Thursday marked the start of the NFL Draft, but Major League Baseball’s upcoming event this summer remains newsworthy. Currently, and heading into the season, Roch Cholowsky appears to lead draft boards as the top MLB draft prospect. However, both high school and college pitching depth are not as strong as in prior years. With the top three spots secured, questions remain about when the top prep pitchers will be selected in the 2026 MLB Draft.
When Will the Top Prep Pitchers Come Off the Board in the 2026 MLB Draft?
Prior Draft Placements
Last year’s draft saw one of the best high school pitching prospects in recent years in Seth Hernandez. Hernandez was even considered to be the number one overall talent before being taken with the sixth overall pick. He was preceded by two other high school prospects who were both hitters. Hernandez became the fourth pitcher taken in the 2025 draft. The hot start to his career in Low-A is an indication of why he was chosen towards the top end of the draft. With a fastball reaching 100+ mph and two plus-plus pitches, there’s a reason he was a top pick.
Seth Hernandez in tonight’s start:
4.0 IP | 0 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 1 BB | 7 SO#Pirates pic.twitter.com/FojJiS1rjM
— Milb Central (@milb_central) April 11, 2026
Meanwhile, in the 2024 draft, only two high school pitchers were taken. This was mostly due to a loaded draft for college arms. However, these two prep pitchers weren’t taken until the 24th and 25th picks, respectively. Cam Caminiti is a top 100 prospect, and Kash Mayfield has dominated in his limited appearances.
Prime Prep Pitchers
The two best prep pitchers in the class are both lefties. The group is led by Gio Rojas from Stoneman Douglas High School. Stoneman Douglas has produced seven players to reach the majors, with two being pitchers. Rojas has had his innings monitored this spring due to his involvement in pitching for Team USA into the fall. This has led to Rojas’ fastball sitting more in the lower 90s. Luckily for Rojas, he has the ability to develop three different plus off-speed offerings and has dominated in his limited outings.
Gio Rojas goes inside the top 15 in our latest mock 👀https://t.co/xpi0CqE9Eu pic.twitter.com/3VWiJYCY0J
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) April 14, 2026
Carson Bolemon is the next lefty prep pitching prospect on teams’ draft boards. Unfortunately, Bolemon hasn’t blown the barn doors off the competition this season. While he has been successful, he’s not dominating, which can be a concern for a high school prospect. This, along with elbow surgery in middle school, has some teams wary of Bolemon. However, from a talent perspective, there may be no one better on the mound. He has a mid-90s fastball and still room to add weight to his frame. He also adds three off-speed pitches that he’s got great feel for and can throw all for strikes.
Team Tendencies
With the top three picks nearly set, the destination of the prep pitchers is unknown. The college ranks seem to always rise up draft boards as the season goes on, which creates another challenge for these two. These rankings will be even more volatile once the College World Series comes around and scouts see how players perform against the best competition. That is also the same time that a lot of prep prospects fall down the draft board because there is less certainty in their competition. With this in mind, the 2026 Draft could see the prep pitchers fall out of the top ten. The earliest it would make sense for Rojas to go would be to the Nationals at 11, who are actively in a new rebuild. The only thing that could allow for Rojas or Bolemon to rise is their ability to be signed below slot value.
Main Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
