Once again, the strength of this MLB Draft is in its high school pitching. There’s enough major-conference college starting pitchers to populate the first round and get some of those teenaged arms to teams with extra picks and bigger bonus pools in the comp round and beyond.
There’s at least a little uncertainty at the very top now, as the consensus top prospect, Roch Cholowsky, has held serve rather than taking another step forward, leaving a little room for a couple of college players to give the Chicago White Sox, who pick first, some realistic alternatives (even if they ultimately do stick with Cholowsky).
This is a ranking, not a mock or projection of who will be taken where. I typically have the best high school pitchers lower than where they’re going to be selected based on the historical base rate of those prospects (high school pitchers taken in the first round fail at higher rates than other categories). I base these rankings on my own looks at players, information from scouts and analysts, video and data where available.
(Note: Scouting grades are on the traditional 20-80 scouting scale.)
Player Type Pitcher Position Player
School Type 4-Year College High School
Position 2B 3B C LHP OF RHP SS
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Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
The preseason favorite to go 1-1 has been … fine. He’s done nothing wrong, but he also hasn’t blown everyone away. He’s hitting .342/.471/.683 on the season with one more walk than he has strikeouts. He’s now beating up on some pretty mediocre pitching in the Big Ten, part of a loaded Bruins lineup where the entire offense has a .443 OBP. He’s still the top player in the class and the player I would still say is most likely to go No. 1, but both of those statements are weaker than they were two months ago.
Position Player
4-Year College
SS
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
Lackey was a prospect coming into the year, but he has exploded at the plate and is now generating 1-1 comments from national scouts. He’s hitting .405/.529/.811 with more walks than strikeouts and has even stolen seven bases. He’s also maintained a whiff rate on fastballs under 10 percent. He can definitely stick behind the plate, although he has the athleticism to potentially play somewhere else if a team wants to get his bat in the lineup more often.
Position Player
4-Year College
C
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
Flora has a 0.69 ERA this year, and while I have written about the perils of using ERA, that’s still pretty nice. He’s been up to 100 mph, sitting 96-98, with a 70 changeup, average slider and plus control. He has a loose, quick arm, and gets a little deception from how late his arm appears to hitters and from an arm slot that’s below three-quarters. He’s easily the No. 1 pitcher in the class and the only one I think with any chance to go as the top pick.
Scouting Report
Bats: B, Throws: R
The sophomore draft-eligible Bell hurt his left shoulder during the first game of the year, took a few weeks off, and decided to try to play through it after he was told that further play couldn’t make the injury any worse, although he’ll eventually need surgery. He’s been raking, with a .340/.588/.560 line in 17 games, and while teams will have to clear his medicals, he at least seems to have preserved his top-10 status, helped by a chase rate of just 12 percent.
Position Player
4-Year College
SS
Scouting Report
Bats: L, Throws: R
Emerson remains the top high school prospect in the class almost by default, as no one has really emerged to challenge him. He’s a high-contact hitter who should grow into above-average power, while he has a chance to stay at shortstop despite being a fringy runner. His transfer to a tiny Christian school to play under former MLB outfielder Rusty Greer means he’s not facing much good pitching at all this spring, so his status is going to lean more on the scouting looks and data from last year.
Position Player
High School
SS
Scouting Report
Bats: L, Throws: R
I’m probably the high man on Becker, because I see a plus hit tool and a plus future defender at second base, but his chase rate of 30 percent, with 22 percent on pitches well out of the zone, is too high and works against his strength of making contact on pitches in or very near the strike zone. His line is below what he produced as a sophomore, down 53 points of batting average from .368 last year to .315 with comparable drops in his OBP and SLG.
Position Player
4-Year College
SS
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
Burress hasn’t shown the same power so far this year that he did last year, with six homers through 31 games after he hit 19 in 60 games as a sophomore. He’s more of a high-floor prospect, someone who should hit enough and with enough power to play every day, even in an outfield corner, although this is kind of the Adam Haseley profile. I’m also a little concerned about how much trouble he’s had with offspeed stuff this year; he’s whiffed 10 percent on fastballs, and 38 percent on everything else.
Position Player
4-Year College
OF
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
Townsend left a start with shoulder discomfort, missed a week, returned for a four-inning start on a Sunday, then was lights out last Saturday for six innings. He has plus stuff across the board, and outside of the start he left early, he’s only walked four batters in 28 2/3 innings. If he can hold serve the rest of the way, and the medicals are clear, he’s at the top of this second tier of college starters (behind Flora, a tier unto himself).
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
Flukey has been out since his first start with a fractured rib but is expected to return before the end of April. When healthy, he’s 95-97 with a plus curveball and the potential for a plus slider, needing some kind of change-of-pace pitch to be better against lefties. He was probably the No. 2 starter prospect coming into the spring, and I don’t think he’ll go any worse than third in that group if he has a month of good showings.
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
Lebron has No. 1 pick tools, as a shortstop with bat speed and increasing power, but the swing-and-miss concerns that teams had coming into the spring are still there. In the SEC, so far, he’s whiffed 41 percent of the time he’s swung at anything that wasn’t a fastball (and only 4 percent on fastballs, if you’re looking for a silver lining). If a team has no history or competence in developing hitters’ approaches and swing decisions, he’s not the guy for them.
Position Player
4-Year College
SS
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
Lombard has been hit-or-miss this spring at the plate, but he has the tools to be an easy top-10 pick — and higher upside than Emerson offers. That said, the contact issues that led to his 33 percent whiff rate last summer and fall haven’t entirely gone away this spring against lesser competition.
Position Player
High School
SS
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
Reddemann has walked seven batters over eight starts, and olds like me are like moths to a flame when it comes to pitchers who have good stuff with this kind of feel and command. I saw him mostly go fastball-changeup against Tennessee, but he’s throwing his slider now more as well, giving him three potentially above-average pitches to go with the extreme strike-throwing.
Scouting Report
Bats: L, Throws: L
Booth is an 80 runner and true center fielder with a leadoff hitter profile, making contact with a short, slashy swing without a lot of power. He had a very highly attended matchup with another Mississippi prep hitter, Kevin Roberts, and walked three times while also getting hit by a pitch, so, uh, I guess he’s patient.
Position Player
High School
OF
Scouting Report
Bats: L, Throws: L
Curiel just went 7 for 14 with 12 total bases this past weekend against Tennessee as he continues to show he can hit anything the SEC throws at him while playing surprisingly solid defense in center (despite a 45 arm). The Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) HS product was hitting .362/.446/.546 after the Tennessee series, with 10 stolen bases already after he stole just three as a freshman.
Position Player
4-Year College
OF
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
Peterson’s stuff isn’t the question — he throws 95-99 with a knockout slider and a changeup that’s plus as long as he gets on top of it — but his ability to deploy it is, as he’s walked 25 in 38 innings, including nine in his last two outings against Arkansas and Mississippi. You can certainly dream on him as a No. 2 starter if you think you can find the answer to his control woes, although I’m becoming more skeptical as he keeps walking hitters in the SEC.
Scouting Report
Bats: L, Throws: L
The draft’s top two-way player is a better prospect right now on the mound, but is a real prospect with the bat for a team willing to wait for him to fill out physically. He has excellent feel for contact even with just fringy bat speed right now, and he looks like he’ll have plus power once he gets stronger. He’s been up to 96 on the mound with a potentially plus slider, although the delivery is unrefined and will at least need some cleanup to help him build velocity and work in the strike zone. He won’t turn 17 until mid-April, which is a positive for his remaining growth potential and terrifying because he’s a 16-year-old already throwing in the mid-90s.
Position Player
Pitcher
High School
LHP
OF
Scouting Report
Bats: L, Throws: L
Strosnider has shown more power this year for TCU while getting somewhat unlucky on balls in play, hitting .309/.466/.691 with 10 homers after he hit 11 homers all of last year. He has a very pretty left-handed swing that produces a lot of contact. His value in the draft depends heavily on his bat because he’s almost certainly going to end up in left field.
Position Player
4-Year College
OF
Scouting Report
Bats: L, Throws: L
Gracia followed his head coach from Duke to UVA and is now hitting .336/.484/.622 for the Hoos with nine homers, giving him a chance to beat his previous career high of 15. He has a pretty uphill swing that puts the ball in the air a ton, although that’s also produced a lot of pop-ups and short flyballs to the outfield.
Position Player
4-Year College
OF
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
Hacopian missed about a month with a back injury but has hit extremely well outside of that, with a .324/.442/.549 line and 15 walks against eight strikeouts. He has a great right-handed swing that looks geared to pull the ball on a line, with all of his homers to the pull side, and his whiff and chase rates are well above average. He’s probably a second baseman in the long term, and I’m sure teams will want a closer look at the injury info.
Position Player
4-Year College
SS
3B
Scouting Report
Bats: L, Throws: L
Carlon is a slider-heavy starter, throwing that pitch 50 percent of the time, with a mid-90s fastball and a very occasional changeup that he’ll need to improve (or just throw more) at the next level, with no platoon split so far this year. There’s reliever risk with him leaning so hard on a single offspeed pitch, but mid-rotation upside as well.
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
Rose didn’t play until March 10 due to an ankle injury, then missed most of the North Carolina series with a hamstring issue, so seven of his 11 games have been against ACC opponents. He’s hitting .553/.630/1.000 in just 46 PA. I expect him to finish a little below that.
Position Player
4-Year College
OF
Scouting Report
Bats: L, Throws: L
Sorrell has already set a new career high with 16 homers, putting him in the top 10 of all Division I hitters, and he has a .381/.471/.873 line overall. The power is real, with six of those homers to center or the other way, but the hit tool is still a question as he misses too often, even on fastballs. He’s in center now but probably ends up in a corner.
Position Player
4-Year College
OF
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
Rembert was already a high-contact hitter coming into this year, but he’s taken it to another level with a whiff rate of just 16 percent on the season, and just 15 percent on both fastballs and sliders, which is really unusual (both the low whiff rate on that pitch type and having a slider whiff rate the same as that on the fastball). He’s a second baseman who’s played a little corner outfield, and he turns 21 a week before the draft.
Position Player
4-Year College
2B
Scouting Report
Bats: B, Throws: R
Ruiz had two knocks against him coming out of the summer: He’ll be 19.3 on draft day, and he was very undersized. He hasn’t managed to reverse the flow of time, so he’ll still be one of the older high school prospects in his class, but he’s gotten significantly stronger and is driving the ball more, enough to get him into first-round consideration. He’s an elite hitter for contact — supposedly he’s whiffed exactly twice this whole spring — and a no-doubt shortstop, so just showing he can make hard enough contact to keep his batting average up would give him a strong floor as an everyday player.
Position Player
High School
SS
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
The son of former Rays starter Doug Waechter, Kaden was the best prospect at last month’s NHSI tournament at the USA baseball complex. He’s 91-95 mph with immense vertical break, coming at hitters from a low three-quarters slot and a low release height as a result, showing a four-pitch mix and above-average control already.
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
Brunson is hitting .284/.464/.539 even though everything below the surface is pretty good — he doesn’t whiff or chase much, he’s getting the ball in the air, and he’s hitting the ball hard. He also has a chance to stick in center, although I’d bet he ends up in right field.
Position Player
4-Year College
OF
Scouting Report
Bats: L, Throws: R
Dudan comes from a low three-quarters slot — picture that, then go a little lower — and is almost all fastball/slider, sitting 95-96, while the slider misses nearly half the bats that try to hit it. He barely throws a changeup, although it can show decent fade, while the fastball doesn’t miss as many bats as I’d guess given the slot and release height. He’s pitched extremely well for the Wolfpack, with just 12 walks in 50 innings and only three homers allowed.
Scouting Report
Bats: B, Throws: L
Bolemon is the top prep lefty in the class, although he’s been a little slow out of the gate this spring. He’s been up to 96 before with a four-pitch mix, coming from a three-quarters slot where he gets on top of the ball well, getting good depth on his breaking stuff. The velocity has been down a tick so far this year, however. He’s already had an internal brace procedure when he was about 15. He’s committed to Wake Forest.
Scouting Report
Bats: B, Throws: R
Kuhns has easy first-round stuff but more like third-round command, with high-vertical break on his fastball in the mid 90s, a plus curveball and an above-average slider, but a tendency to get too much of the heart of the plate. Without a changeup, he tends to throw stuff middle-in to lefties and has gotten crushed on belt-high fastballs in those spots, leading to seven of the 10 extra-base hits he’s given up. He’s draft-eligible by age as a sophomore.
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
UCLA’s lineup is stacked with prospects beyond Roch Cholowsky. Martin is a selective hitter, almost to the point of passivity, swinging at just 28 percent of pitches so far this year, but when he does swing, he hits the ball fairly hard and on a line frequently enough to project as a strong hitter for average with at least doubles power. He plays third for the Bruins but I wouldn’t be shocked to see a team send him out at shortstop, where he has played a little over the last two summers.
Position Player
4-Year College
3B
Scouting Report
Bats: L, Throws: L
Schmidt is up to 96 on his four-seamer with a sharp sweeper/slider in the mid-80s, while also showing a sinker, cutter and changeup. He’ll need some delivery cleanup and might actually be throwing too many pitches, given how good the breaking ball is. He’s committed to LSU.
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
Andersen is Kaden Waechter’s teammate at Tampa Jesuit, and he boosted his standing with a very strong showing at NHSI, where he was 92-96 with a hard breaker at 81-85 and a solid changeup, pounding the zone with the fastball and then getting chases with that slider. He’s committed to Mississippi State.
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: L
Rojas works in the mid 90s from a low three-quarters slot, getting good life on the fastball, so he can pitch primarily off of it. He also has a high-spin sweepy slider that gets kind of flat and a seldom-used changeup with some fading action to it. He turns 19 a few weeks before the draft, and is committed to Miami.
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: L
Duncan is the top Canadian prospect in this year’s class. He pitched against a couple of complex-level teams in spring training last month, getting up to 96 with big ride up top and a high induced vertical break, along with a plus changeup, a high-spin curveball and a clean, repeatable delivery. Some teams have told me they don’t love the breaking ball, but he has at least shown the ability to spin the ball, which opens up a world of possibilities to change its type and shape. He’s committed to Vanderbilt.
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
Grahovac struck out 29 percent of the time as a freshman in 2024, missed most of 2025 due to injury, and has struck out 13.6 percent of the time so far this year. It’s a real improvement in contact, as his whiff rate has come down from 32 percent to 25 percent, and he continues to show above-average power. He’s playing a lot of first base this year, although he’ll probably at least start out in pro ball in an outfield corner.
Position Player
4-Year College
1B
OF
Scouting Report
Bats: L, Throws: R
Reese is hitting .317/.416/.651 this spring for the Bulldogs, although his batted-ball data isn’t as compelling as the stat line, especially in the power output. He’s a very strong fastball hitter, but he’s whiffed more than a third of the time against anything else. He’s a third baseman now but will move to first in pro ball.
Position Player
4-Year College
3B
Scouting Report
Bats: L, Throws: L
Edwards gave up one earned run in his first six starts, then allowed two earned runs and walked six on a very cold, rainy night at Maryland, and got hit around by a loaded UCLA lineup last week, raising his season ERA to 1.20. He’s only up to 93 and can sit 89-91, but the curveball and changeup are at least 55s and he’s still slender for a college junior. He walks too many, although at least some of this is a function of pitch selection rather than just bad control — when he gets ahead in the count, he tries to get hitters to chase those secondaries, going out of the zone more than 60 percent of the time in those situations.
Scouting Report
Bats: L, Throws: R
Clark has a quick, whippy swing and is a plus runner who’s athletic enough to stay at shortstop but did not field well at NHSI in front of a lot of scouts and decision-makers, mostly struggling with his throwing accuracy. He projects to hit for average more than for power, and while he should go out as a shortstop, he probably has the speed and instincts for center. He’s committed to Duke, having switched there after he’d previously committed to Princeton.
Position Player
High School
SS
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
Bowen is a power/speed outfielder from the baseball factory of JSerra in Southern California. He’s had some mixed results this spring at the plate after a strong summer and fall, where he showed he could make contact even against better quality stuff. He has 20/20 upside in center field if he gets to the contact. He’s committed to Oregon State.
Position Player
High School
OF
Scouting Report
Bats: B, Throws: R
Maniscalco won’t turn 17 until May 1, making him the youngest prospect anywhere on my radar for this draft — maybe there’s someone younger, but they have to finish kindergarten first. He’s a twitchy athlete who should be a long-term shortstop and might grow into above-average power, but he has really struggled at the plate this spring and teams that don’t lean as much on age in their models, or that don’t use models as heavily at all, are probably going to steer clear. He’s committed to Mississippi State.
Position Player
High School
SS
Scouting Report
Bats: L, Throws: R
Spangler still hasn’t played this year and there’s a chance he won’t play at all, in which case he might just end up at Stanford and be back in the 2029 draft. He’s a polished hitter with a decent shot to stick at shortstop.
Position Player
High School
SS
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
Marchand put on 10 or so pounds of muscle this offseason and is making harder contact now, even flashing some opposite-field power, despite a swing that gets very inside-out and has him leaking over his front side. He’s a shortstop now who’s almost certainly moving to third base, but could be plus there thanks to excellent hands and a strong arm. He’s committed to Mississippi.
Position Player
High School
SS
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
Volchko gets very high marks for his “pitch shapes,” which will likely push him well up the board for model-heavy teams, but those shapes haven’t yielded great results this year — he’s only struck out 24 percent of batters he’s faced and walked 11 percent for Georgia, which is an improvement from his two years at Stanford, where he walked nearly 14 percent of batters and posted a 5.89 ERA. He’s been up to 98 from a low three-quarters slot, with two potentially plus breaking pitches, showing no real platoon split so far this year even without a real changeup.
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: L
Johnson has thrown just seven innings so far this year over three starts, after missing the first month due to a mysterious arm issue, but he’s come back with premium stuff again, up to 97 with a changeup and slider that are both at least 55s. If he can hold this stuff over longer outings and the medicals check out, he’s a potential first-rounder.
Scouting Report
Bats: L, Throws: L
Bumila is the latest pop-up name in this draft class, for good reason, as he’s been up to 100 mph with enormous extension thanks to his 6-foot-9 frame. He just started his baseball season as he was playing basketball, helping Bishop Feehan win the state championship, and didn’t throw anywhere last summer or fall as he recovered from an internal brace procedure on his throwing elbow. He’s committed to Texas.
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
Harris has a live fastball that he can use to get outs in or above the zone, striking out 13 straight batters in the game I happened to catch, with nearly all of them coming on the heater. He’s mostly 93-95 with visible ride on the pitch. He will show a slider and changeup as needed, with both pitches promising but unrefined right now. He’s committed to Texas.
Scouting Report
Bats: B, Throws: R
Contreras pitched for Team Brazil in the World Baseball Classic, the youngest player in the event this year. He is now back pitching for his high school team in Georgia, where his father Jose — the former MLB starter — is on the coaching staff. Joseph is up to 97 with a huge assortment of pitches — shocker — led by a splitter in the upper 70s, with several secondary pitches that miss bats right now. His command and control are below-average and there’s some violence to the delivery. He’s committed to Vanderbilt.
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
Gasparino has some of the best raw power in the class, high school or college. He’s already matched his 2025 home run total with 13, while also boosting his contact rate and his batting average, the latter by over 100 points so far. He still expands the zone too much, with a 25 percent chase rate on pitches well out of the zone, and he isn’t going to see a ton of good pitching in the Big Ten the rest of the way.
Position Player
4-Year College
OF
Scouting Report
Bats: R, Throws: R
Borthwick struggled out of the gate, showing up with a thicker body and less velocity early in the spring, but he’s continued to improve as the season has progressed, sitting more 94-95 recently and filling up the zone with the fastball. He works primarily with that pitch, and he has a promising slider as his main secondary weapon. He’s committed to Auburn.
Scouting Report
Bats: L, Throws: R
Bogenpohl is hitting .315/.497/.523, bringing his strikeout rate way down so far this year, while continuing to handle center field enough to go out there in pro ball. He has 30-homer upside, although this year he’s been using the whole field more and pulling the ball less. There is still a swing-and-miss concern here, as he’s at a 37 percent whiff rate on non-fastballs and is facing mid-major pitching.
Position Player
4-Year College
OF
Apr 9, 2026
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