 appearances, he posted a 3.21 ERA, allowing 7 hits, walking 9, and striking out 20 batters in 14.0 innings. Unfortunately, in late April, Wiggins hurt his elbow and had his season end prematurely. UCL internal brace surgery- a procedure that anchors the ligament in place to allow it to heal properly in lieu of Tommy John surgery- followed, costing the right-hander not just the rest of the 2025 season, but all of 2026 as well, as his doctors recommended that the right-hander not pitch despite considering him fully healthy, much to the dismay of coach Van Horn.

Prior to his injury, the 6’5”, 215-pound right-hander threw from a three-quarters arm slot with a simple, loose, repeatable delivery without many moving parts. For the most part, he was a two-pitch pitcher, relying on a four-seam fastball and a power breaking ball; he occasionally threw a low-to-mid-80s changeup while in high school, but a rarely used the pitch at Arkansas. While Wiggins he did have a great deal of success blowing batters away with his fastball and getting them to chase his breaking ball, he has to work on his command of both.

His fastball comfortably sat in the mid-to-high-90s, topping out at 102 MPH just prior to injuring his elbow in April 2025. The pitch was more than just pure heat, as it generally averaged around 2,500 RPM of spin, well-above-average for a four-seam fastball, giving the pitch excellent rising action. Wiggins participated in the 2026 MLB Draft Combine, where he threw 15 pitches from the mound, and while obviously not throwing full effort, the pitch topped out at 97.4 MPH, the ninth highest velocity reading recorded on Day 2 of the combine, sitting in the mid-90s.

He complemented the pitch with a mid-80s power breaking ball that occasionally looked more like a slider and occasionally looked more like a curveball. His breaking ball featured spin rates around 2,600, giving the pitch sharp slicing action when it came out of his hands as more of a slider and power up-down vertical break when it came out of his hands as a curveball. During the 2026 MLB Draft Combine, Wiggins’ breaking ball averaged 2720 RPM. In his one healthy season at Arkansas, batters went 1-16 against the pitch, with 14 strikeouts.

Having attended the 2026 MLD Draft Combine, the right-hander underwent a comprehensive medical exam, and as such, is guaranteed at least 75% percent of the assigned pick value for the 27th overall pick; with a slot value of $3,466,500, Wiggins cannot be offered any less than $2,599,875. With the right-hander red-shirting in 2025 and 2026, he remains eligible to return to Arkansas should he and the Mets be unable to come to terms. Wiggins has expressed disappointment about not being able to pitch more for the Razorbacks and not being able to pitch in Omaha during the College World Series and could conceptually return for his red-shirt junior season in 2027, leveraging the potential of a more defined post-surgery track record at the collegiate level against what the Mets are willing to offer him.

Major League Baseball, for reasons no one is entirely sure of, chooses to hold the draft not only during the baseball season, but smack dab in the middle of a busy day of games. Which means the San Francisco Giants day game against the Colorado Rockies on Saturday fully took place during the draft … before the game had started, the Giants had already made their first-round selection. And when the game was over, the Giants were still busy making picks.

For some teams, the actual baseball being played is more important than the results of the draft, which won’t impact the roster for many years. The Los Angeles Dodgers, for instance — who are attempting to defend their back-to-back titles, and didn’t have a first-round pick — are one such team. But for the Giants? Well, they entered the day 16 games below .500, with their highest draft pick in eight years. And as such, the actual baseball took a firm backseat to the future baseball that we were able to spend the day dreaming about.

What mattered on Saturday was that the Giants used their lottery luck to draft the consensus top pitcher in the draft who, by the way, grew up in their backyard, attended the same high school as Brandon Crawford, and is a Giants fan. What mattered was that they used the No. 29 and 55 picks — the former acquired when they traded Patrick Bailey — on deeply intriguing high school pitchers who hopefully can develop into quality Major Leaguers. What mattered was that the first position player they took — with the 90th overall pick — is an elite athlete with stellar contact skills and power that might make you think he’s related to Barry Bonds … because he is.

But what took place at Oracle Park? That didn’t matter so much. Except, if you squint, it kind of did.

The Giants beat the Colorado Rockies 4-2, avenging Friday night’s ugly and painful defeat. This won’t be an in-depth recap, because I had 1.75 of my eyes tuned to Jackson Flora, Carson Bolemon, Kaden Waechter, Peyton Bonds, and Carlos Martinez, and only 0.15 of my eyes on the Giants game (forgive me, bosses and readers alike: the other 0.10 was on the England – Norway game).

But while the attention was turned towards the future in the draft, the Giants on the field were … well … playing for the future as well. Veteran Tyler Mahle had one of his best starts of the year, pitching seven excellent innings while allowing just five hits, three walks and one run … which came on a bizarre, delayed balk call that ultimately led to Tony Vitello picking up the second ejection of his career.

The attention leading up to the trade deadline has been centered around Luis Arráez and Robbie Ray, but Mahle shouldn’t be overlooked. Sure, he’s having a difficult season, but he’s also a trusted veteran who is not long removed from being a very solid pitcher. He won’t return as much as Arráez and Ray will, but, especially if he can string together two or three nice starts in a row, should still bring the Giants an intriguing prospect or two when he’s inevitably dealt.

That’s good for the future.

The Giants tied the game in the fifth inning thanks to a pair of rookies: Bryce Eldridge started the rally with a double, and Jesús Rodríguez ended it with a follow-up double. Eldridge is a foundational part of the Giants going forward; Rodríguez is someone who can be.

That’s good for the future.

They took the lead an inning later thanks to Casey Schmitt. After Heliot Ramos and Arráez led off the frame with back-to-back singles, Schmitt stepped up against Kyle Freeland, who had been excellent to that point. His night looked less excellent after Schmitt sent an absolute tank into the left field bleachers.

San Francisco will surely receive calls asking about Schmitt in the coming weeks. On the off chance that they decide to make him available, games like this — he’s up to a team-high 19 home runs — only increase the prospect haul it will take to get him. And assuming they keep him to replace Arráez, games like this only make us that much more excited to see what he can do with a stable role. He sure looks like a core part of the team for years to come.

That’s good for the future.

Reliever JT Brubaker even played his part, earning his first career save with two innings that were solid enough to keep his trade value decent, while also giving up a home run loud enough to put a smile on the face of anyone who (justifiably, I might add) is still seething about his role in the Pride Night absurdities.

And so the Giants won 4-2, and they did it with players who are a core part of their future, and with players who will be traded for other parts of their future. That wasn’t the most important thing that happened on Saturday, but it wasn’t nothing, either.

We are going out for drinks with friends as the ten days of Stampede partying is running out, so I’m going to miss out on tonight’s game.

But going to find a spot to watch England’s World Cup game, wearing my jersey.

Just as I was leaving there was this….amazing that someone who can throw 100 was still there for the 39th pick.

After going with power bats in with their two second-round picks, the Cubs went with big right-hander in Nebraska right-hander Carson Jasa in the third.

While Jasa is a tall, 6’7” right-hander with a fastball in the 95-96 mile per hour range, what the Cubs likely found attractive are his big spin rates. In fact, Jasa doesn’t throw his fastball very often and when he does, he has trouble locating it. Instead, Jasa relies on a upper-80s slider with some hard break. He also has a slow, upper-70s knee-bending curve with a 12-6 movement. Those two breaking pitches are Jasa’s primary weapons. He also has a fringy mid-80s changeup that he’ll need if he wants to get left-handed hitters out and remain as a starter. The Cubs have had some success teaching new changeups to Cade Horton and Ben Brown, and maybe they think they can go down a similar path with Jasa.

Jasa is a redshirt sophomore who missed all of the 2024 season with Tommy John surgery. He returned in 2025 and mostly pitched out of the bullpen, where he struggled. Jasa managed just 18.2 innings in 2025 and he walked 18 batters in that time, compared to 24 strikeouts. He posted a poor 8.68 ERA his redshirt freshman year.

But this past season, Jasa moved to the Cornhuskers starting rotation and found much more success. Jasa made 16 starts and went 10-2 with a 3.59 ERA. Over 87.2 innings, Jasa struck out 117 batters and cut his walk rate by over 50 percent with 47 walks. Still too high, but a big improvement over his first year back from Tommy John.

MLB Pipeline ranked Jasa as the 173rd best prospect in the draft and Baseball America ranked him slightly better at 158. Once again, Keith Law at The Athletic is the outlier, as he ranked Jasa higher at 93. Law acknowledged the big command and control issues that Jasa has and the considerable reliever risk that goes with it, but he also thought Jasa had some high potential if he can learn to throw more strikes and command the zone better.

In Jasa, the Cubs are getting a project for the pitch lab. With Jasa’s huge size, strong spin rates and above-average velocity, there is a lot there to work with. But the challenge is for him to develop a better feel for pitching and a better command of the zone. Otherwise, there is a lot of relief risk or worse on Jasa.

Here’s some video of Jasa pitching against Ohio State in May.

The White Sox made it a family affair with their first-round draft pick this year.

With the No. 34 pick of the 2026 MLB Draft on Saturday, the White Sox selected Landon Thome, the son of Hall-of-Fame corner infielder Jim Thome.

Chicago selected the 18-year-old shortstop out of Nazareth Academy in La Grange Park, Ill., and he was widely looked as one of the top high school talents this year.

He was also the 34th-ranked overall draft prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.

The Thome family already has a deep connection with the White Sox, with Jim, an Illinois native, spending four seasons in Chicago from 2006-09.

The elder Thome also currently serves as a special assistant to White Sox general manager Chris Getz.

Similar to his father, Landon is a left-handed hitter, with scouts saying he’s shown the ability of hitting the ball to all fields at a high level.

Landon, however, insisted that he’s more of an all-around hitter compared to his power-hitting dad, who racked up 612 home runs throughout his 22-year MLB career.

“Looking back at my dad in high school, he kind of had a similar build to me, kind of a longer, lankier guy,” Landon recently told MLB.com. “I’m more of a different hitter than my dad, just kind of more of a pure hitter, while my dad is more kind of that power guy.

“So I try to kind of model my game after myself. I like to play my own game instead of trying to model my game after other people.”

After batting .535 with seven homers, 29 RBIs, and a 1.676 OPS during his senior season, Landon was named the 2026 Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year.

Although he played shortstop while at Nazareth Academy, scouts believe he will transition to either second or third base at the professional level.

“I truly believe, as much as he loves the offensive side, when he reaches first base, to watch him run the bases is special,” Jim Thome told MLB.com.

“He wants to score, wants to change the game on the bases with a very aggressive impact.”

The Yankees have their first position player of the 2026 MLB Draft after taking left-handed pitchers with their first two picks. Following selections of southpaws Hunter Dietz out of Arkansas with their first pick and British Columbia high schooler Sean Duncan with their second pick, the Yankees returned to the SEC to address one of the thinnest positions in the system: catcher.

Joining the organization with the 99th overall pick is right-handed hitting catcher Brendan Brock out of The University of Oklahoma.

The redshirt junior turns 22 in less than a month and hails from Belleville, IL. With a ranking at No. 90 on Perfect Game’s Big Board, No. 112 on MLB Pipeline, and No. 113 according to Baseball America, it’s just about where you would expect him to be drafted.

Here’s an abridged scouting report from Baseball America on a catcher described as possessing an “atypical toolset”:

In a class that’s unusually deep with athletic college catchers, Brock might have the most atypical toolset. He’s every bit of a 70-grade runner, and for many scouts he’s the quickest running catcher they’ve seen… Listed at 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, Brock has a lean and athletic frame with solid bat speed and plus raw power. Brock has shown impressive all-fields game power this spring, but that pop comes with below-average contact skills and a questionable hit tool… He’s longer and lankier than most catchers, but he has a plus arm that would be an asset at the position if he can sharpen his footwork and exchange. He has the speed and arm strength to handle all three outfield positions. Playing outfield would also be easier on his legs and help him maintain his loudest tool over the course of a full pro season.

Brock’s draft stock skyrocketed following a stellar redshirt sophomore campaign at Southwestern Illinois CC, ranking third among national junior college players in OPS (1.435), homering 20 times and stealing 27 bases. He declined an over-slot offer from the Brewers, who attempted to select him in the 14th round of the 2025 MLB Draft, and instead transferred to The University of Oklahoma hoping to further boost his stock.

After transferring into the competitive cauldron of the SEC, Brock’s number took a modest downturn, though he still slashed .302/.399/.522 with 13 HRs, 55 RBIs, and 28 stolen bases in 65 games. He then took things to another level in the NCAA Tournament, leading his team in batting (.457) and OBP (.576). He was a key player in their run to capturing the third championship in program history at the the 2026 College World Series, hitting .400 with eight hits, five walks, a double, a home run and three RBIs.

Despite the slight downturn in form upon joining the SEC, his performances in the CWS mean he will likely sign for close to the $792,300 slot value assigned to the No. 99 pick. The bigger question is what position lies in his future. The right-handed bat, capable framing, and strong arm earn him marks to stick at a position of need in the organization, while the unnatural speed and experience in the outfield make center an intriguing option.