Each draft class has its own unique strengths and weaknesses. Some years, classes are loaded with premier college shortstops, while others may feature a surplus of high-end prep arms. In 2025, high school shortstops stole the show in the first round. On top of the high school bats, the 2025 class featured an interesting debate of who the top college left-handed pitcher was, with three of them hearing their names called before the 12th overall pick.
While a lot can change between now and the 2026 MLB Draft, it looks unlikely that a team will draft a college left-hander in the top half of the first round. A majority of mock drafts have teams selecting three high school lefties in the first round. At the same time, some publications only have one team drafting a college lefty before the Competitive Balance Round A. The debate over the top southpaw in the class is still prevalent for the 2026 class, but it won’t have top 10 pick implications like it did last draft cycle.
Top Three College Lefties in the MLB Draft
As the college baseball season heads towards the back half of April, three southpaws have stood out from the rest of the field. That trio includes Cole Carlon, Mason Edwards, and Hunter Dietz. Who comes off the board first will ultimately depend on what a franchise is looking to do. For teams looking to take a big swing on a high-risk, high-reward arm, Dietz is likely at the top of their list.
Standing at 6’6″ out of Arkansas, Dietz had logged less than two innings in his college career before this season due to a stress fracture in his elbow. Over nine starts, though, the Razorbacks standout has used his 70-grade fastball to post a 2.39 FIP with 78 strikeouts in 47.1 innings. In his last two starts alone, Dietz has an 18:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio, so if he can continue that pace, it’s easy to see teams overlooking his injury past to capture his high upside.
Out of the three, Carlon has seemingly had the edge in this debate for most of the season. Much like Dietz, the Arizona State product has a projectible frame at 6’5″ and can also run his fastball up into the upper 90’s. Even with a rough outing in his most recent start, the southpaw has a 4.11 ERA with 75 strikeouts in 46 innings.
Before the season, MLB Pipeline had USC ace, Edwards, among the Top-100 draft prospects, but he was still nearly 50 spots behind his left-handed counterparts. By striking out 95 hitters, though, including 16 in his last start, Edwards has flown up draft boards. Using a breaking ball that he can easily manipulate the shape of, Edwards is third in the country with a 44.4% strikeout rate, ranking ahead of both Dietz and Carlon.
A League of Their Own
From now until the start of the draft, these three will continue to jockey for position. Behind them is another tier of southpaws who may not have first-round buzz, but teams should still select before the second day of the draft. That group includes a pair of Florida State Seminoles in Wes Mendes and Trey Beard. The Noles have relied on Mendes to be their ace this season, and he’s assumed that role nicely, holding opponents to a .197 average while racking up 74 strikeouts in 51 innings.
Entering the season, MLB Pipeline ranked Beard higher than his teammate on their Top 100 Prospect list, and while he’s had a strong year (53 K’s in 37.1 innings), it seems as if Mendes is more popular among scouts at this point in the year. Another lefty who was higher on the list than Mendes before the season was Texas A&M starter Shane Sdao, who, despite missing the 2025 season recovering from Tommy John, still had several teams looking to draft him. Unfortunately, the decision to return to campus has not paid off for Sdao, as he’s pitching to a 4.88 FIP with a 1.86 HR/9 in 48.1 innings.
Two more names that fall into this tier are Ethan Norby out of East Carolina and Ethan Kleinschmidt out of Oregon State. Norby had a dominant sophomore season, leveraging his smaller frame and 3/4 arm slot to strike out 119 hitters in 90 innings. This season, the ECU ace has not had the same success, though, posting a 4.67 FIP and a 29.1% strikeout rate. Kleinschmidt was also more successful last season, but he still has a projectible frame and is holding opponents to a .212 average.
Main Photo Credits: Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
