SAN DIEGO -- The Padres love high school pitchers with high upside -- and they took another in the first round of the 2026 MLB Draft on Saturday afternoon.
With the 21st overall selection, San Diego selected right-hander Coleman Borthwick out of South Walton High School in Florida.
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“I’ve dreamed for this since I was a kid,” Borthwick said in a conference call with reporters. “I’m ready to play some baseball.”
Then, he added the kicker, which might one day make him a fan favorite in San Diego:
“I’m ready to go beat the Dodgers.”
Borthwick's profile is similar to so many recent Padres Draft picks under general manager A.J. Preller and scouting director Chris Kemp.
For one, the upside is obvious. Borthwick was dominant during his senior season in high school, posting a 0.21 ERA en route to winning the Gatorade High School Player of the Year Award in Florida. Borthwick went 11-0 and struck out 121 batters over 65 2/3 innings, while walking only seven -- ridiculous numbers.
“It’s just a track record of domination,” Kemp said. “The compete level is so high, which raised our conviction level. … When you’re that dominant and that consistent for as long as he has been, it really stands out.”
Borthwick has a commitment to Auburn, which might have raised some signability questions. But the Padres’ Draft pool is slightly bigger than normal this summer, because of the compensation pick they received when Dylan Cease signed with Toronto.
Kemp recently noted that the extra money “opens up the playbook a little bit.” Asked on the conference call about his intentions, Borthwick said, “I would think me signing is a really good [possibility], almost 100%.”
Borthwick stands 6-foot-6 with a big-time fastball that can touch 97-98 mph. He throws a four-seamer and a two-seamer and can locate both, then pairs them with a wipeout slider. He’s working on a changeup to complement those offerings.
Borthwick is also a two-way player, listed as a third baseman. He batted .460 during his senior season, but his path forward is as a pitcher.
“I’ve always wanted to do both as long as I can, until baseball tells me I can’t,” Borthwick said. “Right now, baseball’s telling me that I can’t. Because it’s going to hold me back from making it to the big leagues and being the best player I could possibly be.”
Borthwick spoke from a friend’s beach house in Santa Rosa, Fla., where approximately 50 friends and family members were invited for a Draft day party. He began the conference call by apologizing for the live music in the background. (Seriously … no apology necessary, Coleman.)
“We’re out here just celebrating,” Borthwick said. “Because I’ve had a big community behind me. The community here loves me, and I love them. So it was pretty special to have a lot of people here today.”
Again, Borthwick’s profile jibes with some of the Padres’ recent picks -- dominant high school players, especially athletes. Left-hander Kruz Schoolcraft, now the team’s No. 2 prospect, fit a similar profile when the Padres selected him at No. 25 overall. Other high school pitchers taken under Preller in the first round include MacKenzie Gore (2017), Ryan Weathers ('18), Dylan Lesko ('22) and Kash Mayfield ('24).
The Padres haven’t drafted a college player since 2016, when they took both Cal Quantrill and Eric Lauer in the first round. They deeply believe in their ability to scout high schoolers -- a much trickier proposition than college players, who regularly face better competition and have more data available. The Padres also think they might have an edge in doing so.
“You don’t want to limit yourself,” Preller said. “It’s a little bit of the industry trend going one way [toward college players]. Usually that means some value is the other way. … We’ve got confidence to fish in those waters.”
The majority of the Padres’ recent picks were coming off seasons similar to Borthwick’s -- dominant high school campaigns. Borthwick’s season included a trip to Japan, where he won the U18 Baseball World Cup with Team USA, pitching a shutout in the final game against Team Japan in September.
“Getting the ball in that gold medal game was something special,” he said. “It’s almost just as special as getting drafted.”
Borthwick was named MVP of that tournament, and he was later named WBSC 2025 Player of the Year and 2026 National High School Two-Way Player of the Year by Perfect Game.
The Padres will have until July 27 to sign Borthwick and the rest of their 2026 Draft class. The assigned value of Borthwick’s pick is $4.22 million. Every pick in the first 10 rounds comes with an assigned value, and the total of that value is the overall bonus pool that teams can spend. The Padres’ bonus pool sits at $9,479,000.